A review by danperlman
The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill

4.0

Generally considered the first ever "locked room mystery", the book is less about the mystery than it is about the characters involved in the investigation. Extremely well written prose. As the readers, we're afforded little in the way of detail - we're not party to the investigation itself, we don't get to see any clues, we aren't privy to any interviews or depositions, such as they may have been at the time (this book was published in 1892, London). Instead, we get to listen in to the thoughts and occasionally the conversations, of the various witnesses and one of the principal investigators, who is outside the police force. As such, most of the enjoyment of the book comes from the intricacies of their observations and musings. The end result may or may not be a surprise, it depends on how close attention you're paying to those various inner monologues, but it's not the result that matters in the last pages anyway.