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Anty Boisjoly Mysteries #1
The Case of the Canterfell Codicil
There's a literary niche for all tastes including those who think that either Agatha Christie wasn't funny enough or that PG Wodehouse didn't feature anywhere near as many baffling murders as he could have. The Case of the Canterfell Codicil is a classic, cozy, locked-room mystery written in the style of an homage to PG Wodehouse. The result, for those familiar with Wodehouse or Jerome K Jerome and Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers, is either an inexcusable offence to several beloved canons, or a hilarious, fast-paced, manor house murder mystery.
In The Case of the Canterfell Codicil, Wodehousian gadabout and clubman Anty Boisjoly takes on his first case when his old Oxford chum and coxswain is facing the gallows, accused of the murder of his wealthy uncle. Not one but two locked-room mysteries later, Boisjoly's pitting his wits and witticisms against a subversive butler, a senile footman, a single-minded detective inspector, an irascible goat, and the eccentric conventions of the pastoral Sussex countryside to untangle a multilayered mystery of secret bequests, ancient writs, love triangles, revenge, and a teasing twist in the final paragraph.
In The Case of the Canterfell Codicil, Wodehousian gadabout and clubman Anty Boisjoly takes on his first case when his old Oxford chum and coxswain is facing the gallows, accused of the murder of his wealthy uncle. Not one but two locked-room mysteries later, Boisjoly's pitting his wits and witticisms against a subversive butler, a senile footman, a single-minded detective inspector, an irascible goat, and the eccentric conventions of the pastoral Sussex countryside to untangle a multilayered mystery of secret bequests, ancient writs, love triangles, revenge, and a teasing twist in the final paragraph.
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First published October 1, 2020
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About the author
P.J. Fitzsimmons
12 books276 followersI’m a freelance ghost for mainstream genres but when I’m my own man I write strictly for the laughs. I dream of an alternative reality in which PG Wodehouse wrote locked room mysteries, and in which I’m PG Wodehouse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 388 reviews
July 19, 2022
While Bertie/Wodehouse is a delight, there's only so many times one can read about the cow creamer escapade--I think. (I'm putting it at once every five to seven years, if you are interested). So when I saw this book advertised as 'Wodehousian,' my interest was definitely piqued.
This is definitely an homage, but an updated, snappier version, though it's worth noting that Antony Boisjoly shares Bertie's tendency to help out unfortunate friends, matchmake couples, and rely on a glass or two of restorative:
“Doesn’t it?” I created another unbalanced blend, granting shameless favouritism to the whisky over the soda."
Anty, as he is known to his friends, is called to the manor house of Fray when his old pal ("Fiddlesticks, for Fairfax and we called him Fairfax because his real name is Evelyn") is accused of murdering his wealthy uncle, Sebastian Caterfell. Anty has a reputation for solving a problem or two among his friends and provides both the insight of Jeeves and the comedic commentary of Bertie as he tries to help Fiddles out. There's definitely some lingering resentment of the late Caterfell, as he had applied some austre measures to managing the estate:
“You’ll have to manage your own bags, I’m afraid,” said Fiddles. “We’re on a skeleton staff. Butler, footman, cook, maid, and occasional scullery. And the one remaining gardener. It’s how I imagine living on a deserted island would be."
Fitzsimmons definitely has the comedy of manners down pat, and I'll freely admit to enjoying Anty's comments on the upper class.
“You mean you’d actually have to earn an officer’s rank?” I said, aghast. “Is that even possible, in an army of equals?”
It's a locked room murder mystery that goes through a couple of twists, one of them quite surprising. It ends up being a bit more complicated than I prefer, but with all the witty byplay it remained interesting. Fitzsimmons did a nice job of retaining some respect for somewhat stereotypical side characters and imbued them with a touch of pathos. It's always enjoyable to spend the afternoon with Bertie and a glass of refreshment. Or Anty.
“The resemblance is uncanny. You look enough alike to be close friends or acquaintances.”
Three and a half glasses, rounding up.
This is definitely an homage, but an updated, snappier version, though it's worth noting that Antony Boisjoly shares Bertie's tendency to help out unfortunate friends, matchmake couples, and rely on a glass or two of restorative:
“Doesn’t it?” I created another unbalanced blend, granting shameless favouritism to the whisky over the soda."
Anty, as he is known to his friends, is called to the manor house of Fray when his old pal ("Fiddlesticks, for Fairfax and we called him Fairfax because his real name is Evelyn") is accused of murdering his wealthy uncle, Sebastian Caterfell. Anty has a reputation for solving a problem or two among his friends and provides both the insight of Jeeves and the comedic commentary of Bertie as he tries to help Fiddles out. There's definitely some lingering resentment of the late Caterfell, as he had applied some austre measures to managing the estate:
“You’ll have to manage your own bags, I’m afraid,” said Fiddles. “We’re on a skeleton staff. Butler, footman, cook, maid, and occasional scullery. And the one remaining gardener. It’s how I imagine living on a deserted island would be."
Fitzsimmons definitely has the comedy of manners down pat, and I'll freely admit to enjoying Anty's comments on the upper class.
“You mean you’d actually have to earn an officer’s rank?” I said, aghast. “Is that even possible, in an army of equals?”
It's a locked room murder mystery that goes through a couple of twists, one of them quite surprising. It ends up being a bit more complicated than I prefer, but with all the witty byplay it remained interesting. Fitzsimmons did a nice job of retaining some respect for somewhat stereotypical side characters and imbued them with a touch of pathos. It's always enjoyable to spend the afternoon with Bertie and a glass of refreshment. Or Anty.
“The resemblance is uncanny. You look enough alike to be close friends or acquaintances.”
Three and a half glasses, rounding up.
January 29, 2021
What a fun read! I love mysteries of all stripes, but there's something particularly wonderful about the enigma of a locked room mystery. This was an exemplary representative of the genre, with fresh surprises and impossible situations popping up in chapter after chapter, all of which kept me guessing right up until the end.
But as fun as the mystery was, that wasn't even the best part of this book. It was the voice, which was utterly delightful. Anty Boisjoly narrated the tale with such a snarky wit that I found myself laughing out loud time and time again. Usually, I find myself willing to forgive less-than-stellar writing if the mystery is intriguing enough, but in this case, I was enjoying the writing so much that I doubt I would have cared if the mystery had been solved on page three and the rest of the novel was just following Boisjoly around as he brushed his teeth and read the newspaper.
With its smart plot and droll style, there was simply nothing not to love about The Case of the Canterfell Codicil. I am delighted to see that it is the first of a series, and will be eager to read each new installment as it comes out!
*Many thanks to the author, publisher, and BookSirens, who provided me with an advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
But as fun as the mystery was, that wasn't even the best part of this book. It was the voice, which was utterly delightful. Anty Boisjoly narrated the tale with such a snarky wit that I found myself laughing out loud time and time again. Usually, I find myself willing to forgive less-than-stellar writing if the mystery is intriguing enough, but in this case, I was enjoying the writing so much that I doubt I would have cared if the mystery had been solved on page three and the rest of the novel was just following Boisjoly around as he brushed his teeth and read the newspaper.
