Friars Cross, the home of Matthew Barry, the squire of Wampish village, and the squire has invited some friends for dinner. They stay the night and who would have thought it, the next day, one of them is dead, gassed in their room. Accident? Suicide? Or Murder?
Enter Inspector Lockitt, but the Reverend Joseph Colchester, the local vicar and a guest at the party who will be the one who finds the truth. Eventually…
Book three from my Coffee and Crime Advent Calendar, and a book that I’d never head of before opening up my Day 5 package. The authors met at Cambridge, married and then wrote a mystery novel. Just the one. I’d say it’s a shame they didn’t write any more, but that, dear reader, would be a lie.
I think the word I’d use to describe this is generic. It’s harsh to describe this as copying the tropes, as those tropes were less established when the book was written, but the blustering Colonel, the nervous woman, the inquisitive vicar…
And the other word I’d use, if I was pushed for two, is slow. It is such a ponderous book, with every chapter, every plot point dragged out beyond what it needed to be. It’s taken me an age to get through – it’s almost exactly the opposite of a page-turner. If it wasn’t for the challenge that I’d set myself of reading my Advent Calendar this month, I very much doubt I’d have ever finished this one.
Plot-wise, it’s perfectly fine, despite there being no surprises in the identity of the murderer. It’s just too drawn out and, quite frankly, dull.
The Twelve Books Of Christmas (in chronological order so far…)
- Death On Tiptoe
- Reply Paid
- Death On Request
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 