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A review by robinwalter
The Fortescue Candle by Brian Flynn
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
My seventh Anthony Bathurst mystery and the most entertaining yet. It gets 5 stars for being FUN! Right from the start, there is a lot of humour in the story.
Early in the book, there is another of Flynn's amusing little nods to "the fourth wall" as it were
“I should say he was reading in bed just before he was shot,” contributed the former. “Nothing unusual about that, Inspector, surely? Dozens of people do it. You’ll probably find that the book’s a detective story. It’s the custom nowadays for all great men to amuse themselves with ‘thrillers’. You know what they say, ‘It isn’t the blood that attracts them—it’s the problem.’” There was a touch of sarcasm in the doctor’s voice. (e.a.)
That whole sense of not taking itself seriously is what made this book such fun to read. To read the Scotland Yard chief say of a murder victim's speech that he "strewed the floor with aspirates for one thing. You had to walk warily to avoid falling over them." was an excellent indication of where the book was going in terms of tone.
This lack of self-importance was particularly obvious in the character of Anthony Bathurst himself in this book. This is the 18th Bathurst mystery, and it feels like the character has fully found his own voice. So much so that I intend to go back and read some of the mysteries in the series between number 11, the last one I read, and this one.
It didn't hurt to read a line that reminded me of home, in a way Flynn could not have foreseen. At one point Bathurst reveals his schooling background by saying "Rugby, my dear Inspector. Where a certain William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it.” Having grown up in a country where EVERY school was a Rugby school , where Rugby a religion and William Webb Ellis its prophet, this line definitely made me smile.
Something else that made this a fun and relaxing read was the fact that I was making no effort to figure it out. As always, a feature of this Dean Street Press edition was the excellent introduction by Steve Barge, the Golden Age mystery historian/archivist/revivalist who has made bringing Flynn back to the public eye a campaign, one that is succeeding very well. In his introduction to this book, he talks about the motive for the murders and how Bathurst didn't figure it out until almost the end.
This book features two murders, apparently completely disparate and yet somehow connected. When the motive for the first of them was revealed, I exclaimed in delight – both at Flynn's brilliant choice of a motive and at Steve Barge's clever highlighting of it in his introduction. A murder mystery where the revelation of a murder motive causes amused surprise? That takes some doing.
Even though I was making no effort to solve the mystery, I did figure out a character who was very closely connected with the second murder. To his credit, Flynn made it fairly obvious that this character was not entirely what they seemed, so no great deductive powers were required. If the revelation of the motive for the FIRST murder solved brought amusement, the revelation of the motive for the second murder solved literally had me laughing out loud, it took my breath away with its novelty and humour. Of the hundreds of murder mysteries I've read over the decades, I honestly don't think I've EVER read one before with this motive - it was hilarious! There was also some mildly ironic amusement in the fact that a whodunnit I made no effort to solve was one in which I d figure out one key element of the primary murder.
Over the course of this 53 or so Bathurst mysteries, Flynn apparently tried all sorts of different styles. The style he chose for this one was exactly my style and I hope to find many more.
Early in the book, there is another of Flynn's amusing little nods to "the fourth wall" as it were
“I should say he was reading in bed just before he was shot,” contributed the former. “Nothing unusual about that, Inspector, surely? Dozens of people do it. You’ll probably find that the book’s a detective story. It’s the custom nowadays for all great men to amuse themselves with ‘thrillers’. You know what they say, ‘It isn’t the blood that attracts them—it’s the problem.’” There was a touch of sarcasm in the doctor’s voice. (e.a.)
That whole sense of not taking itself seriously is what made this book such fun to read. To read the Scotland Yard chief say of a murder victim's speech that he "strewed the floor with aspirates for one thing. You had to walk warily to avoid falling over them." was an excellent indication of where the book was going in terms of tone.
This lack of self-importance was particularly obvious in the character of Anthony Bathurst himself in this book. This is the 18th Bathurst mystery, and it feels like the character has fully found his own voice. So much so that I intend to go back and read some of the mysteries in the series between number 11, the last one I read, and this one.
It didn't hurt to read a line that reminded me of home, in a way Flynn could not have foreseen. At one point Bathurst reveals his schooling background by saying "Rugby, my dear Inspector. Where a certain William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it.” Having grown up in a country where EVERY school was a Rugby school , where Rugby a religion and William Webb Ellis its prophet, this line definitely made me smile.
Something else that made this a fun and relaxing read was the fact that I was making no effort to figure it out. As always, a feature of this Dean Street Press edition was the excellent introduction by Steve Barge, the Golden Age mystery historian/archivist/revivalist who has made bringing Flynn back to the public eye a campaign, one that is succeeding very well. In his introduction to this book, he talks about the motive for the murders and how Bathurst didn't figure it out until almost the end.
This book features two murders, apparently completely disparate and yet somehow connected. When the motive for the first of them was revealed, I exclaimed in delight – both at Flynn's brilliant choice of a motive and at Steve Barge's clever highlighting of it in his introduction. A murder mystery where the revelation of a murder motive causes amused surprise? That takes some doing.
Even though I was making no effort to solve the mystery, I did figure out a character who was very closely connected with the second murder. To his credit, Flynn made it fairly obvious that this character was not entirely what they seemed, so no great deductive powers were required. If the revelation of the motive for the FIRST murder solved brought amusement, the revelation of the motive for the second murder solved literally had me laughing out loud, it took my breath away with its novelty and humour. Of the hundreds of murder mysteries I've read over the decades, I honestly don't think I've EVER read one before with this motive - it was hilarious! There was also some mildly ironic amusement in the fact that a whodunnit I made no effort to solve was one in which I d figure out one key element of the primary murder.
Over the course of this 53 or so Bathurst mysteries, Flynn apparently tried all sorts of different styles. The style he chose for this one was exactly my style and I hope to find many more.