With its smart plot and droll style, there was simply nothing not to love about The Case of the Canterfell Codicil. I am delighted to see that it is the first of a series, and will be eager to read each new installment as it comes out!
*Many thanks to the author, publisher, and BookSirens, who provided me with an advanced review copy for free. I am leaving this review voluntarily.*
September 19, 2022
If you like PG Wodehouse, you'll enjoy this romp through the British aristocracy. The story revolves around a codicil that may or may not exist but which involved the defenestration (from a locked room, of course) of a relative of Boisjoly's close friend. Defenestration is described as a violent disagreement with gravity. If you enjoy Wodehouse, word play, and amusing banter in an English manor setting, you will find this book amusing. I'll read the next one for sure.
December 18, 2024
What a hoot!
A locked room (two locked rooms, actually) mystery resolved by one Antony Boisjoly, a young gentleman of means in 1920s England. “Anty” is inspired by Woodhouse’s Bertie Wooster, if Bertie had been gifted with Jeeves’ intelligence.
He’s summoned to the manor house occupied by assorted members of the Canterfell family after his former Oxford coxwain Evelyn Fairfax Canterfell is accused of pitching his uncle Sebastian out a window to his death. Anty has a reputation among his friends for solving problems, and the predicament of Fairfax (or Fiddlesticks or just Fiddles) certainly qualifies.
As he wades through the possible motives of the various Canterfells, Anty matches wits with a Scotland Yard detective determined to find Fiddles guilty. It’s not really a fair fight, with Anty having the decided advantage in both senses of the word “wit”.
The pace of events crackles as Anty roams the house, grounds and village in search of explanations. Esoteric matters of 17th century politics and the rules regarding the inheritance of peerages turn out to be key, along with more contemporary matters of the heart and pocketbook. Also contributing to the resolution of the mystery are a malodorous goat, garrulous pub owner, socialist butler, alcoholic cook, and ancient footman, along with all those Canterfells, eccentric and otherwise.
Although the plot might be overly complex, that doesn’t detract from the overall fun of the book. Tim Bruce’s narration is spot on, enough so that I heartily recommend the audio version.
A locked room (two locked rooms, actually) mystery resolved by one Antony Boisjoly, a young gentleman of means in 1920s England. “Anty” is inspired by Woodhouse’s Bertie Wooster, if Bertie had been gifted with Jeeves’ intelligence.
He’s summoned to the manor house occupied by assorted members of the Canterfell family after his former Oxford coxwain Evelyn Fairfax Canterfell is accused of pitching his uncle Sebastian out a window to his death. Anty has a reputation among his friends for solving problems, and the predicament of Fairfax (or Fiddlesticks or just Fiddles) certainly qualifies.
As he wades through the possible motives of the various Canterfells, Anty matches wits with a Scotland Yard detective determined to find Fiddles guilty. It’s not really a fair fight, with Anty having the decided advantage in both senses of the word “wit”.
The pace of events crackles as Anty roams the house, grounds and village in search of explanations. Esoteric matters of 17th century politics and the rules regarding the inheritance of peerages turn out to be key, along with more contemporary matters of the heart and pocketbook. Also contributing to the resolution of the mystery are a malodorous goat, garrulous pub owner, socialist butler, alcoholic cook, and ancient footman, along with all those Canterfells, eccentric and otherwise.
Although the plot might be overly complex, that doesn’t detract from the overall fun of the book. Tim Bruce’s narration is spot on, enough so that I heartily recommend the audio version.
May 1, 2022
Wonderfully entertaining book filled with comic absurdities, accompanied by a neat little murder plot. The characters were uniquely fitted to the time and place and I am anxious to continue reading of Anty Boisjoly and what is next on deck.
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May 16, 2025
While having a drink at his club, Mr. Anthony Boisjoly (that's "Boo-juhlay") receives a "rummy" missive from his old school tie Evelyn "Fiddles" Fairfax announcing the death of one Sebastian Caterfell, uncle of Fiddles. Anty dashes off to the country to the village of Fray to help solve the mystery of who defenestrated Sebastian from inside a locked room. Inspector Wittersham is less than impressed with Anty's help but Anty knows the family and the house very well and is certain he can solve the mystery. He's also on hand to help sort out a love affair gone wrong and see to it that a second murder doesn't go unpunished.
This is a fun, entertaining and clever story set in a P.G. Wodehouseian sort of world where the gentlemen are lazy layabouts drinking at their clubs and know each other from school days and their biggest problem is how to find good servants. Unlike Wodehouse, this book contains a real whodunit mystery (or two). The humor is a little more understated and less zany than Wodehouse but the tone is certainly based on Wodehouse's jovial, insouciant tone of voice used in the Jeeves & Wooster series. If you haven't read Wodehouse, I would recommend starting there or this book may not seem as funny. Like Wodehouse's world, these people are the ruling class and there's no thought of questioning their place in the world. It's 1928 and the war is behind them and the future is unknown. It's a very jolly world - until someone gets murdered! The whodunit was a huge surprise. I didn't guess it was that person even though the why was figured out much earlier. The way the murder was committed was original and very strange but in keeping with the Wodehouse tradition. There were a few other plot twists that surprised me. The story feels a little too long in parts, especially in the exposition and between 80% and the final reveal but not too bad. My only major complaint was that I kept getting confused about how the characters were connected. I needed a cheat sheet or family tree to remember them all. I would recommend taking notes or setting aside a rainy day (preferably with a thunderstorm) for sipping tea and reading this book in one sitting so you don't get confused.
Anty may share characteristics in common with Bertie Wooster but unlike Bertie, Anty is actually clever and has a brain! His friends ask HIM to solve problems for them! I like Anty a lot, more than Bertie. Don't hate me but Bertie's brainlessness gets on my nerves and I need a break from Wodehouse before I can continue on to the next book! Anty's cleverness is astonishing. I'm not sure how he arrived at some of the conclusions he did! Anty shows his buffoonish side when trying to sort out the romantic problems of his friend, yet he's subtly being smart and figuring things out. "There are wheels within wheels" as Wodehouse always said!
Anty's friend, Evelyn Fairfax Canterfell is not as intelligent as Anty. Fiddles may be a lawyer but he sure is clueless when it comes to women! Fiddles is probably book smart and can memorize the law but not as good at understanding people. Fiddles is kind of appealing in a dumb, clueless sort of way in the beginning. I didn't care for him so much towards the end but I didn't want him to be the murderer. I didn't want him to be accused of murder either. His cousin, also Evelyn, Evelyn Harold Canterfell aka Hal, is a nice, boring sort of fellow. The kind of public school boy turned middle-aged. The older boys didn't like him much at school but he seems all right, for an upright sort of fellow.
Sebastian Canterfell took over the household management from his father, Major Evelyn Caterfell, who is getting on in years. Sebastian made drastic changes to the household not everyone is happy with. He upset the entire village because of his penny-pinching ways. Canterfell Hall exists to serve the village and he seems to have forgotten that sense of noblesse oblige. He was going to do something horrid that would affect the entire area forever and I don't agree at all with his plan. Sebastian doesn't sound like a pleasant person to live with but he didn't really deserve to be murdered, especially not tossed out a window -how humiliating! (and amusing for the reader). His brother, Halliwell, father of Fiddles, is just the opposite. He's also eccentric but in a hippie sort of way. Halliwell cares more about badgers and protecting the local badger population than he does about his brother. Halliwell is in his own world, back in Anglo-Saxon times. (I did have to look up some English history on Wikipedia because I don't remember learning about that in history class). He's so eccentric and amusing. I find him charming and the most likable character in the whole novel. Perhaps that's because he's the most modern or most liberal. I don't think he would murder his brother, not even to stop Sebastian's plan. There were too many other ripple effects from Sebastian's death that Halliwell doesn't want to deal with. No, he is most certainly not our murderer.
