AUTHOR: P J Fitzsimmons
PUBLISHED BY: Indefensible Publishing
This easy-to-read tale involves
another marvellous convoluted adventure for Boisjoly; it has as many complications
of characters and plot as its contemporaries, but with more murders than
usually found in them.
Set at Christmastime in the English
countryside, our valiant hero and his Scotland Yard friend solve the mystery of
a dead war hero and a few side mysteries along the way. The style of the tale
is witty, in true PG Wodehouse fashion, but it still manages to respect the
conventions of the cosy English manor house murder mystery. There is much
atmospheric charm and the usual witty banter as our hero goes sleuthing in a
small Hertfordshire village during a wintery Christmas.
This is the second in the Anty
Boisjoly series; it has a very clever plot and an amusing storyline; it was so
enjoyable, I didn’t want it to end. Some
of the answers I worked out for myself but a lot of it was a complete surprise and
as Anty explains all in the final chapters I could compare my findings with his.
It is a book with a twisting plot
which I very much enjoyed reading; the likeable characters who are so much fun, from the WWI war
heroes to a vicar who writes poetry, the barmaid who only allows one man one
drink every hour and not forgetting the cow with short legs who gives an amazing
amount of milk each day. Each character
is an individual who readers will feel they have known all their life, the
descriptions are so good.
The dialogue in this book is a hoot along with the humour; some
of it was laugh out loud funny. Half of the fun is the characters, for instance
the aunt who spends the first half concealed in the drapes and the three foot
high cow that comes to play a crucial role. The other half is the quips
scattered throughout. Just as the book's description suggests, the story
invokes both Wodehouse and Christie but in an original fashion. I found the writing intelligent and witty and
the plot was cleverly interesting.
This witty whodunit has old
fashioned charm, immense humour, likeable characters and is the second in a
very enjoyable series. Fans of Wodehouse
will delight in the setting, the characters and the witty dialogue, while
Christie fans will savour the complex mystery with seemingly hidden clues.
For
readers who enjoy plenty of wit with quirky characters, secrets and a multitude
of twists in an intriguing plot, this is a wonderful complex murder mystery to sit
back and enjoy.
Reviewer - Anne Pritchard
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