The Crime at the 'Noah's Ark' - SPOILER thread

[Pamela]

Susan wrote: "I think I preferred Thynne to the Annie Haynes. There was an element of farce, in all the running around and hopping in and out of windows, but it has aged better."

I agree Susan, when I read the Haynes I realised I had been a bit too harsh with Thynne :)

[Sandy]

I also agree; I think Haynes took the genre much too seriously while Thynne had fun with it.

[Susan]

It really did seem as though it had been written in the 1880's though. I wondered whether she had read Christie and decided she probably hadn't!

[Judy]

I thought the second Haynes book in that series, The House in Charlton Crescent, was really good and more of a mystery, and the previous book by Thynne I read, Murder on the Enriqueta (not certain of the title?) was not very good at all. So the quality of GA authors can definitely vary from book to book! I was prepared to write Thynne off before trying this one...

[Susan]

It is often worth giving authors a second chance, I agree, Judy. I think all of us who read them, would say Christianna Brand woke up between her first, and second, crime novels! They are almost incomparable.

[Jan C]

I finally finished today.

With all the staircases I saw it more like a farce than anything else. I just started thinking "Noises Off" with people running up and down one staircase or another.

I didn't guess the criminals although I did begin to get suspicious of that one sister, supposedly caring for her sister but she kept popping out.

Of course, I did recognize the man from Scotland Yard when he arrived, even before the newspaper.

I like Stuart although he was pretty much the "unreliable narrator". I don't know that Dr. Constantine was "randomly" selecting suspects or tossing them aside. He was a chess player - thus, possibly seeing moves in advance. I kept wondering about Soames and I did wonder about the dancer, especially after he set a curtain on fire - I began to wonder if it was an act.

[Sandy]

I liked Dr. Constantine and Stuart. I mean to read more with Dr. Constantine someday. I never did get a mental picture of the inn with all those stairs, but I've stayed in places that were converted or combined buildings and had many short flights of steps in random places.

[Tara]

Paperbackreader wrote: "I do feel that the chauffeur was kept out of our sight for way to long. Suspected Soames a bit. I did not feel engaged with the character of Dr. Constantine. He seemed kind of distant. I didn't rea..."

I agree with all of your comments Paperbackreader. Overall I enjoyed the book and I got through it quickly, but I felt a bit cheated. I did guess that the "sisters" were suspicious, although I didn't suppose that they were really mother/daughter. I enjoyed it enough to read another though.