If it's not Sebastian's son or nephews, what about his wife? Laetitia doesn't seem to have had a happy marriage at all. Aren't the police supposed to look at the spouse first? She seems a bit suspicious. She's drinking a lot so she's either deeply unhappy or guilty! She comes across as selfish and whiny. I don't know if I really like her or not. but yet I feel sorry for her because as a woman of her time she basically lacked rights and was forced into a situation where she expected to be taken care of and not have to make her way in the world. Certainly the major wouldn't have killed his own son! Major Evelyn Canterfell was in the Boer War and in the military in India. He was trained to shoot to kill not chuck someone out the window. Plus he's elderly. I didn't really like him that much. He's the sort of smug Englishman who feels superior to "the natives" and goes on and on about the horrible (but to him glorious) things he did for the empire with no remorse or shame- typical of the time period and class. He's rather draconian when it comes to passing on his wealth to his family and doesn't understand times have changed, the young people don't think the same or feel the same and younger people can't be forced into doing what YOU want them to do or think is best for them. They have to find their own way. Yet, when secrets were revealed, I did feel rather sorry for him.
If we rule out the family, then we have one extra guest: Rosalind Pierpoint, a Maine socialite and some sort of cousin to Laetitia. She chose the wrong time to visit! Fiddles goes "potty" over Rosalind. It's love at first sight! I can't stand "soppy" romances and don't believe in love at first sight. She seems cold and rather uncaring about Fiddles. He's so lovestruck he can't think straight and she doesn't show him any empathy or much kindness. I want to like her because she isn't interested in romance right now but she's just too cool for me.
What about the servants? Lydde is an unbutlerlike butler, a communist who hates the upper class. He's a nasty sort of fellow who would in another man's death. He's insolent and does a bare minimum of work. I'm CERTAIN he MUST have had something to do with the murder. He's hiding a secret identity. There's no way someone like that would demean himself to work for the upper classes. Naturally, I do not care for him and long to see him removed. Then there's Vickers, superannuated valet. He served Anty's father AND grandfather, now he serves the Canterfrells as a footman?! The man is ancient and experiencing memory loss. He's a dear and innocent of wrongdoing. He should be butler and not Lydde. Actually he should be retired and living on a generous pension from Anty but if he has to work, he should be butler. While I don't think Luna the housemaid is guilty of murder, I think she knows more than she is willing to reveal. She's a very nervous sort of young woman and the death of her employer no doubt has her rattled. I quite like her character development and the conclusion to her plotline made me laugh. What about Miss Lively, the cook? Her food is inedible and possibly dangerous. Anty jokingly refers to her as a poisoner but what if she really is a murderer? She's lying about something or there's no way anyone would hire her to cook for them, even if she is inexpensive!
There are two additional suspects not connected to inside the house. The inn landlord, Porter, knows EVERYTHING about the family, the estate and all their past history. He seems to know what's going on more than he should for someone who isn't a family member or living in the house. He seems nice and friendly up to a certain point and then a motive is revealed and suddenly he's a suspect. The gardener, Mallet, also seems to know a lot about what's going on for someone who works outside. He serves up some comic relief chasing after his wayward, smelly goat. Mallet was in the right place at the right time to witness the murder but claims he doesn't know who the murderer is. He does have a motive and I wouldn't really blame him if he got so angry at Sebastian he chucked the man out the window but he doesn't seem like the type to commit premeditated murder. I kind of liked him.
The cast is rounded out by the bumbling police. Inspector Ivor Wittersham thinks he's smart but he is completely in the dark here. He stumbles around accusing the easiest suspect without digging deeper into other motives and finding out whether someone is lying. He enjoys playing the "bad cop" role and Mr. tough guy and finds Anty annoying but who solves the case for him? Hug Pennybun, the local bobby, an eternal optimist, will never catch a murderer. He's an uncomplicated man from the village and doesn't really have the mindset to understand a murderer. Hug is more of a comical character.
This was a fun and clever locked room mystery. I enjoyed this novel quite a lot. It's just the right kind of escapism to read right now and I hope to read the second in the series. Yes I am going to break my "female only" sleuths rule for at least one more book.
_________________________________
The audiobook is delightful! The narrator does different accents and voices for the characters. I especially like the barkeep/innkeeper who seems to know everything that's going on. I also like Sebastian Caterfell's voice. I got caught up in the last half hour of the story, after and while I remembered who did it, I didn't remember everything or how. There was a twist to the whodunit I didn't recall. To figure it out I would have had to take notes. I just went along for the ride and the story was a pleasant diversion while I worked. Thank you PJ Fitzsimmons for the original e-ARC and please keep Anty's adventures coming as long as he can manage them.
This is a fun, entertaining and clever story set in a P.G. Wodehouseian sort of world where the gentlemen are lazy layabouts drinking at their clubs and know each other from school days and their biggest problem is how to find good servants. Unlike Wodehouse, this book contains a real whodunit mystery (or two). The humor is a little more understated and less zany than Wodehouse but the tone is certainly based on Wodehouse's jovial, insouciant tone of voice used in the Jeeves & Wooster series. If you haven't read Wodehouse, I would recommend starting there or this book may not seem as funny. Like Wodehouse's world, these people are the ruling class and there's no thought of questioning their place in the world. It's 1928 and the war is behind them and the future is unknown. It's a very jolly world - until someone gets murdered! The whodunit was a huge surprise. I didn't guess it was that person even though the why was figured out much earlier. The way the murder was committed was original and very strange but in keeping with the Wodehouse tradition. There were a few other plot twists that surprised me. The story feels a little too long in parts, especially in the exposition and between 80% and the final reveal but not too bad. My only major complaint was that I kept getting confused about how the characters were connected. I needed a cheat sheet or family tree to remember them all. I would recommend taking notes or setting aside a rainy day (preferably with a thunderstorm) for sipping tea and reading this book in one sitting so you don't get confused.
Anty may share characteristics in common with Bertie Wooster but unlike Bertie, Anty is actually clever and has a brain! His friends ask HIM to solve problems for them! I like Anty a lot, more than Bertie. Don't hate me but Bertie's brainlessness gets on my nerves and I need a break from Wodehouse before I can continue on to the next book! Anty's cleverness is astonishing. I'm not sure how he arrived at some of the conclusions he did! Anty shows his buffoonish side when trying to sort out the romantic problems of his friend, yet he's subtly being smart and figuring things out. "There are wheels within wheels" as Wodehouse always said!
