Oh, boy! This is a good one. Written in 1975 and reprinted by the Poisoned Pen Press, James Anderson's The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy, set in the 1930s, has it all, starting with a classical-era detective who warns everyone at the very start that he's no good at this job and has been pro...
Who ever tires of the zany British country house murder? "But Lavinia, I don't want people staying here," said the Earl. "After the last two house parties, we agreed no more." "This wouldn't be a house party, George, it's nine guests for one night." "But the last two times we've had people here...
I would have liked to like this book; it's got a flavor of Georgette Heyer's mysteries, which by and large I DO enjoy. Where it falls down for me is in the amount of exposition - pages of it, which frankly I skipped - and in the sheer involvedness of the final solution. Agatha Christie managed to...
'Have you noticed Dorothy?' 'She's almost unnoticeable,' Gerry replied. 'I've never seen anybody who is so close to not being anything.' 'She hasn't left Clara's side for a second. And she's not spoken to anybody. But she can't take her eyes off you.' 'Really? I hadn't noticed. What excellent tas...
The afternoon proceeded much as the morning. The talks continued in the small music room. Jane and Gerry played a couple of sets of tennis with Deveraux and Evans. When they'd finished, Jane, prompted by a vague sense of duty, settled down on the terrace and let Algy talk to her. Gerry went to ma...
He held a flimsy cardboard tray with two big foam cups of coffee. “What’s going on today?” I took the coffee. It was a small gesture, maybe even a trivial one. It meant more to me than perhaps it should have. “Nothing’s going on,” I said. “Not until I get my money.” He passed me an envelope that ...