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A review by robinwalter
Murder of Lydia by Joan A. Cowdroy
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
A Chinese character who is neither a servile lackey nor a criminal, but a respected former policeman? Ellery Queen's head would explode!
A Chinese man who married a woman of good English stock and fathered a mixed-race Sinophone child? Peter Wimsey's head would explode!
Consummations DEVOUTLY to be wished.😁
The sheer novelty value of a realistically and sympathetically portrayed Asian lead character in a book from the England of the 1930s bumped this from 4 to 4.25 for me. This was my first Mr Moh, recommended by Dean Street Press. It was Moh's second appearance in Cowdroy's work, and the story was an enjoyable timepass.
I found the affected vocabulary Moh spouted a little troubling at first, because it seemed like a slightly stereotypical portrayal of an Asian Non-L1-Anglophone. However, about a third of the way through the book, Moh is specifically described as speaking "with none of his usual floweriness of diction" and that made it all ok - because it made it clear that it WAS an affectation, of the character's choice.
The other reason I really loved the portrayal of Moh is that other characters in the book did betray the attitudes typical of the time. At one point I had to turn a "page" to finish a sentence that started with "a chink" and was relieved to find it finish with "of light". That the other usage appears in the book shows that Ms Cowdroy was well aware of the way most of her contemporaries viewed "the other", but either did not share those views or managed to set them aside for her character. Moh also references the way he is treated by his English in-laws, again, exactly as would be the norm for the time.
As for the mystery itself, it was easy to follow and delightfully set up. By no later than 1/5 of the way through the book I knew who the culprit was and by the final fifth I was impatient to get the big reveal done so that I could gloat. That triumph never came! I'm not sure if t was strictly fair play or not. I felt that Gorham, the lead Scotland Yard detective, had held something back, but it's possible my own sublime and utterly misguided certainty caused me to miss a detail that would have enabled me to get it right.
I have far too many Golden Age mysteries already waiting for me, so I'm not sure if I'll get around to another Moh, but I enjoyed this one enough to add Cowdroy to my "maybe" list and I strongly recommend this one for anyone who wants a Golden Age Mystery that matter-of-factly propounds the then heresy that non-whites are human beings.
A Chinese man who married a woman of good English stock and fathered a mixed-race Sinophone child? Peter Wimsey's head would explode!
Consummations DEVOUTLY to be wished.😁
The sheer novelty value of a realistically and sympathetically portrayed Asian lead character in a book from the England of the 1930s bumped this from 4 to 4.25 for me. This was my first Mr Moh, recommended by Dean Street Press. It was Moh's second appearance in Cowdroy's work, and the story was an enjoyable timepass.
I found the affected vocabulary Moh spouted a little troubling at first, because it seemed like a slightly stereotypical portrayal of an Asian Non-L1-Anglophone. However, about a third of the way through the book, Moh is specifically described as speaking "with none of his usual floweriness of diction" and that made it all ok - because it made it clear that it WAS an affectation, of the character's choice.
The other reason I really loved the portrayal of Moh is that other characters in the book did betray the attitudes typical of the time. At one point I had to turn a "page" to finish a sentence that started with "a chink" and was relieved to find it finish with "of light". That the other usage appears in the book shows that Ms Cowdroy was well aware of the way most of her contemporaries viewed "the other", but either did not share those views or managed to set them aside for her character. Moh also references the way he is treated by his English in-laws, again, exactly as would be the norm for the time.
As for the mystery itself, it was easy to follow and delightfully set up. By no later than 1/5 of the way through the book I knew who the culprit was and by the final fifth I was impatient to get the big reveal done so that I could gloat. That triumph never came! I'm not sure if t was strictly fair play or not. I felt that Gorham, the lead Scotland Yard detective, had held something back, but it's possible my own sublime and utterly misguided certainty caused me to miss a detail that would have enabled me to get it right.
I have far too many Golden Age mysteries already waiting for me, so I'm not sure if I'll get around to another Moh, but I enjoyed this one enough to add Cowdroy to my "maybe" list and I strongly recommend this one for anyone who wants a Golden Age Mystery that matter-of-factly propounds the then heresy that non-whites are human beings.