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tracey_stewart's review
5.0
This was so much fun. I had no idea Charlotte Armstrong wrote like this – I thought of her as "just" a writer of gothics. But this was a lovely little (in that it wasn't terribly long) classic mystery, and it sets in me a deep need to go get more Armstrong. That's one of the great things about reading authors who are now finished and gone – their body of work is extant and ready to be devoured.
Her character descriptions are wonderful.
- His voice was rich and deep and softly on a leash, as if there were volumes more of it, as if he could, if he wished, fill the whole stairwell with sound and as if it would be no effort at all for him to do so.
- He used a caressing (I suppose he thought it was fatherly) tone when he spoke to her, but all the time his eyes were running busily up and down on errands of their own.
- He had another man with him, a kind of echo, who stood and fastened his eyes on us as if he'd read how to do it in a correspondence course.
- "J.J. Jones?" "Clear and warm," I said, feeling sleepy, "and bright and warm."
Even the main character, Bessie, who is the tale's narrator, comes off the page vividly. She is young, naïve, smart, trying to stay afloat in a new atmosphere. "It just seemed to me that somebody ought to stay home and worry." She makes an assumption about the murder that occurs and runs away with it, perhaps fogging the truth, at least for the reader following her through the events. Before long, she's clinging to the only solidity she can find in Mr. J.J. Jones, not sure who else to trust. (She's actually not so naïve as all that, perhaps: "Look, Bessie, have you never read The Sheik?" "Of course I read it. It was forbidden.")
It's a smart book. MacDougal Duff comes into the picture as a very clever friend of Jones, who is expected to unravel the mystery. And Armstrong's handling of his name is terrific. There's a lesson to be learned here:
"But listen, don't say anything to him out of Shakespeare."
"Wh–what?"
"Mac's likely to think poorly of people who say 'Lay on, Mac Duff' to him. He says an intelligent person thinks of it, and realizes it's been said, and passes up the chance. But a dumbbell is so pleased with his own cleverness, he always says it."
(I learned another lesson as well – I didn't know there were twenty blocks to a mile in New York. Filed away for reference.)
For so short a book, there are some wonderful mini-essays, such as on the connection between history and detection and imagination, and whether there is such a thing, truly, as cold-blooded murder. And charity – "so often a mistake unless one knows exactly what one is doing."
This is a solid, thoughtfully told mystery, told with an assurance and flair that lets it fit very nicely into the Golden Age of mysteries. The accidental red herring of Bessie's assumption, the way the events of the game of Parcheesi at the start of the story are told – so serious when Bessie tells it, but so easy to dismiss – so hard for someone who was not there to take seriously, but so sinister … It was just a game. Right?
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review, with thanks.
Her character descriptions are wonderful.
- His voice was rich and deep and softly on a leash, as if there were volumes more of it, as if he could, if he wished, fill the whole stairwell with sound and as if it would be no effort at all for him to do so.
- He used a caressing (I suppose he thought it was fatherly) tone when he spoke to her, but all the time his eyes were running busily up and down on errands of their own.
- He had another man with him, a kind of echo, who stood and fastened his eyes on us as if he'd read how to do it in a correspondence course.
- "J.J. Jones?" "Clear and warm," I said, feeling sleepy, "and bright and warm."
Even the main character, Bessie, who is the tale's narrator, comes off the page vividly. She is young, naïve, smart, trying to stay afloat in a new atmosphere. "It just seemed to me that somebody ought to stay home and worry." She makes an assumption about the murder that occurs and runs away with it, perhaps fogging the truth, at least for the reader following her through the events. Before long, she's clinging to the only solidity she can find in Mr. J.J. Jones, not sure who else to trust. (She's actually not so naïve as all that, perhaps: "Look, Bessie, have you never read The Sheik?" "Of course I read it. It was forbidden.")
