A perfect little cozy. I'm looking forward to checking out more of the British Library Crime Classic books. ( )

This cozy crime novel from the 1930s looked promising at the start, with a scene of a vicar, who lives near the rocky Cornish coast, getting together for a regular meeting with the local doctor. They take delivery of their latest books from a lending library and share them out - both are keen readers of crime fiction. And soon they are involved in the aftermath of a real life local murder, though peripherally in the case of the doctor, and only to a limited extent on the part of the vicar.

I thought initially this might have a vicar-as-sleuth protagonist, and it probably would have been more interesting that way, but other than solving one difficulty in determining how the murder was carried out, his interest was more in exonerating a couple of young people than in actually solving the crime. That was left up to the colourless police inspector who took charge before long.

I had a few issues with this book. Firstly, it would greatly have benefited from a diagram showing how the house where the crime took place lay in relation to the cliff path, its own driveway, the vicarage etc. It seems that the back garden was so short that the house was practically on the cliff edge which doesn't sound sensible although I appreciate that in real life sudden and catastrophic cliff erosion has resulted in buildings actually collapsing into the sea. That didn't seem to be the case here - its precarious position was not even commented on - so it is very odd that it is so close - and a bit too convenient in terms of how it transpires the murder was supposed to have been carried out. I also found, in relation to that revelation, my suspension of disbelief collapsed under the strain. I just couldn't believe that (without giving a spoiler) the angle involved for gunshots were at all credible. Especially when another substance was supposed to have been tossed against a window just beforehand from the same point of origin.

The other main issue was that the motive for the crime and the person who carried it out were so peripheral to the story. I didn't feel that the author played fair with the reader. And the ending is so weird for crime fiction - for the murder in the story to have permanently put someone off reading crime fiction was so negative for the genre in which the writer was operating! It has permanently put me off reading any more of this author's fiction, but certainly not the greats of the era when this was written. And this copy didn't have the lovely 1930s railway poster cover that other editions have - good job it was a cheap Kindle one. All in all, I can only rate this as an 'OK' 2 stars. ( )

I've read another book by this author ([b:The Sussex Downs Murder|24958623|The Sussex Downs Murder (Superintendent Meredith, #2)|John Bude|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1424202030s/24958623.jpg|43203581]) and found it really unimpressive so I was really surprised to find I actually liked this one quite a lot. The mystery isn't totally solvable before the end (it's solved with some stuff impossible to know, although none of it is a leap and it all fits) but there are a lot of spots you can get ahead of the main characters if you're good at this. I can't explain quite why I liked it a lot - as with the other book the characters are hardly deep and don't talk about much other than the mystery, but the dialogue still feels a lot more natural and clear. The mystery is also reasonably complex with a lot of red herrings but that are wrapped up in a way that makes you think "fair enough, that makes total sense" (although 1 or 2 are huge coincidences but that can be excused) and you end up feeling like you've been shown a part of a much wider world rather than one purely made for the mystery. I also liked the setting a lot which might have biased me a bit (I love Cornwall).

Not gonna say it's a must read or anything but if you like solid golden age style mysteries you'll probably like this. I did anyway ( )

From my TBR shelf, having picked it up from a charity shop. I became aware of this series of books - which have a lovely presentation, cover etc - after being given another in the series as a Christmas Present (The Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Parjeon). They are "British Library Crime Classics", and this book can be brought from the British Library website.

The story starts with the Vicar (The Reverend Dodd) and the local Doctor (Pendrill) sitting in front of the fire after their traditional Monday night dinner, and choosing who is going to get which books that have arrived that week. Both men are fans of crime novels, something that unites them better than religion (with the Doctor refusing to attend Sunday Services). It is a stormy night outside, with heavy rain and thunder. Suddenly, the phone goes, and it is Ruth Tregarthan from the house next door - her uncle has been found in the sitting room, dead from a gunshot to the head!

Inspector Bigswell of the local force is assigned to the case, and is pressurised by his Superintendent to solve the case quickly before the need to call in Scotland Yard. There is an immediate theory, when Ruth's close friend Robert Hardy (with whom she seems to have an "understanding") disappears the same night, after an argument with Tregarthan. Close to making an arrest, new facts come to light which scuppers the whole motive, and here is where Todd's "instinctual" detective work helps break the case.

This is rather a cosy detective novel, written in 1935, whose strengths seem to be in the "dot to dot" line of detective work, rather than the sparkling jumps around of Christie et al or the later procedurals of CSI and all the derivatives. There are some techniques that are surprising that they 1) exist and 2) aren't standard procedure in the police force (i.e. the use of string and poles to determine where shots were fired from which the vicar used, but the inspector kicked himself for not doing as standard).

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. ( )