A review by hannahstohelit
The Perfect Alibi by Christopher St John Sprigg

mysterious medium-paced

3.75

Two things brought my rating for this one down from a 4- the writing style, which irritated me a bit, and the solution, which

while not as egregious as that of The Norwich Victims still relied WAY too much on someone living a double life in disguise and not being recognized by people who knew them

. There are some interesting and idiosyncratic characters, and everyone has kind of uncanny names that can be fun, and I do appreciate how some characters just roll into and out of significance very much in a way that feels more true to life than everyone being involved throughout- overall, this was enjoyable. Like the other book by Sprigg that I had read (Death of an Airman), this does involved at least one really dubious romance springing up out of nowhere on the last page (actually the one in Airman is far worse), but that just seems to be part and parcel of the genre, and I'd be unsurprised if it was more of an editorial imposition than a critical part of the plotting process... The solution wasn't a complete shock (except for the element in the spoiler, which I'd expected better than), but the author did do a good job at diverting attention from the possibility.