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A review by sathyasekar
At the Villa Rose by A.E.W. Mason
3.0
This book qualifies for a 3 and half rating. Its well above average though not in the worth-a-reread category for me.
The book was written in the early 20th century when Sherlock Holmes dominated the reading public's mind and there were any number of authors trying to have a slice of the success pie of the crime and mystery genre that Sherlock Holmes had created. The "Golden Age" of detective fiction was still a few years away but Mr Mason has made a worthy attempt at creating an appealing detective in French Inspector Hanaud.
The author manages to keep us interested despite the plot being thin. One following Hanaud's movements can well guess the villains of the piece. What I found very distinct, refreshingly so, about the book was that only one half of the book is about the who-done-it. The second half is dedicated to the how-and-why which was fascinating because you then start relating back to incidents in the first half and see how well the loose ends have been tied up. Not all reasons are convincing of course but you should appreciate Mr Mason for ensuring that he attempts to leave no unexplained points behind. Such a model was used by Sir Doyle as well in some of the Sherlock Holmes novels - "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of Four" fpor example.
The characters are also well ironed out and they emerge multi-dimensional rather than the single shades of white and black that was common in mystery books of the time. The innocent are not completely innocent and the guilty (some of them) are guilty because they have been led to it. A weakness in this regard is with Hanaud himself. While we see him as this ultra-perceptive, he does not seem human enough- too little flesh !! This is where a lot of attempts at mystery fiction come undone. Authors tend to focus too much on the plot and let leave their detective with a kind of know-it-all halo or they focus too much on giving a character to their detective at the altar of the story itself. Mr Mason, unfortunately, falls into the first habit.
Having said that, the book was still a great read. A well developed story with all ends tied up and explained. You end with satisfied sigh.
The book was written in the early 20th century when Sherlock Holmes dominated the reading public's mind and there were any number of authors trying to have a slice of the success pie of the crime and mystery genre that Sherlock Holmes had created. The "Golden Age" of detective fiction was still a few years away but Mr Mason has made a worthy attempt at creating an appealing detective in French Inspector Hanaud.
The author manages to keep us interested despite the plot being thin. One following Hanaud's movements can well guess the villains of the piece. What I found very distinct, refreshingly so, about the book was that only one half of the book is about the who-done-it. The second half is dedicated to the how-and-why which was fascinating because you then start relating back to incidents in the first half and see how well the loose ends have been tied up. Not all reasons are convincing of course but you should appreciate Mr Mason for ensuring that he attempts to leave no unexplained points behind. Such a model was used by Sir Doyle as well in some of the Sherlock Holmes novels - "A Study in Scarlet" and "The Sign of Four" fpor example.
The characters are also well ironed out and they emerge multi-dimensional rather than the single shades of white and black that was common in mystery books of the time. The innocent are not completely innocent and the guilty (some of them) are guilty because they have been led to it. A weakness in this regard is with Hanaud himself. While we see him as this ultra-perceptive, he does not seem human enough- too little flesh !! This is where a lot of attempts at mystery fiction come undone. Authors tend to focus too much on the plot and let leave their detective with a kind of know-it-all halo or they focus too much on giving a character to their detective at the altar of the story itself. Mr Mason, unfortunately, falls into the first habit.
Having said that, the book was still a great read. A well developed story with all ends tied up and explained. You end with satisfied sigh.