It's a smart book. MacDougal Duff comes into the picture as a very clever friend of Jones, who is expected to unravel the mystery. And Armstrong's handling of his name is terrific. There's a lesson to be learned here:
"But listen, don't say anything to him out of Shakespeare."
"Wh–what?"
"Mac's likely to think poorly of people who say 'Lay on, Mac Duff' to him. He says an intelligent person thinks of it, and realizes it's been said, and passes up the chance. But a dumbbell is so pleased with his own cleverness, he always says it."
(I learned another lesson as well – I didn't know there were twenty blocks to a mile in New York. Filed away for reference.)
For so short a book, there are some wonderful mini-essays, such as on the connection between history and detection and imagination, and whether there is such a thing, truly, as cold-blooded murder. And charity – "so often a mistake unless one knows exactly what one is doing."
This is a solid, thoughtfully told mystery, told with an assurance and flair that lets it fit very nicely into the Golden Age of mysteries. The accidental red herring of Bessie's assumption, the way the events of the game of Parcheesi at the start of the story are told – so serious when Bessie tells it, but so easy to dismiss – so hard for someone who was not there to take seriously, but so sinister … It was just a game. Right?
The usual disclaimer: I received this book via Netgalley for review, with thanks.
quietjenn's review
4.0
I super enjoyed this. Apparently I have read Armstrong before (or so goodreads tells me), but I've no memory of them. That should change, I think.
bev_reads_mysteries's review
3.0
I know I said in my review of The Chocolate Cobweb, that I wouldn't be all that eager to grab another Charlotte Armstrong any time soon. But Lay On, Mac Duff! has been on my TBR (to be found) list for a very long time and I was able to get my hands on it this weekend. That turned out to be a very good thing. Now I'm hoping that maybe the chocolate book was a fluke--or perhaps Armstrong was just trying out some really weird dialogue experiments.
Lay On, Mac Duff! tells the story of newly orphaned Bessie Gibbon who goes to live with her wealthy uncle and his much younger wife. On her very first night, she witnesses a very odd Parcheesi game between her uncle and three "friends." All four men play with intensity...as if their lives depend on the outcome! As well it may. Later that same night one of the men is found shot to death with a red playing piece on his body Is it possible that Bessie's uncle is the murderer? Or is it one of the other men? Or even Aunt Lina, the pretty young wife?
Armstrong's debut novel is a fun, light, cozy little murder. We have our very small set of suspects...a set that keeps getting smaller as the body count rises. It has everything one might want...a large house full of creepy, midnight shenanigans, faithful servants, a love interest for Bessie...and, for me, an amateur detective who used to be a history professor. (I love an academic twist to my mysteries!) Armstrong weaves a very strong tale of murder...that was fun even if I did spot the murderer early on. The characters are finely drawn and the atmosphere is just right. Hopefully, her other novels are more like this and less like the chocolate let-down. Three and a half stars out of five.
This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
Lay On, Mac Duff! tells the story of newly orphaned Bessie Gibbon who goes to live with her wealthy uncle and his much younger wife. On her very first night, she witnesses a very odd Parcheesi game between her uncle and three "friends." All four men play with intensity...as if their lives depend on the outcome! As well it may. Later that same night one of the men is found shot to death with a red playing piece on his body Is it possible that Bessie's uncle is the murderer? Or is it one of the other men? Or even Aunt Lina, the pretty young wife?
Armstrong's debut novel is a fun, light, cozy little murder. We have our very small set of suspects...a set that keeps getting smaller as the body count rises. It has everything one might want...a large house full of creepy, midnight shenanigans, faithful servants, a love interest for Bessie...and, for me, an amateur detective who used to be a history professor. (I love an academic twist to my mysteries!) Armstrong weaves a very strong tale of murder...that was fun even if I did spot the murderer early on. The characters are finely drawn and the atmosphere is just right. Hopefully, her other novels are more like this and less like the chocolate let-down. Three and a half stars out of five.
This review was first posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
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