An absolutely superb mystery: beautifully plotted, and hysterically funny. I laughed like a drain at just about every other page, and after the raven in chapter 8 I just have to go and read some Edgar Allan Poe.

Excellent. Hysterical. Go and read it. ( )

This continues to be an amusing series for me although this entry is more of a “puzzle” mystery than a comedy. This story is set in a Cathedral Town and one of the pleasures of Crispin’s novels is his wonderful descriptive writing. I caught the clue that pointed to the main villain but there were enough other threads to the story to hold my interest. Crispin’s self references are amusing and his POV is interesting. In the two mysteries I’ve read the story is told in third person but the POV is mainly through the eyes of the “Watson” character—in both cases this has been a friend who has come to visit Fen. We learn much more about the friend than we do about Fen—who seems to be a rather “stock” character in some ways. I find this series a relaxing read to while away a few hours—enjoyable but not compelling. However, I do plan to read the third one in the omnibus I borrowed from the library because sometimes “relaxing and amusing” is definitely the way to go. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1387122...

Gervase Fen is embroiled in a mystery of murder and espionage in a West Country cathedral town in about 1940. The book is not quite successful at keeping a consistency of tone (also Crispin, like his male characters, seems a bit uncertain about women), but there are some glorious set-pieces, in particular the scene where Fen and his friend are trying to interview a clergyman who owns a pet raven and keep quoting Poe at each other. Fun stuff.  ( )

An extremely enjoyable detective novel, combining the typical twists and turns, moments of comedy, and in the case of Gervase Fen, a vocabulary bordering on the gargantuan. Have a dictionary to hand. Be warned, too, that this book is extremely pretentious. The joke about Gibbon and Waugh made me laugh, but perhaps others will be less than impressed. ( )

This is an uneven book, however, it is worth reading, if only for chapter eight, a total send-up of Poe's "The Raven". Revenge for those of us who had to sit through it in school. ( )