"The red house mystery" by A. A. Milne - A vintage whodunit.
This book is published by Vintage classics in 2009 and has 224 pages.
Anthony Gillingham is an intelligent man who changes his profession frequently and excels in all of them. He arrives at 'The red house', owned Mark Applet, to meet his friend Bill Beverly, who is spending weekend there. Mark's long estranged brother, Robert Applet, arrives from Australia. Robert is killed in a locked room and Mark is missing. Matthew Cailey, cousin, confidant and adviser of Mark, requests Anthony to stay. Anthony finds a new profession, detective.
Where is Mark? Who locked the room? What is the red house mystery? Can Anthony become a sleuth? Whodunit?
It's a mystery of Agatha Christi genre. The story is slow, meticulous, deliberate. A large house, lot of guests, a rich man, a dead body. No one seems to be the murderer. However, Anthony plays Sherlock Holmes, not Hercule Poiroit.
Narration is good. Author manages to keep the reader engaged with a little thing here and a little thing there. The crime is not awfully complex to crack but the motive remains hidden till the very end.
It's a classic whodunit with a difference. The differences being that the detective is not an established one and that the final revelation does not happen to a full house audience but through a letter.
The book was first published in 1922. It does not lose its charm even after almost a century. Interestingly it's the only mystery written by the author.
Why did I read this book? Vintage mystery for a change.
What I didn't like? Deduction is not smooth.
What did I like? It retains charm after a century.
Read, if you like mysteries.
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