Anty's friend, Evelyn Fairfax Canterfell is not as intelligent as Anty. Fiddles may be a lawyer but he sure is clueless when it comes to women! Fiddles is probably book smart and can memorize the law but not as good at understanding people. Fiddles is kind of appealing in a dumb, clueless sort of way in the beginning. I didn't care for him so much towards the end but I didn't want him to be the murderer. I didn't want him to be accused of murder either. His cousin, also Evelyn, Evelyn Harold Canterfell aka Hal, is a nice, boring sort of fellow. The kind of public school boy turned middle-aged. The older boys didn't like him much at school but he seems all right, for an upright sort of fellow.
Sebastian Canterfell took over the household management from his father, Major Evelyn Caterfell, who is getting on in years. Sebastian made drastic changes to the household not everyone is happy with. He upset the entire village because of his penny-pinching ways. Canterfell Hall exists to serve the village and he seems to have forgotten that sense of noblesse oblige. He was going to do something horrid that would affect the entire area forever and I don't agree at all with his plan. Sebastian doesn't sound like a pleasant person to live with but he didn't really deserve to be murdered, especially not tossed out a window -how humiliating! (and amusing for the reader). His brother, Halliwell, father of Fiddles, is just the opposite. He's also eccentric but in a hippie sort of way. Halliwell cares more about badgers and protecting the local badger population than he does about his brother. Halliwell is in his own world, back in Anglo-Saxon times. (I did have to look up some English history on Wikipedia because I don't remember learning about that in history class). He's so eccentric and amusing. I find him charming and the most likable character in the whole novel. Perhaps that's because he's the most modern or most liberal. I don't think he would murder his brother, not even to stop Sebastian's plan. There were too many other ripple effects from Sebastian's death that Halliwell doesn't want to deal with. No, he is most certainly not our murderer.
If it's not Sebastian's son or nephews, what about his wife? Laetitia doesn't seem to have had a happy marriage at all. Aren't the police supposed to look at the spouse first? She seems a bit suspicious. She's drinking a lot so she's either deeply unhappy or guilty! She comes across as selfish and whiny. I don't know if I really like her or not. but yet I feel sorry for her because as a woman of her time she basically lacked rights and was forced into a situation where she expected to be taken care of and not have to make her way in the world. Certainly the major wouldn't have killed his own son! Major Evelyn Canterfell was in the Boer War and in the military in India. He was trained to shoot to kill not chuck someone out the window. Plus he's elderly. I didn't really like him that much. He's the sort of smug Englishman who feels superior to "the natives" and goes on and on about the horrible (but to him glorious) things he did for the empire with no remorse or shame- typical of the time period and class. He's rather draconian when it comes to passing on his wealth to his family and doesn't understand times have changed, the young people don't think the same or feel the same and younger people can't be forced into doing what YOU want them to do or think is best for them. They have to find their own way. Yet, when secrets were revealed, I did feel rather sorry for him.
If we rule out the family, then we have one extra guest: Rosalind Pierpoint, a Maine socialite and some sort of cousin to Laetitia. She chose the wrong time to visit! Fiddles goes "potty" over Rosalind. It's love at first sight! I can't stand "soppy" romances and don't believe in love at first sight. She seems cold and rather uncaring about Fiddles. He's so lovestruck he can't think straight and she doesn't show him any empathy or much kindness. I want to like her because she isn't interested in romance right now but she's just too cool for me.
What about the servants? Lydde is an unbutlerlike butler, a communist who hates the upper class. He's a nasty sort of fellow who would in another man's death. He's insolent and does a bare minimum of work. I'm CERTAIN he MUST have had something to do with the murder. He's hiding a secret identity. There's no way someone like that would demean himself to work for the upper classes. Naturally, I do not care for him and long to see him removed. Then there's Vickers, superannuated valet. He served Anty's father AND grandfather, now he serves the Canterfrells as a footman?! The man is ancient and experiencing memory loss. He's a dear and innocent of wrongdoing. He should be butler and not Lydde. Actually he should be retired and living on a generous pension from Anty but if he has to work, he should be butler. While I don't think Luna the housemaid is guilty of murder, I think she knows more than she is willing to reveal. She's a very nervous sort of young woman and the death of her employer no doubt has her rattled. I quite like her character development and the conclusion to her plotline made me laugh. What about Miss Lively, the cook? Her food is inedible and possibly dangerous. Anty jokingly refers to her as a poisoner but what if she really is a murderer? She's lying about something or there's no way anyone would hire her to cook for them, even if she is inexpensive!
There are two additional suspects not connected to inside the house. The inn landlord, Porter, knows EVERYTHING about the family, the estate and all their past history. He seems to know what's going on more than he should for someone who isn't a family member or living in the house. He seems nice and friendly up to a certain point and then a motive is revealed and suddenly he's a suspect. The gardener, Mallet, also seems to know a lot about what's going on for someone who works outside. He serves up some comic relief chasing after his wayward, smelly goat. Mallet was in the right place at the right time to witness the murder but claims he doesn't know who the murderer is. He does have a motive and I wouldn't really blame him if he got so angry at Sebastian he chucked the man out the window but he doesn't seem like the type to commit premeditated murder. I kind of liked him.
The cast is rounded out by the bumbling police. Inspector Ivor Wittersham thinks he's smart but he is completely in the dark here. He stumbles around accusing the easiest suspect without digging deeper into other motives and finding out whether someone is lying. He enjoys playing the "bad cop" role and Mr. tough guy and finds Anty annoying but who solves the case for him? Hug Pennybun, the local bobby, an eternal optimist, will never catch a murderer. He's an uncomplicated man from the village and doesn't really have the mindset to understand a murderer. Hug is more of a comical character.
This was a fun and clever locked room mystery. I enjoyed this novel quite a lot. It's just the right kind of escapism to read right now and I hope to read the second in the series. Yes I am going to break my "female only" sleuths rule for at least one more book.
_________________________________
The audiobook is delightful! The narrator does different accents and voices for the characters. I especially like the barkeep/innkeeper who seems to know everything that's going on. I also like Sebastian Caterfell's voice. I got caught up in the last half hour of the story, after and while I remembered who did it, I didn't remember everything or how. There was a twist to the whodunit I didn't recall. To figure it out I would have had to take notes. I just went along for the ride and the story was a pleasant diversion while I worked. Thank you PJ Fitzsimmons for the original e-ARC and please keep Anty's adventures coming as long as he can manage them.
October 23, 2022
I may be a bit of a sucker for a Wodehouse pastiche. I believe my first was the Wodehouse-Lovecraft crossover, Scream for Jeeves: A Parody. I've basically forgotten everything about it, except that it disappointed. Whichever others I've tasted between that and this, I've forgotten even more completely, though the disappointment can be safely assumed.
I don't entirely dismiss the idea that one writer can successfully mimic another's style, for instance if the one being mimiced has none, or is basically terrible. But generally I imagine that the talent for believably imitating a good, or even spectacular author's style is incredibly rare, and probably distributed at random. Perhaps there's a child growing up in some isolated rural town somewhere, with no library and no internet that if given the opportunity could produce the most perfect imitation of Wodehouse, or Chandler, or Shakespeare. Perhaps there have even been one or two in history who have become aware of their gift. If so, I assume they have turned it to a more profitable enterprise than publishing, such as crime.
The best thing about a pastiche is generally that they remind one the original is still out there, waiting to be read, reread, or further explored.
