From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Red House Mystery

A.A. Milne

Start date: August 1, 2016

Finish date: August 31, 2016

Discussion: Group reads

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Group reads

* November 2025 group read - Winner!
By Judy · 20 posts · 32 views

last updated Sep 17, 2025 08:43AM

* Sept 25: Lonesome Road (#3 Miss Silver Mysteries) by Patricia Wentworth
By Susan · 16 posts · 16 views

last updated Sep 19, 2025 01:03PM

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What Members Thought

Nov 16, 2013 Jennifer Kloester rated it liked it

I love A.A. Milne and would happily read an envelope if he'd written it but I must admit that I found his foray into the detective novel pretty slow-going. Published in 1926, it's of the 'cosy-crime, English country house' variety and I found all that side of it enjoyable (though the class hierarchy does grate). It's not a pacy read, more of a leisurely stroll through the drawing-rooms and libraries of the story. Enjoyable but not a must-read. ...more

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Jun 10, 2020 Calum Fisher rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Milne's only excursion into detective fiction, but it earned him a place in the Detection Club and it's easy to see why. A classic Golden Age set up - country house, murder in a locked room, amateur sleuths and even secret passageways - is rendered with unusual breeziness and style. Already in 1922 there is a thin line between a straight mystery and pastiche, and Milne writes with a witty, self-aware omniscience and has his Holmes and Watson (Tony Gillingham and Bill Beverley) clearly aware that ...more

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Jan 25, 2015 Clare Skeets rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2015

A thoroughly enjoyable game of Cluedo.
I came across this book by A A Milne whilst looking for something to read for an author with a January birthday. I was pleased to find a classic detective story. The Red House Mystery has the feel of the period and whilst it follows the rules( a country house murder,an amateur detective, inept police, a cast of suspects, a reconstruction of the crime and a final twist) it is written in a lighthearted way.

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Jun 03, 2016 Sandy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, mystery-classic, rread-2016

Very enjoyable; rather tongue-in-check as every classic mystery device is used: country house, locked room, mysterious stranger, secret passage, Sherlock and his Watson. It also introduced me to Milne's adult stories in Punch which are available on kindle and are quite funny. ...more

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