Dramatic Murder
A Lost Christmas Murder Mystery

Sorry, but Martin Edwards in his introduction to this novel states something that caused me confusion when reading this novel (or, at least, until half-way through). He describes Smith, the investigating police officer, as 'a low-key Scotland Yard man'. First of all, a Scotland Yard man would have n......more

This crime novel starts with the well-trodden premise of a group of people at a Christmas party in a remote Scottish castle. A death has occurred and is discovered by two latecomers to the castle. The circumstances are suspicious but the cause of the death could be misadventure or accident or murder......more

I really enjoyed this book. I suspended disbelief and just went with the flow, enjoying the descriptions of an England long gone. I still think it wonderful when you can pick up a book written decades ago and yet identify with the characters and recognise their motives for acting the way they do. A......more

Somewhere around 2.5 stars for me - I found this a bit of a slog. For ‘a lost Christmas Murder Mystery’ it is not very festive - sure, the first murder is at Christmas but that’s over in a flash. Generally it’s a bit long winded, there’s a lot of chatter and there isn’t a great deal of detecting. I t......more

I have been managing stress by reading golden age mysteries so I chose this title from the British Library Crime Classics series. Honestly, the cover art makes me want to buy them all! This one was not one of the best, although some of the plot points were pretty entertaining simply by their ridicul......more