If I remain a bit of a long term optimist with regards to Wodehouse pastiches in particular, it's probably because my platonic ideal of the novel is basically Wodehouse, but where all the romances are gay, and I do hope to one day stumble across even a pale shadow of such a thing.
*(Yes, I am aware of Joe Keenan. Blue Heaven is sitting on the shelf behind me, where it's been for years. And yet... so certain am I of disappointment, that I've never been able to bring myself to read it. I can't kill hope! Or perhaps it's just that the book designer for the edition I have was driven insane by mercury poisoning or something and set the book in Bodoni, which just makes me queasy every time I open it. I await his trial at the Hague.)
Oh, this book? This I discovered thanks to carol. It purports to be a sort of "what if Wodehouse wrote locked-room mysteries?". It delivers on the locked room mystery, but while the setting, and cast of characters are very reminiscent of a Wodehouse novel on a superficial level, the prose didn't measure up to Wodehouse for me.
The magic of Wodehouse isn't so much in the who or the what, but the eye and the ear. I found myself thinking Wodehouse wouldn't have bothered to describe that, or he wouldn't have described it in that way. Fitzsimmons does manage some very funny lines, but Wodehouse isn't just content, he's music. The pure melody, the rhthym of his sentences is funny on it's own, and I didn't get that here. Fitzsimmons basically set himself up for a comparison he can't hope to come out favorably in. Also, no gays. :(
That said, if I'm to judge this for what it is, instead of what it's not, I must say it was an entertaining little mystery with some humor and a cozy feel. I could see reading more of the series at some point. I'll give it a 4 out of 5.
I don't entirely dismiss the idea that one writer can successfully mimic another's style, for instance if the one being mimiced has none, or is basically terrible. But generally I imagine that the talent for believably imitating a good, or even spectacular author's style is incredibly rare, and probably distributed at random. Perhaps there's a child growing up in some isolated rural town somewhere, with no library and no internet that if given the opportunity could produce the most perfect imitation of Wodehouse, or Chandler, or Shakespeare. Perhaps there have even been one or two in history who have become aware of their gift. If so, I assume they have turned it to a more profitable enterprise than publishing, such as crime.
The best thing about a pastiche is generally that they remind one the original is still out there, waiting to be read, reread, or further explored.
If I remain a bit of a long term optimist with regards to Wodehouse pastiches in particular, it's probably because my platonic ideal of the novel is basically Wodehouse, but where all the romances are gay, and I do hope to one day stumble across even a pale shadow of such a thing.
*(Yes, I am aware of Joe Keenan. Blue Heaven is sitting on the shelf behind me, where it's been for years. And yet... so certain am I of disappointment, that I've never been able to bring myself to read it. I can't kill hope! Or perhaps it's just that the book designer for the edition I have was driven insane by mercury poisoning or something and set the book in Bodoni, which just makes me queasy every time I open it. I await his trial at the Hague.)
Oh, this book? This I discovered thanks to carol. It purports to be a sort of "what if Wodehouse wrote locked-room mysteries?". It delivers on the locked room mystery, but while the setting, and cast of characters are very reminiscent of a Wodehouse novel on a superficial level, the prose didn't measure up to Wodehouse for me.
The magic of Wodehouse isn't so much in the who or the what, but the eye and the ear. I found myself thinking Wodehouse wouldn't have bothered to describe that, or he wouldn't have described it in that way. Fitzsimmons does manage some very funny lines, but Wodehouse isn't just content, he's music. The pure melody, the rhthym of his sentences is funny on it's own, and I didn't get that here. Fitzsimmons basically set himself up for a comparison he can't hope to come out favorably in. Also, no gays. :(
That said, if I'm to judge this for what it is, instead of what it's not, I must say it was an entertaining little mystery with some humor and a cozy feel. I could see reading more of the series at some point. I'll give it a 4 out of 5.
April 23, 2022
Picture a 1920s London clubman about halfway between P.G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster and Dorothy L. Sayers’s Lord Peter Wimsey. In other words, somebody seeming about as silly as Bertie, but with as keen an interest in crime solving as Lord Peter. Antony (“Anty”) Boisjoly (pronounced Boozhullay, like Beaujolais wine only the first syllable is pronounced “boo”) is lounging around his club when his old school friend “Fiddles” Fairfax asks him to come down to his family’s country house in connection with his uncle’s mysterious death by defenestration—from a locked room, no less.
Anty does not make a favorable impression on Detective Inspector Wittersham, but despite the inspector’s attempts to quash him, Anty knows the family, the village and, it turns out, the local constable, and is able to conduct his own inquiries easily, running rings around the inspector.
Like Wodehouse, Fitzsimmons describes a long-ago world in which the upper class males didn’t seem to do much other than dress multiple times a day, drink steadily, dine out, visit each other’s country houses, go shooting, and discuss the servant problem and the breeding of horses and marriageable young women. His writing is similarly sprightly and amusing. I’m not going to say it’s up to Wodehouse’s style, and the whodunnit definitely isn’t up to Dorothy L. Sayers, either, but this is still an entertaining light read with a clever solution to the crime.
Anty does not make a favorable impression on Detective Inspector Wittersham, but despite the inspector’s attempts to quash him, Anty knows the family, the village and, it turns out, the local constable, and is able to conduct his own inquiries easily, running rings around the inspector.
Like Wodehouse, Fitzsimmons describes a long-ago world in which the upper class males didn’t seem to do much other than dress multiple times a day, drink steadily, dine out, visit each other’s country houses, go shooting, and discuss the servant problem and the breeding of horses and marriageable young women. His writing is similarly sprightly and amusing. I’m not going to say it’s up to Wodehouse’s style, and the whodunnit definitely isn’t up to Dorothy L. Sayers, either, but this is still an entertaining light read with a clever solution to the crime.
June 7, 2024
3.5 stars, as this was one of the more entertaining modern cozies set in the Golden Age I have read with one of my GR groups this year.
The author gives us a witty Wodehouse homage in the hero Anty Boisjoly (pronounced beau-jolie), London gadabout in the Bertie Wooster vein, but brighter - in fact, he has a reputation for solving problems and getting pals out of fixes. This time, his friend “Fiddles” Canterfell sends a desperate telegram from his family seat that his uncle has just fallen from the window of his locked office in the castle tower. So it’s a locked room mystery, and Anty travels down by train to help; I wasn’t too impressed by his promise as a budding detective when he spills a lot of family information about the Canterfells to a fellow passenger who is a stranger, which seemed indiscreet indeed, and of course,
Anyway, it’s mildly entertaining, with confident, humorous writing, but I wasn’t quite sure I understood Anty’s reasoning in his big drawing room reveal a la Hercules Poirot at the ending. But I don’t personally expect big twists and elaborate plots in these cozy series. I just expect an entertaining story I can knit along with - so I recommend the entertaining audiobook if you think you’re interested.
