Not to Disturb (edition 1977)

This is a well-written but extremely obscure mystery,in more ways than one.
The scene is Geneva. In the servants quarters of the large residence of the Baron and Baroness Klopstock,the staff wait. In the attic,the Baron's lunatic brother is confined and can be heard howling. The Baron and his wife together with their Secretary are not to be disturbed for any reason. There you have it in a nutshell. If you understand it all,then you're a better man then me Gunga Dinn. ( )

One of the most imaginative, brilliant and funny mystery novellas with magical distortions of time ( )

[Not to Disturb is a short, dark comedy - a pre-murder, murder mystery. Set in a grand estate in Switzerland, sometime in the 20th century (mid?), the story reads like a play to me, and one can almost see it being acted out.

The reader is thrown immediately into the story among the servants who are discussing the murder. Thing is, the murder not only hasn't happened yet, but the victims haven't even arrived on the scene. There's a lot of snappy dialogue and messing with verb tenses, and I think I detect just a touch of post-modernism in the banter. Here's a little sample from page 7:

"Suppose the Baron wants his dinner?"
"Of course he expected his dinner," Lister says. "But as things turned out he didn't live to eat it. He'll be arriving soon."
"There might be an unexpected turn of events," says Eleanor.
"There was sure to be something unexpected." says Lister. "But what's done is about to be done and the future has come to pass. My memoirs up to the funeral are as a matter of fact more or less complete. At all events, it's out of our hands. I place the event at about 3 a.m. so prepare to stay awake."

People come and go from the estate. There's all the servants, the Baron and Baroness, various visitors, and the lunatic relative in the attic and, wouldn't you know it, there's a horrible thunderstorm brewing outside the mansion. This is a very funny and brilliant short novel. ( )

http://startnarrativehere.com/2010/05/not-to-disturb-by-muriel-spark-1971 ( )

A kind of debased "Upstairs, Downstairs." Satire on such topics as the fecklessness of the upper classes, the opportunism of the working classes and the sensation-mongering media were a bit long in the tooth, even in 1971. Entertaining enough, however. The wedding of the lunatic scion and housemaid is pretty funny. ( )