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littletaiko's review against another edition
4.0
A Most Contagious Game has so many things that I enjoy in a mystery - it's set in an English village, there is a hidden room, and fun characters. This is a stand alone book by the author of the Inspector Sloan series. It being a stand alone book is my only complaint. I really enjoyed spending time with these characters and want to learn more about what happened to them.
lgpiper's review against another edition
3.0
My spouse saw me reading two dead-tree books in a row, and thought to try to get me into the habit. So, she insisted I read this. It was an ok book, but I'll be glad to be getting back to my kindle. So will my tired arms and hands. Books are so heavy and unwieldy. ;-)
Anyway, this is one of those archetypal cozy-British-village, murder-mystery books which have been all the rage for close to a century now. This particular book came out not quite 50 years ago. We have a middle-aged man (50 something), who made a pile in London, but who also had a heart attack. So the "cure" was to quit work and go rest in the country...forever. I guess that was in the days before by-pass surgery and angioplasties (thank God we had angioplasties by 1987). Anyway, he buys an old Tudor manor house in a small village and is bored to tears.
But, he doesn't stay bored long. It seems that the house has a secret room, a place to hide Roman Catholic priests from back in the days when they were all being hunted down and executed, i.e. back in the late 17th century. It turns out there's a skeleton in the priest's hole, a skeleton that is roughly 150 years old, i.e. dating back to 1800 plus/minus. So, Thomas, the rich invalid, gets interested in tracking the family history of the people who lived in the house before him.
Along with "his" murder, Thomas becomes inadvertently involved in a more recent murder, a "village" murder. It seems that a young woman was just strangled. Her husband disappeared, and the police are trying to track him down to question him, perhaps arrest him and try him for the murder. Everyone in the village knows he didn't do it, so they're not much help to the police.
So, we get lots of background on priest holes and some history of the persecution of Roman Catholic families in those days, which is rather fun, and also some "mystery" bits, which are just so-so. I think the story about the 150-year-old murder mostly hangs together. The more recent murder not so much. Perhaps the author just forgot to add in some important details, or forgot to notice that some things just plain don't much make sense. Not unusual in this genre. Whatever, it's a reasonably GoodRead, though perhaps not a great one.
Anyway, this is one of those archetypal cozy-British-village, murder-mystery books which have been all the rage for close to a century now. This particular book came out not quite 50 years ago. We have a middle-aged man (50 something), who made a pile in London, but who also had a heart attack. So the "cure" was to quit work and go rest in the country...forever. I guess that was in the days before by-pass surgery and angioplasties (thank God we had angioplasties by 1987). Anyway, he buys an old Tudor manor house in a small village and is bored to tears.
But, he doesn't stay bored long. It seems that the house has a secret room, a place to hide Roman Catholic priests from back in the days when they were all being hunted down and executed, i.e. back in the late 17th century. It turns out there's a skeleton in the priest's hole, a skeleton that is roughly 150 years old, i.e. dating back to 1800 plus/minus. So, Thomas, the rich invalid, gets interested in tracking the family history of the people who lived in the house before him.
Along with "his" murder, Thomas becomes inadvertently involved in a more recent murder, a "village" murder. It seems that a young woman was just strangled. Her husband disappeared, and the police are trying to track him down to question him, perhaps arrest him and try him for the murder. Everyone in the village knows he didn't do it, so they're not much help to the police.
So, we get lots of background on priest holes and some history of the persecution of Roman Catholic families in those days, which is rather fun, and also some "mystery" bits, which are just so-so. I think the story about the 150-year-old murder mostly hangs together. The more recent murder not so much. Perhaps the author just forgot to add in some important details, or forgot to notice that some things just plain don't much make sense. Not unusual in this genre. Whatever, it's a reasonably GoodRead, though perhaps not a great one.
quietjenn's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty sure that this was a goodreads recommendation and, based on this and a few others, I should start paying more attention to what the algorithms say. Very entertaining mystery, mixing the modern (well, 1967, when it was published).
cmbohn's review against another edition
4.0
"The Most Contagious Game" is a stand alone novel by Catherine Aird. It follows a retired man who finds a skeleton while trying to have his home rewired. It seems the skeleton is about 150 years old, and so the police don't care who the murderer is, but our hero, Tom does. Soon, he is able to piece together the motive for the killing, and so discovers the killer. In the meantime, the police are trying to solve a modern murder, with the suspect in hiding. The two mysteries entwine, and so our hero helps to solve two crimes. Good book, with solid information about priest holes, and such.
CMB
CMB
irishannie's review against another edition
4.0
Good mystery, but we still don't know why the murder victim was being blackmailed. Mystery, within a mystery.
michelleful's review against another edition
5.0
Serendipity is what brought me to this book - walked past the university book exchange today and stumbled upon it. Brought it back, and a couple of hours later, I'm done. If not for this, I am 100% sure I would never ever have heard of this author or read this book, and now I want to read more!
The story is set in a quiet English village, its unlikely protagonist a retired City banker who's had a heart attack and been consigned to the country to recuperate. Investigating a mystery of the electric system in the ancient manor he's bought, he discovers one day a "priest's hole" - a small space in which to hide a priest when Catholics were being persecuted in England. In it lies a skeleton of a boy, dead almost 200 years. Since the police don't care to investigate, he sets out to do so himself, and brings the reader along on the ride.
What I really enjoyed about this book was that I felt like I was getting all the clues and could contribute in figuring out what was going on. There were a couple of elements that seemed unnecessary and plucked out of nowhere, but overall the plot was really skilfully woven and all the reasoning logical - nothing truly genius about it, but good old-fashioned puzzling out a mystery.
The story is set in a quiet English village, its unlikely protagonist a retired City banker who's had a heart attack and been consigned to the country to recuperate. Investigating a mystery of the electric system in the ancient manor he's bought, he discovers one day a "priest's hole" - a small space in which to hide a priest when Catholics were being persecuted in England. In it lies a skeleton of a boy, dead almost 200 years. Since the police don't care to investigate, he sets out to do so himself, and brings the reader along on the ride.
What I really enjoyed about this book was that I felt like I was getting all the clues and could contribute in figuring out what was going on. There were a couple of elements that seemed unnecessary and plucked out of nowhere, but overall the plot was really skilfully woven and all the reasoning logical - nothing truly genius about it, but good old-fashioned puzzling out a mystery.
depizan's review against another edition
3.0
A very amblingly paced mystery, and one that would probably be better if it were just about the historical mystery. The modern mystery didn't go all that well with the casual pace, and brought in some kind of disturbing things at the end.
janetlun's review against another edition
This one is a departure from Aird's usual (and excellent) Chief Inspector Sloan and Constable Crosby. In this book, a wealthy and hard-driving business man has a heart attack, and retires to the country in a old Tudor manor house. He and his wife discover a priest's hole, with a very old skeleton in it, and he investigates who the victim might be and who killed them.
As is always the case in this peaceful little country town, someone else has been murdered. That murder, and the village's response to it, forms another plot.
A fine, entertaining read.
As is always the case in this peaceful little country town, someone else has been murdered. That murder, and the village's response to it, forms another plot.
A fine, entertaining read.
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