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crazygoangirl 's review for:

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
3.5
challenging mysterious reflective fast-paced

This second book by Anthony Berkeley and the first Roger Sheringham book I’ve read, was a huge improvement on The Wintringham Mystery.

In this one (apparently the most famous of Berkeley’s books), we follow Sheringham and the members of his Crime Circle - a quirky set of characters, among them writers, a lawyer and an ordinary citizen - as they try to solve a poisoning case,  in which the police have reached a dead end. It was cleverly written with Berkeley’s characteristic sense of humour and irony, and every solution presented by each member had its own salient points for and against it.

The original solution provided by Berkeley was ingenious and the two newer ones by Christianna Brand and Martin Edwards were equally intriguing and believable. This book was rather like a lesson in ‘how to plot a mystery’, as each member of the Crime Circle deconstructed his/her solution. A fun, enjoyable read! Recommended for fans of golden age mysteries who are looking for something a little different from the norm of the times.