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mimiathereader's review against another edition
4.0
Já o tinha lido antes e tinha gostado. Como estava a precisar de um livro acolhedor para lidar com este tempo chuvoso e já estava na minha pilha para reler, achei que o melhor era lê-lo agora mesmo que já estivesse a ler outros mil livros ao mesmo tempo. Fiz bem porque era o que me lembrava. Não é o mistério mais fascinante nem nada que se pareça, a maior piada é saber que foi escrito por vários autores que não sabiam qual ia ser o final.
Nota - Aconselho que se leia todo o livro de seguida e só depois as soluções propostas pelos autores de cada capítulo. Eu li capítulo-solução-capítulo e tornou-se um pouco confuso.
Nota - Aconselho que se leia todo o livro de seguida e só depois as soluções propostas pelos autores de cada capítulo. Eu li capítulo-solução-capítulo e tornou-se um pouco confuso.
tahlia__nerds_out's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
exurbanis's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
Published in 1931, this "serial novel" was written, a chapter each, by the members of the Detection Club. Interesting now more for the style and plotting of each individual author (eg Ronald Knox of "Ten Rules of Detective Fiction" fame collecting, listing & organizing all of the data from all the preceding writers at about the halfway point of the book, but not advancing the plot in any substantial way).
This type of book is almost impossible to pull off successfully. The Detection Club does as well as any group of authors might have.
Published in 1931, this "serial novel" was written, a chapter each, by the members of the Detection Club. Interesting now more for the style and plotting of each individual author (eg Ronald Knox of "Ten Rules of Detective Fiction" fame collecting, listing & organizing all of the data from all the preceding writers at about the halfway point of the book, but not advancing the plot in any substantial way).
This type of book is almost impossible to pull off successfully. The Detection Club does as well as any group of authors might have.
alexsaunders'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
nelia's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
1347296's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars is a bit generous, but oh the balls in took to write a book in which you know no more than the eventual reader and one must really reward bravery. parts deserved five stars, and occasionally I did want to find out whose nephew a chapter's author was, but given the disparity of their proposed solutions it's something of a miracle it worked at all, let alone well. it will not go down in history as great literature, but it will unquestionably be remembered
mrs_merdle's review against another edition
3.0
This was fun, but mostly for the novelty value - it's basically a writing exercise/game the authors played, and it only barely hangs together. However, it's certainly worth reading if you're a fan of this period of detective novels, which I am. It's very uneven (Dorothy L.Sayers and G.K. Chesterton wrote the most coherent chapters, I thought, and Chesterton wrote his prologue after everything else had been written, so he knew the entire plot) and one of the authors spent most of his chapter pointing out the failings of the previous chapters, which was annoying, but overall it was fun.
melissaleigh'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? It's complicated
3.75
crazygoangirl's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
An experiment gone haywire in my opinion. 13 British authors, members of The Detection Club come together to write this mystery. I’d not heard or read any of them except three - Chesterton, Christie and Sayers - who are on their own experts at their craft. An admiral is dead and his body comes floating down the river in the vicar’s boat. A great premise that sinks quickly from over-plotting, over-writing and dismal characterisations. The vicar’s sons held promise but disappeared halfway through the narrative. After a while, I just didn’t care!
This collaboration just didn’t work for me. It was slow, repetitive and frankly just tedious. It didn’t seem like the authors were invested in the story and it showed in their writing. Thirty nine Articles of Doubt by Ronald Knox in which he lists 39 points that Inspector Rudge needs to solve was perhaps the most boring chapter in an extremely boring book! The characters were ill defined and flat - none of the liveliness and intelligence that characterises Christie’s and Sayer’s books. I read in her biography that Christie wasn’t too keen on the project and refused to do it a second time - I can understand why! The disinterest shows in the writing.
This one is an excellent example of how individual talent doesn’t guarantee collective glory 🤷♀️😬
This collaboration just didn’t work for me. It was slow, repetitive and frankly just tedious. It didn’t seem like the authors were invested in the story and it showed in their writing. Thirty nine Articles of Doubt by Ronald Knox in which he lists 39 points that Inspector Rudge needs to solve was perhaps the most boring chapter in an extremely boring book! The characters were ill defined and flat - none of the liveliness and intelligence that characterises Christie’s and Sayer’s books. I read in her biography that Christie wasn’t too keen on the project and refused to do it a second time - I can understand why! The disinterest shows in the writing.
This one is an excellent example of how individual talent doesn’t guarantee collective glory 🤷♀️😬
jessica_sim's review against another edition
5.0
This is a fun read, but only if you are aware that it was written as a game. The big detective writers of the time came together and wrote one chapter each, all without knowing the direction the previous writers were taking with the story.
Each chapter is therefore written by someone else, which can be a bit confusing. All though they all seem to try and keep the narrative tone of those before them you can often still "hear" the author's own voice coming through too. Of course, that happens more with those writers you are familiar with. For me Dorothy Sayers, R Knox, Agatha Christie and Berkeley were very easy to spot and maybe even more enjoyable too.
You can imagine that a plot can become very confusing with twelve writers taking a go at it, and it absolutely does. But all that is forgiving the moment you open appendix I and you can read the theories each of them had in their own mind when they wrote their own chapters. I don't think I will ever think favorably of Canon Victor L. Whitechurch or G.D.H. and M. Cole because they apparently just wrote confusing chapters with no end game in mind.
Each chapter is therefore written by someone else, which can be a bit confusing. All though they all seem to try and keep the narrative tone of those before them you can often still "hear" the author's own voice coming through too. Of course, that happens more with those writers you are familiar with. For me Dorothy Sayers, R Knox, Agatha Christie and Berkeley were very easy to spot and maybe even more enjoyable too.
You can imagine that a plot can become very confusing with twelve writers taking a go at it, and it absolutely does. But all that is forgiving the moment you open appendix I and you can read the theories each of them had in their own mind when they wrote their own chapters. I don't think I will ever think favorably of Canon Victor L. Whitechurch or G.D.H. and M. Cole because they apparently just wrote confusing chapters with no end game in mind.