The author gives us a witty Wodehouse homage in the hero Anty Boisjoly (pronounced beau-jolie), London gadabout in the Bertie Wooster vein, but brighter - in fact, he has a reputation for solving problems and getting pals out of fixes. This time, his friend “Fiddles” Canterfell sends a desperate telegram from his family seat that his uncle has just fallen from the window of his locked office in the castle tower. So it’s a locked room mystery, and Anty travels down by train to help; I wasn’t too impressed by his promise as a budding detective when he spills a lot of family information about the Canterfells to a fellow passenger who is a stranger, which seemed indiscreet indeed, and of course,
Anyway, it’s mildly entertaining, with confident, humorous writing, but I wasn’t quite sure I understood Anty’s reasoning in his big drawing room reveal a la Hercules Poirot at the ending. But I don’t personally expect big twists and elaborate plots in these cozy series. I just expect an entertaining story I can knit along with - so I recommend the entertaining audiobook if you think you’re interested.
October 5, 2022
Wodehouse pastiche that fell totally flat for me, I'm sorry to say. Not a single chuckle to where I gave up. Oh, well. Too bad! I was looking forward to this one. 1.5 stars, courtesy round-up.
January 16, 2024
A classic Golden Age locked room Murder mystery set in the 1920s in an English country manor house, written in the rich comedic style of P.G. Wodehouse, this is nothing short of a delightful romp. Ornamented with the silly nicknames schoolboy Etonians persisted in calling each other into adulthood, with a cast of colorful and memorable characters, it is one chuckle after another as 'Anty' Boisjoily (an Anglicized Beaujolais, like the wine) solves a double murder, finds the missing codicil, and rights a number of wrongs and romantic disappointments.
Oh and in that last couple of paragraphs, solves a personal mystery he did not realize needed solving.
What's next, Anty?
Oh and in that last couple of paragraphs, solves a personal mystery he did not realize needed solving.
What's next, Anty?
October 24, 2021
This is in keeping with my COVID onset and now ongoing reading of escapist cozy mysteries that are decently written and entertaining, and do not have to be great literature or even set to stand the test of time. I liked it. It kept me reading. I’ll read the next in the series. That’s good enough for me!
May 6, 2023
Loved the setting in a dilapidated family castle, incompetent staff and police trying to arrest all too obvious suspects. The H appeared indolent but soon shows his observation skills and of course solves the murder. Very clever writing provided a good mystery.
October 6, 2024
I liked this a lot. The story was fairly interesting, but the characters and the humor was what did it for me. I love British humor, and this was a great example of why. It reminds me of some of the Monty Python skits that make fun of the pompous British, especially the language. The British are great the way they can laugh at themselves without malice.
The story starts a bit slowly, but I made it more interesting by reading in the voice of John Cleese of Pyton fame. Somehow, to me, he can say almost anything and it seems funny. It took a while to get going and to get to know all the characters, but once it picked up, it was lots of fun.
The story starts a bit slowly, but I made it more interesting by reading in the voice of John Cleese of Pyton fame. Somehow, to me, he can say almost anything and it seems funny. It took a while to get going and to get to know all the characters, but once it picked up, it was lots of fun.
January 20, 2023
I was a little surprised at the slightly unsavory content and darker themes for a story that explicitly compares itself to Wodehouse--but then, it IS a murder mystery, so what can you do. At any rate, I was reasonably entertained.
May 27, 2024
There is a scene from the Lord Peter Wimsey series that has stuck with me for many years. Lord Peter is wooing Harriet, whom he has saved from the gallows, and she has resisted his many proposals. He is trying, in a very polite and uppercrust way, to change her mind and she says something like, "If I were ever to marry you, Peter, it would be for your ability to talk piffle."
This book does a lovely job with piffle. I wasn't sure what to expect, since it's likened to Wodehouse, a high bar, and I don't have much patience with wannabe's. But it occupies its own space and turns silliness into something pleasing and amusing, without falling into the pit of farce. There are times when that suits perfectly, and I was in the mood to be entertained. There is also a fairly solid mystery to give some substance to the froth.
Wordy dialogue can become tiresome to read, but the audio book narrator, Tim Bruce, keeps things moving along without becoming overly dramatic. Another great author/narrator combination.
This book does a lovely job with piffle. I wasn't sure what to expect, since it's likened to Wodehouse, a high bar, and I don't have much patience with wannabe's. But it occupies its own space and turns silliness into something pleasing and amusing, without falling into the pit of farce. There are times when that suits perfectly, and I was in the mood to be entertained. There is also a fairly solid mystery to give some substance to the froth.
Wordy dialogue can become tiresome to read, but the audio book narrator, Tim Bruce, keeps things moving along without becoming overly dramatic. Another great author/narrator combination.
June 19, 2022
This was a fun book to read.
January 2, 2023
The Case of the Canterfell Codicil is the first entry in the Anty Boisjoly series of mysteries by P.J. Fitzsimmons.
I love P. G. Wodehouse and the writing in this reminded me of his clever wordplay and silliness, the dry British wit. Well-to-do (but not "peerage") Anthony ("Anty" to chums) Boisjoly (pronounced like the wine) receives a telegram at his club -- where he happens to be living because his flat has suffered fire damage due to the last in a string of horrible valets. The telegram is from his friend Fairfax ("Fiddles" to chums) Canterwell whose cantankerous uncle has died. Everyone thinks it's suicide, but Fiddles doesn't think so and asks Anty to do the "problem-solving" thing he's known for. This puts Anty on a train to the Canterwell country estate. On the train, a gregarious Anty tries to engage in conversation with another traveler to no real avail. We find later that man is Inspector Ivor Wittersham called in to investigate the death in the small town.
This book was so fun and funny on top of being an actual "locked room" mystery. Uncle Sebastian Canterwell either jumped or was pushed out the window of his study, which was locked from the inside. Everyone at the home at the time has an alibi. Was it murder? If so, who did it and why... and how?? Boisjoly is on the case, especially when his friend Fiddles becomes the main suspect. Add to that a second death happening behind another locked door...
The characters are drawn so well that I had no trouble picturing them -- some were Disney-cartoonlike; other favorite British actor-types. The dialogue, especially Anty's wit and wordplay is so dry and clever. Descriptions of locales, etc. are detailed so well -- sometimes with the same dry wit -- that they're easy to picture. The mysteries didn't lack clues so one could puzzle out the solution with Anty. The ending is satisfying.
I'll leave the review with an excerpt from the book as an example of description, wit, etc.
Under Uncle Sebastian's running of the manor, there have been cost-cutting cutbacks affecting everything... Anty is looking forward to the sumptuous food and dinner he remembers from his youth...
I was well primed for the shameless abundance and exacting standards of the country kitchen in general, and the famous Canterfell generosity in particular. First warning that I was on a high-speed collision course with disappointment was the distinct odour of boiled meat, like soup stock simmering on a low heat for days, extracting the marrow from a rooster that had died of a broken heart.
Comparatively speaking, however, I do the aroma a disservice. Vickers gave us each a misshapen morsel of scalded flesh of unknown origin, and paired it with some vegetation which doubtless had once been green and innocent. Much debate ensued with regards to the pedigree of the meat. The major claimed the prerogative with the suggestion that it was mutton. Laetitia agreed, but on the condition that the major accept that it was a shank cut. Fiddles felt sure that we’d been served wild hare, but only because he’d spotted one earlier on the road that had been trampled by a horse. Hal’s vote was for the horse and Rosalind proposed that it wasn’t meat at all, but some sort of construction material. As a guest, I naturally demurred from speculating aloud, but the taste and texture reminded me that I should have my riding boots resoled.
