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holtfan's review against another edition
4.0
Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton.
Imagine the great, classic authors of detective fiction playing a game. G.K. Chesterton writes the preface to a mystery. Then another author takes up his pen and writes the first chapter. Another writes the second chapter. Etc.
Nobody knows who did it. They have all their pet theories, of course. Each person writes down their guess to add to the end of the book along with an explanation about the clues they got and the clues they left. (My favorite line: "I am, frankly, in a complete muddle as to what has happened, and have tried to write a chapter that anyone can use to prove anything they like...")
The end result is, indeed, a complete muddle. And while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I would not recommend this as a mystery. It is no good guessing whodunnit when the answer quite literally depends on who is writing the chapter at the moment. While I admit I didn't see the twist coming in the final chapter, I can confidently say no one did but the author of that chapter. And it shows.
At the same time, what makes this book delightful is how each author's strengths and weaknesses shine through. They all start with basically the same characters. But a few adjectives here or there really make a difference. The wooden vicar of chapter 1 turns into a melodramatic but memorable side character in chapter 2. The any-man detective of the first three chapters gains a personality and hobby in chapter 4, only to turn into an inveterate follower of police procedure in chapter 5. Some chapters focus heavily on the unique personalities involved in the mystery. Others spend paragraphs organizing facts and clues.
The other aspect I enjoyed was reading through everyone's proposed solutions at the end of the mystery. Some authors spend pages accounting for every move by every character. Others try and guess what each author before them meant to do. And still others provide nothing more than a paragraph summarizing their best guess.
As a glimpse into the minds of various Golden Age detective authors and how they plotted, this was fun. Not much of a mystery but engaging despite the muddle.
Imagine the great, classic authors of detective fiction playing a game. G.K. Chesterton writes the preface to a mystery. Then another author takes up his pen and writes the first chapter. Another writes the second chapter. Etc.
Nobody knows who did it. They have all their pet theories, of course. Each person writes down their guess to add to the end of the book along with an explanation about the clues they got and the clues they left. (My favorite line: "I am, frankly, in a complete muddle as to what has happened, and have tried to write a chapter that anyone can use to prove anything they like...")
The end result is, indeed, a complete muddle. And while I thoroughly enjoyed it, I would not recommend this as a mystery. It is no good guessing whodunnit when the answer quite literally depends on who is writing the chapter at the moment. While I admit I didn't see the twist coming in the final chapter, I can confidently say no one did but the author of that chapter. And it shows.
At the same time, what makes this book delightful is how each author's strengths and weaknesses shine through. They all start with basically the same characters. But a few adjectives here or there really make a difference. The wooden vicar of chapter 1 turns into a melodramatic but memorable side character in chapter 2. The any-man detective of the first three chapters gains a personality and hobby in chapter 4, only to turn into an inveterate follower of police procedure in chapter 5. Some chapters focus heavily on the unique personalities involved in the mystery. Others spend paragraphs organizing facts and clues.
The other aspect I enjoyed was reading through everyone's proposed solutions at the end of the mystery. Some authors spend pages accounting for every move by every character. Others try and guess what each author before them meant to do. And still others provide nothing more than a paragraph summarizing their best guess.
As a glimpse into the minds of various Golden Age detective authors and how they plotted, this was fun. Not much of a mystery but engaging despite the muddle.
poirotketchup's review against another edition
3.0
It was fun to see the writers gently chide each others' plotting from chapter to chapter. But the knowledge that there wasn't a pre-planned solution did took some of the fun out of it.
stratisvougioukas's review against another edition
5.0
Tο διαβάζω για δεύτερη φορά. Η πρώτη το 1996 στο πλοίο από Νάξο για Πειραιά. Και πάλι με μαγεύει τόσο η ίδια η ιδέα της "σκυταλοδρομίας" όσο και το γεγονός ότι δε γίνεται αισθητά αντιληπτή η αλλαγή συγγραφέα ανά κεφάλαιο. Διαβάζεται εύκολα...στα Ελληνικά.
anwesha_rc's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this collaboration. So many well-known detective fiction authors coming together to form a story. The story is written with such precision and details that it shows the ability of these authors. It is not only consistent but also a gripping read.
julle1980's review against another edition
4.0
very clever story - the fact that it is written by several authors (and masters of crime) makes it even more intriguing. It is fun to read the different 'solutions' in the end, many of them were thinking along the same lines while writing
joshdoesntread's review against another edition
2.0
i mean props to clemence dane for just flat out saying she had no idea what was happening in her solution of the book. me too, queen!
readmore'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
3.5
sgeologist's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting concept. I read the solution written after each contributer's chapter and it helped keep the story straight, oddly enough. Rudge got really intelligent at the end all of the sudden and the details did finally sort out, but... well, I read this because I'm going through Agatha's bibliography and it was next. It's an interesting concept. Having experienced it once, I don't think I need to see it again.
zanyanomaly's review against another edition
5.0
AWESOME! The story ends with a twisting and exciting finish! I love THE DETECTION CLUB!
They were so talented!
Present authors can never measure up to their talents! Just My Opinion!
They were so talented!
Present authors can never measure up to their talents! Just My Opinion!