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kateea7536's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
My favourite sort of premise - a locked room mystery! But it wasn’t done too well (perhaps clunky because of the time it was written), I found that nothing happened for quite sometime and I didn’t really feel I got to know the characters and their motivations properly. There were some interesting twists and turns they just weren’t very well set up. Lots of fortunate coincidences too for the inspector… can’t really describe why it didn’t hit the mark, generally a fine read but didn’t astound me!
pibbit's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
naluju's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
jule_is_reading's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
_sara_reads_'s review against another edition
2.0
Ich mag das Genre sehr gerne, aber dieses Buch gefiel mir leider nicht sonderlich gut. Die erste Hälfte zog sich sehr lange, ohne dass Bemerkenswertes passierte. Die zweite Hälfte konnte das dann leider auch nicht wieder gut machen. Es geschah endlich was, aber insgesamt hatte ich oft den Eindruck, ich hätte irgendwas verpasst oder nicht verstanden, weil die Charaktere sich über das ganze Buch hinweg völlig merkwürdige Dinge sagen und tun. Es liest sich aber ganz gut und zügig, es war also nicht völlig schlecht.
kudeern1's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
echosong's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
Lucky for some...
Twelve guests are invited to the country house of Lord Aveling for the weekend. They're a mixed group – Lord Aveling has political ambitions so some are people he hopes will back him, there's an influential newspaper columnist he hopes will give him some good publicity, an artist who's painting his daughter, an actress for whom he has... ahem... other plans, and a couple of people he doesn't really know, but has invited along at the request of others in the party. When John Foss trips and sprains his ankle at the railway station, one of the invited guests decides to take him along to the Hall for treatment, and Lord Aveling insists on him staying till he's better. Superstition says it's unlucky to be the thirteenth guest, but to John's relief he's not the last to arrive. Which, as it turns out, is lucky indeed, since soon the hall is awash with corpses...
This is a fairly typical Golden Age country house mystery, first published in 1936. It gets off to a good start, with John's accident and his arrival as a stranger to the company providing a good excuse for all the various characters to be introduced to him, and therefore to the reader. The characterisation isn't terribly in-depth, with some of the characters being 'types' rather than individuals – the cricketer who plays with a straight bat, the shifty strangers, the obnoxious journalist, etc. But with such a large cast it would be difficult to fill them all out in a reasonable space and the novel is fairly short, as they tended to be back in those happy far-off times.
The plot is quite complex and there are lots of red herrings running... er... swimming around, so Detective Inspector Kendall has his work cut out for him when he finally arrives. Fortunately, he's a wily old fox who can see through people's lies and evasions, and spot clues that others would miss. He forms an unlikely alliance with the obnoxious journalist, who acts as a kind of unofficial investigator on the inside. Eventually all will be revealed – but with an unexpected twist in the tail that adds an extra layer of interest.
The writing is pretty good if somewhat dated in style, which shows through particularly in the dialogue of which there's a lot. There's a rather unlikely and not terribly romantic romance going on as a sub-plot, but again this is really a device so that two of the characters can have intimate tête-à-têtes to keep the reader informed of what's going on. It starts and finishes well, but I found the middle dragged a bit as Kendall carried out interviews with all the various characters. And in the end, the explanation is pretty much presented to us by the characters telling each other what really happened. In retrospect, I do think it was fair-play, but too fiendishly convoluted for my poor little brain to fathom. Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who enjoy these old-style mysteries. But, in truth, the more I read of the 'forgotten classics', the more I realise how good the ones are that haven't been forgotten. Enjoyable, but not to be compared to the likes of Christie, Marsh or Sayers. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Twelve guests are invited to the country house of Lord Aveling for the weekend. They're a mixed group – Lord Aveling has political ambitions so some are people he hopes will back him, there's an influential newspaper columnist he hopes will give him some good publicity, an artist who's painting his daughter, an actress for whom he has... ahem... other plans, and a couple of people he doesn't really know, but has invited along at the request of others in the party. When John Foss trips and sprains his ankle at the railway station, one of the invited guests decides to take him along to the Hall for treatment, and Lord Aveling insists on him staying till he's better. Superstition says it's unlucky to be the thirteenth guest, but to John's relief he's not the last to arrive. Which, as it turns out, is lucky indeed, since soon the hall is awash with corpses...
This is a fairly typical Golden Age country house mystery, first published in 1936. It gets off to a good start, with John's accident and his arrival as a stranger to the company providing a good excuse for all the various characters to be introduced to him, and therefore to the reader. The characterisation isn't terribly in-depth, with some of the characters being 'types' rather than individuals – the cricketer who plays with a straight bat, the shifty strangers, the obnoxious journalist, etc. But with such a large cast it would be difficult to fill them all out in a reasonable space and the novel is fairly short, as they tended to be back in those happy far-off times.
The plot is quite complex and there are lots of red herrings running... er... swimming around, so Detective Inspector Kendall has his work cut out for him when he finally arrives. Fortunately, he's a wily old fox who can see through people's lies and evasions, and spot clues that others would miss. He forms an unlikely alliance with the obnoxious journalist, who acts as a kind of unofficial investigator on the inside. Eventually all will be revealed – but with an unexpected twist in the tail that adds an extra layer of interest.
The writing is pretty good if somewhat dated in style, which shows through particularly in the dialogue of which there's a lot. There's a rather unlikely and not terribly romantic romance going on as a sub-plot, but again this is really a device so that two of the characters can have intimate tête-à-têtes to keep the reader informed of what's going on. It starts and finishes well, but I found the middle dragged a bit as Kendall carried out interviews with all the various characters. And in the end, the explanation is pretty much presented to us by the characters telling each other what really happened. In retrospect, I do think it was fair-play, but too fiendishly convoluted for my poor little brain to fathom. Overall, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who enjoy these old-style mysteries. But, in truth, the more I read of the 'forgotten classics', the more I realise how good the ones are that haven't been forgotten. Enjoyable, but not to be compared to the likes of Christie, Marsh or Sayers. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
traceymlee's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75