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After the events at Mena House, Egypt, in the first novel of this 1920s-set historical mystery series, our heroine, the widowed American Jane Wunderly, and her (obnoxious) Aunt Millie decide to take up residence at Wedgefield Manor, an estate in the English countryside owned by Lord Hughes, a former and possibly future paramour of Aunt Millie's. But they aren't just there for the sake of Aunt Millie's romantic prospects. Lord Hughes' adopted daughter, Lillian, is actually Millie's child, and Millie wants to get to know her now-grown daughter a little better.
It starts with a large stash of cash, and several secret invitations Klarinda has never seen before. Each guest has an invitation in their possession, no clue as to who sent them or why they’ve been invited to some remote B&B in the middle of nowhere. Even Klarinda is kept in the dark, with no proper reservations and no notice given. All she can do is get her guests set up in their rooms and make them as comfortable as possible. Diana helps with the search now and admits that she came to the weekend to experience it for one last time because Charles was planning on selling the business. They find a burned deed.
The Plot
I've been learning new words in my reading choices lately, which I'm finding delightful. The Secret of Dreadwillow Carse taught me that carse is a Scottish word for 'fertile lowland alongside a river', bulldozing my way through K.J. Charles's Society of Gentlemen series has taught me a measure of delightful period terms for sex acts, and G.K. Chesterson's The White Pillars Murder has added 'polymath' to my education, which is 'a person knowledgeable in a variety of subjects'. Sadly the new word is about all I enjoyed out of it. Two amateur detectives in training are sent out to stumble their way through their first solo investigation. It's a little silly and the characters aren't terribly likeable. I usually don't like books like this, with different authors, some I've never heard of. I'll admit it, I'm a reading snob. I like stories, long or short, that have an ending that makes sense; which is why I don't like psychological thrillers. In those, the criminal does the deed for no other reason than he/she simply wants to. I want a clear reason: Colonel Mustard in the dining room with the rope for the inheritance in the will. No random guessing! Suspects have different stories if they're guilty, with important clues to help you solve whodunit. The Message on the Sun-Dial" by J. J. Bell: A dying man leaves an illegible scrawl on the nearby sundial as a pointer to his murderer. Will anyone be able to decipher it? Ms. Tierney-Bedord has spun a tale of mystery, murder, and one that is delightfully peculiar and intriguing. A narrative that reminded me of the old-time radio shows of long ago, especially while being entertained by the audio version of this story.
E. W. Hornung’s “Gentlemen and Players”: features a crook as protagonist: Raffles. As always in this anthology, good writing and a very enjoyable atmosphere. The plot is fine, if nothing extremely special.
The Suspects
I’d read The Same to Us by Margery Allingham somewhere before and it was just as funny this second time. A theft occurs during a high-society party.
J.S. Fletcher's The Manor House Mystery unfortunately sorts itself out on its own. Several people over the course of the story walk into a man's office offering information and suspects, until finally one arrives with the solution. The protagonist doesn't contribute a thing. Is the man a clever and capable detective, or just a popular sounding board for his friends? You decide. I love Jane as a protagonist, and I think the story between her and Redvers is SUPER fun and compelling– my only complaint is that it is a bit too slow of a burn in this installment and feels like it barely moved along. The other piece that didn’t quite capture me as much as book one was the setting– I totally lost myself in the sense of place in Egypt in book one, and was a little less captivated by the English setting here, or rather– it just felt very familiar and less exciting. There are some reasonable attempts at inclusion and diversity. And I continue to enjoy how character stereotypes are often subtly subverted. With smouldering eyes, red lips, and a dress that looks like it was poured on, you’re always dressed to kill. A stylish clutch purse completes the look. FORD ESCORT Accident-prone" is putting it lightly. It seems nothing can go right at Mistletoe Manor, not for any of the surprise guests or for Klarinda and her crew. She tries so hard to keep it all together, doing her best to put on a brave face, yet she can’t control the constant turmoil surrounding her idyllic bed and breakfast.Although all of the stories contain a crime, some of them are really more horror than detective and, in fact, I tended to enjoy these more. Overall, I found this collection a little less enjoyable than the other two, though whether that's because the average quality is lower or just that I've surfeited on vintage crime for the moment, I'm not sure. However, as always, there are enough good stories to make the collection well worth reading. I'm not sure reading all of these anthologies so close together does them proper justice, but I do recommend them individually, depending on what setting you prefer to satisfy your murderous impulses... 3½ stars for me, so rounded up. The editor, Martin Edwards, gave a brief biography on each author at the beginning of each story, and even those were interesting.
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