So Pretty a Problem

So Pretty a Problem is the third book I've read in the Mordecai Tremaine series, and my favorite so far. Whereas you'd normally see a small set of possible suspects in a book of this genre, this time there were hardly any suspects at all. The wife admits to accidentally shooting her husband, and no......more

What happens when an amateur detective goes on vacation? Can he escape murder amongst his friends? Not likely. By having the detective know so much about the victim and suspects, the author sets up an interesting problem for his hero. Instead of just having him pick up clues from the crime scene an......more

Adrian Carthallow is dead. Luckily amateur sleuth Mortdecai Tremaine is present. Tremaine is a retired tobacconist who likes to read romance novels (no, really) and he is intrigued by crime. Holidaying in the vicinity of Carthallow’s domicile Tremaine is the first one the panicking widow runs into.......more

The titular problem refers both to a complicated murder and the pretty prime suspect. Larger-than-life, avant-garde painter Adrian Carthallow has been shot dead, and his wife, pretty, lively Helen Carthallow, has already told two versions of what happened and neither stack up. Luckily for us readers......more

This was a competent mystery, and I like mysteries, so I enjoyed it. I had not encountered Mordecai Tremaine before, and there's probably a reason you don't hear his name on lists of great fictional detectives. His main characteristics are that he's a retired tobacconist, he wears a pince-nez, and h......more