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Nominations for November 2025 group read
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What Members Thought
Written in 1927, this contains several commonplaces of Golden Age mystery novels: a country manor house party, a seance gone wrong, a locked-room mystery, and a bit of romance. The main characters are Stephen Munro and his former girlfriend, Pauline Mainwaring.
Stephen is a gentleman, but one who no longer has any money, which has compelled him to give up his hopes of marrying Pauline. Instead, Stephen has obtained a position as a footman at the country house of Lady Susan Carey. Awkwardness ensu ...more
Stephen is a gentleman, but one who no longer has any money, which has compelled him to give up his hopes of marrying Pauline. Instead, Stephen has obtained a position as a footman at the country house of Lady Susan Carey. Awkwardness ensu ...more
Review of the audiobook.
3.5 stars rounded up. This was fun to listen to, although like some other mysteries that were published as serials, it is longer than it needed to be. It was full of (mostly) appealing characters and has all of the expected elements of the classic British country house mystery.
This book is well-known for an interesting reason: there was a contest promising a prize to the reader who could solve it and Agatha Christie herself entered (under her husband’s name) and lost. I ...more
3.5 stars rounded up. This was fun to listen to, although like some other mysteries that were published as serials, it is longer than it needed to be. It was full of (mostly) appealing characters and has all of the expected elements of the classic British country house mystery.
This book is well-known for an interesting reason: there was a contest promising a prize to the reader who could solve it and Agatha Christie herself entered (under her husband’s name) and lost. I ...more
Dec 28, 2024
Susan in NC
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook,
detbuddy25
Revised to 3.5 stars for this fun, clever yet overstuffed Golden Age classic house party mystery. I didn’t read the entire introduction, as they often contain spoilers, but I did learn this was originally serialized, and a huge reward was offered to any reader who could solve the mystery. Even Agatha Christie couldn’t solve it! I knew it would be beyond my poor powers, and just decided to read for enjoyment…I wasn’t disappointed.
The author jammed a lot into this exciting, humorous and satisfying ...more
The author jammed a lot into this exciting, humorous and satisfying ...more
This book was famously published in newspapers, with readers invited to try to solve the mystery. Agatha Christie, who sent in her suggestion under the name of her husband, won a runners-up prize! As such, this is a must-read for fans of Golden Age detective fiction.
Although Anthony Berkeley was an excellent author, who often tried out unusual ways to present his mysteries, this does very much read as though it was later adapted into a novel (as it was) and does not flow particularly well. Rathe ...more
Although Anthony Berkeley was an excellent author, who often tried out unusual ways to present his mysteries, this does very much read as though it was later adapted into a novel (as it was) and does not flow particularly well. Rathe ...more
I'm honestly surprised how much I enjoyed this book! I love vintage mysteries, except for the ones that are focused only on the puzzle and don't bother to create interesting characters - and there are a lot of those, mostly written by men. So I'll admit I assumed this author would be one of those.
Instead I found a light-hearted story about a house party that decides to try out a spell found in a book. Harmless diversion? It is until the young woman involved actually disappears. That starts off ...more
Instead I found a light-hearted story about a house party that decides to try out a spell found in a book. Harmless diversion? It is until the young woman involved actually disappears. That starts off ...more
This had all the tropes of a GA mystery-a country house party, a mix of old and young, known and unknown guests, some upstairs-downstairs shenanigans, and disappearing guests, jewels, and investments. A perky young couple falls in love over their detecting. Unfortunately, the whole thing left me somewhat cold and unengaged.
I loved this jaunty 1920s locked-room puzzle, great characterization and humor.
Very good. Entertainingly written with an excellent premise, great characters and lots of jolly goings on.
The denouement is a bit rushed but the mystery wasn’t the main thing for me, more of a tall story to keep the characters company through the book. (Audiobook)
The denouement is a bit rushed but the mystery wasn’t the main thing for me, more of a tall story to keep the characters company through the book. (Audiobook)
I enjoyed this . I’d only read his books that he wrote under the name of Frances Isles ( both of those were very very good )
The humour was great and I too never guessed the culprit ( Agatha Christie didn’t either apparently !) . Well written with plenty of red herrings .
The humour was great and I too never guessed the culprit ( Agatha Christie didn’t either apparently !) . Well written with plenty of red herrings .
Jul 05, 2022
Amy
marked it as to-read
Dec 25, 2024
Shabbeer Hassan
marked it as to-read