Dessert was therefore no surprise. It appeared to have been an apple crumble, but with the apple replaced by some more crumble. The wine flowed well, on the major’s insistence, and it was the highlight of the meal. I normally pride myself on my talent for identifying the lineage of a grape, but this vintage was a stubborn mystery. I suspect it was a Spanish utility wine, used primarily to fuel heated political discourse in tradesman’s cafés in Andalucia.
...Dinner concluded with cheese and biscuits, and there was much rejoicing.
And summed up later... Says Fiddles, "...I noticed that you managed to struggle through dinner without comment.”
“I credit the illusion of artistic redistribution,” I said. “I hid most of the boiled roofing tile under the purée of lawn clippings...”
So good. So clever. So fun... I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.
This book was not complimentary. I am reviewing it of my own free will because the book, or the experience of reading it, moved me to do so. All thoughts and opinions are mine and are biased only by my experience(s).
#PJFitzsimmons; #TheCaseoftheCanterfellCodicil; #AntyBoisjoly; #CozyMystery
I love P. G. Wodehouse and the writing in this reminded me of his clever wordplay and silliness, the dry British wit. Well-to-do (but not "peerage") Anthony ("Anty" to chums) Boisjoly (pronounced like the wine) receives a telegram at his club -- where he happens to be living because his flat has suffered fire damage due to the last in a string of horrible valets. The telegram is from his friend Fairfax ("Fiddles" to chums) Canterwell whose cantankerous uncle has died. Everyone thinks it's suicide, but Fiddles doesn't think so and asks Anty to do the "problem-solving" thing he's known for. This puts Anty on a train to the Canterwell country estate. On the train, a gregarious Anty tries to engage in conversation with another traveler to no real avail. We find later that man is Inspector Ivor Wittersham called in to investigate the death in the small town.
This book was so fun and funny on top of being an actual "locked room" mystery. Uncle Sebastian Canterwell either jumped or was pushed out the window of his study, which was locked from the inside. Everyone at the home at the time has an alibi. Was it murder? If so, who did it and why... and how?? Boisjoly is on the case, especially when his friend Fiddles becomes the main suspect. Add to that a second death happening behind another locked door...
The characters are drawn so well that I had no trouble picturing them -- some were Disney-cartoonlike; other favorite British actor-types. The dialogue, especially Anty's wit and wordplay is so dry and clever. Descriptions of locales, etc. are detailed so well -- sometimes with the same dry wit -- that they're easy to picture. The mysteries didn't lack clues so one could puzzle out the solution with Anty. The ending is satisfying.
I'll leave the review with an excerpt from the book as an example of description, wit, etc.
Under Uncle Sebastian's running of the manor, there have been cost-cutting cutbacks affecting everything... Anty is looking forward to the sumptuous food and dinner he remembers from his youth...
I was well primed for the shameless abundance and exacting standards of the country kitchen in general, and the famous Canterfell generosity in particular. First warning that I was on a high-speed collision course with disappointment was the distinct odour of boiled meat, like soup stock simmering on a low heat for days, extracting the marrow from a rooster that had died of a broken heart.
Comparatively speaking, however, I do the aroma a disservice. Vickers gave us each a misshapen morsel of scalded flesh of unknown origin, and paired it with some vegetation which doubtless had once been green and innocent. Much debate ensued with regards to the pedigree of the meat. The major claimed the prerogative with the suggestion that it was mutton. Laetitia agreed, but on the condition that the major accept that it was a shank cut. Fiddles felt sure that we’d been served wild hare, but only because he’d spotted one earlier on the road that had been trampled by a horse. Hal’s vote was for the horse and Rosalind proposed that it wasn’t meat at all, but some sort of construction material. As a guest, I naturally demurred from speculating aloud, but the taste and texture reminded me that I should have my riding boots resoled.
Dessert was therefore no surprise. It appeared to have been an apple crumble, but with the apple replaced by some more crumble. The wine flowed well, on the major’s insistence, and it was the highlight of the meal. I normally pride myself on my talent for identifying the lineage of a grape, but this vintage was a stubborn mystery. I suspect it was a Spanish utility wine, used primarily to fuel heated political discourse in tradesman’s cafés in Andalucia.
...Dinner concluded with cheese and biscuits, and there was much rejoicing.
And summed up later... Says Fiddles, "...I noticed that you managed to struggle through dinner without comment.”
“I credit the illusion of artistic redistribution,” I said. “I hid most of the boiled roofing tile under the purée of lawn clippings...”
So good. So clever. So fun... I'm looking forward to reading more in the series.
This book was not complimentary. I am reviewing it of my own free will because the book, or the experience of reading it, moved me to do so. All thoughts and opinions are mine and are biased only by my experience(s).
#PJFitzsimmons; #TheCaseoftheCanterfellCodicil; #AntyBoisjoly; #CozyMystery
January 12, 2023
Very entertaining Woodehousian murder mystery and I love the art deco style cover.
May 13, 2022
This one was a great deal of fun to read. A clever locked-room murder mystery set in a English manor during the 1920s (I think). It’s sort of a mash-up of Agatha Christie and PG Wodehouse. Agatha Wodehouse, if you will. The style has much of the flair and panache of PGW if perhaps not quite the same level of hilarity. Although how many other books do?
I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning.
I’m looking forward to reading the next in the series, The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning.
November 18, 2020
While Anthony Boisjoly is sitting in his club,
he receives a message from his old Oxford
coxswain, Evelyn Fairfax Canterfell, better
known as “Fiddles”.
Since Anthony is known to be a problem
solver, Fiddles has requested his presence at
Canterfell Hall. It seems Sebastian Canterfell
has been pushed out the window of a tower.
Problem presenting itself is the door was
locked from the inside.
The story takes place in 1928 in a large
manor house which is described in such
detail that I felt like I was right there in the
house. The room with the artifacts and art
pieces was very interesting to me.
I felt the scenes were written with realism as
what life had been back in that time period.
Anthony was familiar with the family as he
had visited the estate before but as he precedes
to investigate it is much to the dislike if the
detective in charge of the investigation.
Then another murder with the door locked
from the inside!!!
Was there a codicil? Where is this codicil the
family speaks about after the murders? Will
Anthony be able to prove “Fiddles” innocent
of murder?
Come along with Anthony while he discovers
past intriguing backstories on the family and
staff.
I enjoyed this double murder, mysterious
question regarding the codicil.
The setting in 1928 was very informative.
Looking forward to the next book in this new
series.
I volunteered to read The Case of the
Canterfell Codicil. . I received a free copy of
this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily
leaving a review.
September 6, 2023
So much fun!! Agatha Christie, with a little P.G. Wodehouse and a soupçon of Dorothy Parker! I'll be reading them all!
January 7, 2021
A chummy introduction to a good ol' fellow, Anty Boisjoly, who apparently is good at solving all sorts of things. In this case, it is the death of a schoolmate's uncle. Set in 1928 England, the writing style and flowerly language reflect the era with Boisjoly being the witty one. The reader will either find this charming or pretentious. I enjoyed both the variety of characters and the story, a well thought out locked room who done it. What was missing for me was the foundation for a series. Usually the first book spends a bit more time developing the recurring characters. I did not feel like enough attention was given to Boisjoly's past. Vague references to his family and to his own prowess at detection didn't provide the connection to Boisjoly that I would have liked to see in the first installment. Hopefully this background will be provided in future installments.
