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giantarms's review
3.0
I don't normally read mysteries, but this one was knocking around the house and I've been feeling the urge to read something light amongst my Serious Inquiries and Moby Dick reading. What I am trying to impress upon you is that I didn't know anything about the book other than what what written on the back.
For about one quarter of the book we meet a bunch of rich people standing around in a big weird house with a history of scandal all of its own. Our hero and the young thing who's the daughter of the house's owner have moon-eyes for each other (professionally, at a respectful distance, except for when there was spying to be done). Then UH OH MURDER. Probably should have seen that coming from the drawing of the dead guy on the cover. What seems like forever after that, we learn that Our Hero is actually just Some Guy when Sir Henry Merrivale shows up to take that role from him. Which is just as well because that other guy was a real wheel-spinner. Probably. I've forgotten by now.
Anyway, this newcomer must be somebody important, I think to myself, because everybody but me seems to know who he is. It turns out he's kind of delightful. He's nice to the servants and he's nice to children and he wears a big dumb hat so these are all points in his favor.
At the end of the book he solves the mystery (OR DOES HE) (no he does). And he thoughfully reminds us of all the batshit nonsequiturs everybody said at the beginning of the book which then become perfectly normal sequiturs under his insight.
Probably this is just how normal mystery novels work? What do I know. Anyway, if you still have a place in your heart that finds well dressed, polite people swanning about in ridiculous houses diverting, you could do worse? After all, the killer was.
For about one quarter of the book we meet a bunch of rich people standing around in a big weird house with a history of scandal all of its own. Our hero and the young thing who's the daughter of the house's owner have moon-eyes for each other (professionally, at a respectful distance, except for when there was spying to be done). Then UH OH MURDER. Probably should have seen that coming from the drawing of the dead guy on the cover. What seems like forever after that, we learn that Our Hero is actually just Some Guy when Sir Henry Merrivale shows up to take that role from him. Which is just as well because that other guy was a real wheel-spinner. Probably. I've forgotten by now.
Anyway, this newcomer must be somebody important, I think to myself, because everybody but me seems to know who he is. It turns out he's kind of delightful. He's nice to the servants and he's nice to children and he wears a big dumb hat so these are all points in his favor.
At the end of the book he solves the mystery (OR DOES HE) (no he does). And he thoughfully reminds us of all the batshit nonsequiturs everybody said at the beginning of the book which then become perfectly normal sequiturs under his insight.
Probably this is just how normal mystery novels work? What do I know. Anyway, if you still have a place in your heart that finds well dressed, polite people swanning about in ridiculous houses diverting, you could do worse? After all, the killer was
Spoiler
the one who did a racism
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