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ladulcinella's review against another edition
3.0
The idea to write with several writers a story, each following the former one is great. I enjoyed also recoginizing the specifics, especially of the well known authors.
Sadly, in the great idea, there is also weakness. The different parts are very uneven and some are not so good at all. And on a certain level, there is no feeling os a story, but one of lots of small elements.
Sadly, in the great idea, there is also weakness. The different parts are very uneven and some are not so good at all. And on a certain level, there is no feeling os a story, but one of lots of small elements.
bmip666's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
courtvallee's review against another edition
2.0
This is a fun idea, but in execution I thought it was mostly just a confused mess. For the most part, it was abundantly clear that each chapter was written by a different author. I also thought Agatha Christie's draft ending would have been a funny and elegant solution, but since she was only chapter four it wouldn't have fit in the end once all the random facts and characters were thrown into the mix.
meghan47's review against another edition
4.0
Not my favourite in terms of plot/characters, but it was a lot of fun as a literary experiment; each chapter was written by a different 1930s crime writer, including Christie and Sayers. The best bit was an appendix providing the endings that the different authors had planned.
clcbrownie's review against another edition
3.0
Most of the individual authors whose works I've read are better than this collective work. It was enjoyable, but overly complicated because of the shared format. I was surprised that the tone/voice of each author didn't change as dramatically and was overall more cohesive than I had anticipated.
dars's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Interesting from a historical context; The Detection Club included some main figures in the Golden Age of Crime Fiction. I appreciated being able to see their distinct writing styles and mystery craft side-by-side, but all in all the experiment in compiling this novel left the story fairly uneven and it lacked overall lacked cohesion. There’s something to be said for a mystery author having the end game in mind and being able to create a story around that.
shazzea's review against another edition
2.5
I think the idea is really interesting: a mystery story where each chapter is written by a different mystery author. It's pretty fun seeing these authors try to steer the story to the solution that they think is correct, sometimes by retconning clues that other authors left in. The funniest example of this is when one author closes their chapter by dropping the hint the victim is an imposter by having the person who discovered the body say it was strange that they didn't recognise him as they had been in the military together. The next chapter immediately has the detective assert that, well, he's an old man and his memory can't be relied upon. It was also amusing seeing how the detective character ranged from being a simple man to a bit of an asshole depending on who was writing him. I imagine the book would be even more fun if you were familiar with most of the writers. I was only familiar with Agatha Christie and her chapter made me smile as the detective consults with the local gossip, something which happens in many of Christie's works. All that being said, I couldn't call it a compelling or coherent narrative. It feels pointless to try to solve the mystery yourself as each writer has their own ideas and there were so many inconsistencies that it was hard to keep track of the characters and what they were doing. The final chapter did a pretty good job at resolving all of the clues but I still didn't feel very satisfied. There's also some racial slurs and stereotypes about chinese people and some other outdated tropes. It may have been a fun idea, but it wasn't a fun book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
bev_reads_mysteries's review against another edition
4.0
Admiral Penistone's body is found early one morning floating on the river. He has been stabbed to the heart and is adrift in the Vicar's boat. The previous evening he and his niece dined at the Vicar's, but they had used the Admiral's own boat to cross the river and return home. Why was the body found in the Vicar's boat? And where was he originally killed--for there are no blood stains at all in the bottom of the craft. Inspector Rudge is called in to discover whodunnit and why but runs across a myriad of half-truths, cover-ups, and missing witnesses. The Vicar obviously knows more than he's telling as do the niece and her fiance. Then it seems like everyone disappears on mysterious missions to London--the Vicar, the niece Elma, her fiance, and Sir Wilfred Denny, a neighbor who doesn't seem at first to have much to do with the crime at all. Who is the mysterious woman seen in the area on the night of murder and where has she gone? Why did Elma's French maid leave without collecting her final pay? Then there are the clues: an overcoat worn on a warm night, a second copy of a newspaper, a missing bit of the boat's mooring line, a secret file marked "X," and a missing weapon. Rudge has many (too many it seems to him) lines to follow and none of them seem to be leading anywhere definite. But he will get is man/woman in the end.
One of the first (if not the very first) collaborative detective novels written round-robin style among a group of detective novelists. Fourteen members of the The Detective Club settled down to tackle the mystery story. Each wrote a chapter after being presented with previous chapters from their colleagues and they were tasked with adding to (or in the case of Anthony Berkeley, presenting the solution to) the story without knowing what solution their predecessor/s had in mind. To ensure fair play (no adding things just make it more difficult), each author beyond the initial "setting the stage" chapters were also required to present their own solution to the crime based on the information given so far--including their own chapter.
I could tell while reading this that the club members had a great deal of fun with this. And it was great fun for this reader to watch them playing the game with each other. It understandably is not as smoothly written as it would have been had just one of them put the story together, but it works very well as a collaborative effort. Each author's style seeps in, but overall they manage to keep the tone and characters all of piece. I enjoyed this thoroughly when I first read it back in the 80s and I found it just as engaging reading it now.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
One of the first (if not the very first) collaborative detective novels written round-robin style among a group of detective novelists. Fourteen members of the The Detective Club settled down to tackle the mystery story. Each wrote a chapter after being presented with previous chapters from their colleagues and they were tasked with adding to (or in the case of Anthony Berkeley, presenting the solution to) the story without knowing what solution their predecessor/s had in mind. To ensure fair play (no adding things just make it more difficult), each author beyond the initial "setting the stage" chapters were also required to present their own solution to the crime based on the information given so far--including their own chapter.
I could tell while reading this that the club members had a great deal of fun with this. And it was great fun for this reader to watch them playing the game with each other. It understandably is not as smoothly written as it would have been had just one of them put the story together, but it works very well as a collaborative effort. Each author's style seeps in, but overall they manage to keep the tone and characters all of piece. I enjoyed this thoroughly when I first read it back in the 80s and I found it just as engaging reading it now.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
verityw's review against another edition
3.0
I quite liked The Floating Admiral which was a bit of a disappointment as I loved the concept - well known mystery writers all collaborate on a book, each writing a chapter. I didn't really empathise with any of the characters and particularly didn't really get to know the detective - probably because each writer was too preoccupied with their bit of plot. I thought that, perhaps unsurprisingly, there was a lack of consistency through the narrative - when I read the appendix this was explained by the fact that they all had different people down as the murder - and a lot of clues that ended up being irrelevant because of this. I might give one of the Dectection Club's other effords a go, but I won't be rushing out to buy them.