Thanks to Cozy Mystery Review Crew for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.
Thanks to Cozy Mystery Review Crew for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.
October 7, 2022
As most other reviews have mentioned, P.J. Fitzsimmons’ Anty Boisjoly (not pronounced like Beaujolais) Mysteries - of which this is the first book - can be summed up as P.G. Wodehouse meets Agatha Christie (not 50:50 but perhaps 75:25 or 80:20). It stars bumbling gentry, Oxbridge graduates of the kind that flit in and out of clubs (or party at 10 Downing Street), quaint English villages and descriptions of the countryside and of course Anty Boisjoly (with the quick wit of Jeeves and the social circle of Wooster). If you can ignore the very slight anachronism that comes with using terms that wouldn’t be popular in the interwar period, this book is for you. I can’t wait to tear through the rest of the series!
January 21, 2021
The Case of the Canterfell Codicil by PJ Fitzsimmons is the first in the series about a young rich guy who has nothing better to do with his life than solve problems, of any kind. It is 1928 and Anty (Anthony) Boisjoly is living at his club in London because he can't find a decent valet and he can't manage without one when he receives a telegram from his old school friend, Fiddles, actually Fairfax Canterfell, stating his uncle has been killed and could he come a once? Using the mirror to pack, replicating the outfit he was wearing, he was off in a trice. On the train he was joined by a taciturn man who didn't wanted to engage at all. He turned out to be the police inspector coming to investigate the "murder," and did not want Anty's help. Gosh.
This was the most entertaining book I've read in a while, as well as being a decent mystery. Dry British wit was the only language Anty spoke. Everyone understood; a few chose to dislike it. Turns out, Sebastian Canterfell had taken a header out a town window and landed on flagstone. Not a glamorous way to die. The interesting thing was that there appeared to have been someone there to push him out, but the door was locked from the inside, and the key was glued into the lock. If that wasn't the first clue it was murder, there never was one. This book was plain fun and a murder mystery that laid all the clues out for the reader to put together, if able. There was so much going on at every turn that one had to pay close attention to miss nothing. There characters were just that: characters. Each and every one was loaded with eccentricities that made them special: totally entertaining. A must-not-miss mystery for cozy readers everywhere. PS. He found a valet.
I was invited to read a free ARC of The Case of the Canterfell Codicil by Cozy Mystery Review Crew. All opinions contained herein are solely my own.
This was the most entertaining book I've read in a while, as well as being a decent mystery. Dry British wit was the only language Anty spoke. Everyone understood; a few chose to dislike it. Turns out, Sebastian Canterfell had taken a header out a town window and landed on flagstone. Not a glamorous way to die. The interesting thing was that there appeared to have been someone there to push him out, but the door was locked from the inside, and the key was glued into the lock. If that wasn't the first clue it was murder, there never was one. This book was plain fun and a murder mystery that laid all the clues out for the reader to put together, if able. There was so much going on at every turn that one had to pay close attention to miss nothing. There characters were just that: characters. Each and every one was loaded with eccentricities that made them special: totally entertaining. A must-not-miss mystery for cozy readers everywhere. PS. He found a valet.
I was invited to read a free ARC of The Case of the Canterfell Codicil by Cozy Mystery Review Crew. All opinions contained herein are solely my own.
January 18, 2021
Meet Anty Boisjoly, a character in a new mystery series that reminds you of Jeeves and Wooster - Jeeves' quickness of mind and ability to solve most any problem, and Wooster's somewhat eccentric dialog. This book has everything you could want in a well-written manor house mystery: well developed characters, seemingly insolvable locked room murders, a family with numerous foibles, and lots of humor. Throw in some rather Wodehousian names like Fiddles, an irregular household staff, several story lines and you have a book that you do not want to put down until you've read it to the end. The description of the manor house and characters places you very easily within the time and period of the story.
Anty becomes involved in the murder of his Oxford pal Fiddles' uncle when he requests Anty's presence at Canterfell Hall shortly after the uncle's death. After investigation, the detective on the case deems the death a murder and decides that Fiddles must be responsible. Anty quickly takes up his own investigation to prove Fiddles innocent, and uncovers many secrets about Fiddles' family, his uncle's bequest, love interests, false identities and revenge. By the end of the book Anty has worked out who the real villian is, enlightenting the detective on his thought processes along the way. The book keeps you guessing until the end, and the end has a surprise twist that leaves you wanting more! Very much looking forward to reading the next installment in the series.
Anty becomes involved in the murder of his Oxford pal Fiddles' uncle when he requests Anty's presence at Canterfell Hall shortly after the uncle's death. After investigation, the detective on the case deems the death a murder and decides that Fiddles must be responsible. Anty quickly takes up his own investigation to prove Fiddles innocent, and uncovers many secrets about Fiddles' family, his uncle's bequest, love interests, false identities and revenge. By the end of the book Anty has worked out who the real villian is, enlightenting the detective on his thought processes along the way. The book keeps you guessing until the end, and the end has a surprise twist that leaves you wanting more! Very much looking forward to reading the next installment in the series.
November 1, 2023
Very tongue-in-cheek humorous British whodunnit. Easy and funny to read.
June 3, 2021
Anty Boisjoly is a bright young chap in the 1920's who would have fit right in with Bertie Wooster's dandy set. His friend calls on him to solve a mysterious locked room murder at their family mansion. The solving of the mystery involves several impossible situations, tiny clues in the middle of distracted conversations, and a goat. I dare you to see the solution coming.
If you like Wodehouse you might like this too. Anty is the first person narrator in this and the narrator's voice is simply delightful, making dry comments and absurd observations.
I was a bit confused about inheritances of peerages as the author lays it out in this book. I thought it usually goes down in the oldest male line, as in the oldest son of the peer would inherit, and if the oldest son is dead before his father, the oldest son's oldest son would inherit in his stead.
I got a review copy from Booksirens and this is a voluntary review.
If you like Wodehouse you might like this too. Anty is the first person narrator in this and the narrator's voice is simply delightful, making dry comments and absurd observations.
I was a bit confused about inheritances of peerages as the author lays it out in this book. I thought it usually goes down in the oldest male line, as in the oldest son of the peer would inherit, and if the oldest son is dead before his father, the oldest son's oldest son would inherit in his stead.
I got a review copy from Booksirens and this is a voluntary review.
January 26, 2021
Sussex, 1928 "Come at once - Uncle Seb dead - Defenestrated by unseen hand - Fiddles." Anty Boisjoly travels to Canterfell Hall in Sussex to help his old schoolfriend, Fiddles. Uncle Sebastian fell from his locked study in the tower and Anty has been known to solve unusual puzzles. This locked room mystery is told in the first person and includes two locked room murders (maybe) and an impossible theft. There is a great cast of characters in a country house; there are motives galore; there is a missing codicil; and there are red herrings aplenty. I really enjoyed this historical mystery. It was well-written, with interesting period detail and witty dialogue.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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