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andrew_j_r's review
5.0
Another delightful set of short stories from the world of The Bow Street Society.
There is a lot to like here. The first thing worthy of note is the break away from the usual formula for the majority of the tales. Formula is not a bad thing at all, but did enjoy the fact that the tales were constructed in a different way to usual.
Another thing I liked was the fact that two characters that don’t often get the limelight starred in a good proportion of the stories - namely ex-sailor Callaghan Skinner (including a story that immediately follows on from events in the last full murder/mystery novel) and architect Bertram Heath (who gets very excited about the way things are constructed at least twice).
The actual stories are great too. I especially liked The Case Of The Lyall Lighthouse, which is twice the usual length of the short stories. I know the author was worried that it was longer for the sake of being longer but it massively worked to the advantage of this mystery, and is easily my favourite in the collection.
There’s also a trip to Milton Keynes in “The Case Of The Bold Blackmailer” (well, a town that will eventually become part of it anyway) which I enjoyed for several reasons - firstly it ties in directly with the last full-length novel (again) and secondly I have visited the area and found it easy to visualise. Also it’s a fun little story, and has some nice continuity that links it to previous novels.
All in all a great set of five stories that included some of my favourite characters and helped to tide me over to the next book in the full length mystery series.
There is a lot to like here. The first thing worthy of note is the break away from the usual formula for the majority of the tales. Formula is not a bad thing at all, but did enjoy the fact that the tales were constructed in a different way to usual.
Another thing I liked was the fact that two characters that don’t often get the limelight starred in a good proportion of the stories - namely ex-sailor Callaghan Skinner (including a story that immediately follows on from events in the last full murder/mystery novel) and architect Bertram Heath (who gets very excited about the way things are constructed at least twice).
The actual stories are great too. I especially liked The Case Of The Lyall Lighthouse, which is twice the usual length of the short stories. I know the author was worried that it was longer for the sake of being longer but it massively worked to the advantage of this mystery, and is easily my favourite in the collection.
There’s also a trip to Milton Keynes in “The Case Of The Bold Blackmailer” (well, a town that will eventually become part of it anyway) which I enjoyed for several reasons - firstly it ties in directly with the last full-length novel (again) and secondly I have visited the area and found it easy to visualise. Also it’s a fun little story, and has some nice continuity that links it to previous novels.
All in all a great set of five stories that included some of my favourite characters and helped to tide me over to the next book in the full length mystery series.
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