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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the reading experience of The Poisoned Chocolates Case, which I listened to in audiobook form wonderfully narrated by Gordon Griffin. This classic golden age mystery revolves around a murder through chocolates - when a man is handed a chocolates case from an acquaintance, which he promptly brings home for his wife; she eats a handful and notes the strange flavour, he eats some too. A couple of hours later he falls ill and she is dead, of course - poison in the chocolates. The police do what they can to solve the murder but cannot find the culprit. A club of detection-enthusiasts (in one way or another being interested in crime and crime-solving) take on the case and decide to each attempt to solve the mystery; their individual takes on the truth behind the chocolates case murder is the crux of the book.
What I particularly enjoyed was the play with the detection-form of mysteries, which must have already become standard by the time Berkeley wrote this book - enough so that it was possible to parody it (or at least tongue-in-cheek poke at it). The fact that all members of the club are able to come up with entirely different stories based on the same evidence of course illustrates some of the biases of any detection-work and its dangers, particularly in deciding on a suitable accused first and then finding evidence to strengthen the case against the established villain. The way all of the members in the club try to one-up the previous story-teller is quite hilarious, kind of like imagining a room filled with Poirot-like individuals trying to battling out that final reveal monologue. I'll admit I was too distracted this month in general (what with world events, my concentration taking a toll) to follow the intricacies of the case itself or keep track of which member made what statement - I don't feel like it's really necessary to be able to enjoy the book though. A fun ride especially for a lover of mysteries or in particular golden age crime stories, the internal and structural elements to the book made it a delight to read.
What I particularly enjoyed was the play with the detection-form of mysteries, which must have already become standard by the time Berkeley wrote this book - enough so that it was possible to parody it (or at least tongue-in-cheek poke at it). The fact that all members of the club are able to come up with entirely different stories based on the same evidence of course illustrates some of the biases of any detection-work and its dangers, particularly in deciding on a suitable accused first and then finding evidence to strengthen the case against the established villain. The way all of the members in the club try to one-up the previous story-teller is quite hilarious, kind of like imagining a room filled with Poirot-like individuals trying to battling out that final reveal monologue. I'll admit I was too distracted this month in general (what with world events, my concentration taking a toll) to follow the intricacies of the case itself or keep track of which member made what statement - I don't feel like it's really necessary to be able to enjoy the book though. A fun ride especially for a lover of mysteries or in particular golden age crime stories, the internal and structural elements to the book made it a delight to read.
I read about this book somewhere and now can't remember the reference, but the writer made mention of the ever-more-elaborate solutions that the members of this Crimes Circle devise to explain the death of a upper-crust wife of an adulterous cad. And while the solutions are ingenious, and the book is filled with a disarmingly wry and subtle wit, I arrived at the end of the book a bit disappointed. Perhaps it was the fact that there are too many characters to keep track of (the final chapter even contains a spreadsheet of all the amateur sleuths' theories), or that the characters themselves never seemed more than cardboard, or that I just wasn't paying close enough attention, but overall, The Poisoned Chocolates Case reminded me of one of the confections in a Whitman's sampler: stale, ordinary, and not terribly appetizing...
This was an enjoyable variation on the cosy mystery story. (My edition has two further recent conclusions at the end, which I found unnecessary).
Oh god this awful drivel... all the characters are pompous windbags and stuffed to the brim filled with their own pride of themselves. I despise Roger Sheringham and find both the little meek man stupid and afraid of his own shadow. This is terrible stuff. It really should go back to being unpublished
From BBC radio 4 Extra:
A woman has died from eating poisoned chocolates intended for somebody else...
Can the amateur brains of Roger Sheringham's Crime Circle solve this intriguing crime that's stumped Scotland Yard over the past year?
Stars Neil Stacy as Roger Sheringham, Hilda Schroder as Mrs Fielder-Flamming, Conrad Phillips as Sir Charles Wildman, Victor Winding as Moresby, Michael Bilton as Chitterwick, Geoffrey Collins as Bradley, Jane Wenham as Alicia, William Eedle as Lockwood, Mark Straker as Bendix, Clive Panto as Sir Eustace, Eileen Tully as Mrs Bendix and Deborah Cranston Marguerite.
Director: Brian Miller
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1984.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097lnkn
A woman has died from eating poisoned chocolates intended for somebody else...
Can the amateur brains of Roger Sheringham's Crime Circle solve this intriguing crime that's stumped Scotland Yard over the past year?
Stars Neil Stacy as Roger Sheringham, Hilda Schroder as Mrs Fielder-Flamming, Conrad Phillips as Sir Charles Wildman, Victor Winding as Moresby, Michael Bilton as Chitterwick, Geoffrey Collins as Bradley, Jane Wenham as Alicia, William Eedle as Lockwood, Mark Straker as Bendix, Clive Panto as Sir Eustace, Eileen Tully as Mrs Bendix and Deborah Cranston Marguerite.
Director: Brian Miller
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1984.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b097lnkn
Ingenious, if occasionally a little dry. Some really pleasing gags though, and the whole thing does wonders for turning the mystery novel on its head, pointing out some of the flaws of the genre, while still holding up as an excellent example of it at the same time.
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Another utterly cosy and charming fireside murder mystery from the recently published British Library's series of Golden Age crime fiction. In this story, originally published in 1929, a well-to-do group of amateur sleuths and crime hobbyists gather to study and solve a murder that has baffled Scotland Yard. One by one they talk us through their theories, inching us closer and closer to real identity of the killer...