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A review by veenasoujanya
The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley
5.0
This is one of the best mysteries I have ever read.
Hearing about the mysteries by different authors printed under"British Library Crime Classics" , I wanted to try them since a long time. With the free Kindle Unlimited, I was able to find few books and picked this one by chance. But what a book!
When Joan Bendix, the wife of rich Graham Bendix dies of poisoned chocolates, everyone considers it to be a murder by mistake as the chocolate box was intended to reach Sir Eustace Pennefather, a womanizer and a person of maligned character. When the Scotland Yard fails to catch the culprit, who wants to murder Sir Pennefather, they conclude that the sender must have been some maniac or a fanatic trying to rid society of one of its most immoral members.
Then come into the picture, a group of armchair detectives, who have founded the "Crimes Circle". A barrister, a writer of detective novels, a dramatist,a female author and the President of the circle Roger Sheringham who are all famous along with Mr Chitterwick, a common man of no particular appearance are the six members of this elite Circle, who have passed many tests and deserved a place for themselves in the group.
Chief Inspector Moresby, hands over the details of the case to the Crime Circle, by the request of Mr Sheringham to assist the Scotland Yard. The Circle decides to solve the case individually and present before the members, one by one their theory and suspect.After taking a week, each one comes up with a different take on the murder.
With the police established few facts beyond any doubt; that the parcel was posted the previous evening near The Strand; that the poison that was injected into each of the chocolates is nitrobenzene; and that the accompanying letter was typewritten on a piece of stationery from the manufacturers of the chocolates but not composed or sent by them; the six members present six different theories, six different motives and six different culprits; each one perfectly fitting the case.
The book is awesome, with two more alternative endings given in recent reprints. Leaving the fantastic story aside, the words and the vocabulary used by Berkeley is beautiful.It was hard for me to stop and check the meanings in between (thank God for Kindle, I needn't spend much time looking for them); but I can say i learnt at least a dozen new words. The language was beautiful and lyrical.
With an engaging mystery and an underlying tongue in cheek humor, it is one of must reads.
Hearing about the mysteries by different authors printed under"British Library Crime Classics" , I wanted to try them since a long time. With the free Kindle Unlimited, I was able to find few books and picked this one by chance. But what a book!
When Joan Bendix, the wife of rich Graham Bendix dies of poisoned chocolates, everyone considers it to be a murder by mistake as the chocolate box was intended to reach Sir Eustace Pennefather, a womanizer and a person of maligned character. When the Scotland Yard fails to catch the culprit, who wants to murder Sir Pennefather, they conclude that the sender must have been some maniac or a fanatic trying to rid society of one of its most immoral members.
Then come into the picture, a group of armchair detectives, who have founded the "Crimes Circle". A barrister, a writer of detective novels, a dramatist,a female author and the President of the circle Roger Sheringham who are all famous along with Mr Chitterwick, a common man of no particular appearance are the six members of this elite Circle, who have passed many tests and deserved a place for themselves in the group.
Chief Inspector Moresby, hands over the details of the case to the Crime Circle, by the request of Mr Sheringham to assist the Scotland Yard. The Circle decides to solve the case individually and present before the members, one by one their theory and suspect.After taking a week, each one comes up with a different take on the murder.
With the police established few facts beyond any doubt; that the parcel was posted the previous evening near The Strand; that the poison that was injected into each of the chocolates is nitrobenzene; and that the accompanying letter was typewritten on a piece of stationery from the manufacturers of the chocolates but not composed or sent by them; the six members present six different theories, six different motives and six different culprits; each one perfectly fitting the case.
The book is awesome, with two more alternative endings given in recent reprints. Leaving the fantastic story aside, the words and the vocabulary used by Berkeley is beautiful.It was hard for me to stop and check the meanings in between (thank God for Kindle, I needn't spend much time looking for them); but I can say i learnt at least a dozen new words. The language was beautiful and lyrical.
With an engaging mystery and an underlying tongue in cheek humor, it is one of must reads.