J. Jefferson Farjeon (1883–1955)

I thought this was going to be one of those old-fashioned, fun-when-you’re-in-the-mood-for-it kind of reads from the past when I tried tackling this back in 2015, but discovered it was simply boring.

The premise certainly had potential, but the execution was terrible. I couldn’t warm to any of the characters or their verbal interactions, and found this one so rough going it seems like I tried reading an entirely different book from many of the other folks praising this turkey. I love the show more period and genre, and this seemed to be in part of my wheelhouse, but it’s a dud.

I enjoyed this author’s The Thirteenth Guest much more, but believe this is a writer from the past who was very hit and miss. I couldn’t — or at least didn’t — finish this, because there wasn’t any reason to keep going; I had kept reading long enough to know it wasn’t going to shift gears and get better.

It’s a recent trend to re-earth and re-package a lot of writers from the Golden Age of mystery, but in an effort to do so — more for a quick buck sometimes (low overhead, public domain?) than to bring attention to the writer, in my opinion — far too many unworthy mystery reads are being shoved on the public, and touted as forgotten classics. Sadly, with this particular title, I feel that’s the case. I suggest giving this one a pass. show less

Surprisingly wonderful old-fashioned country house mystery originally published in 1936. Poisoned Pen Press in Scottsdale, Arizona, in association with the British Library, has been giving new life to some heretofore forgotten mysteries from the Golden Age. Unfortunately, some of them are best forgotten, as I discovered after purchasing another, less traditional mystery by Farjeon which just didn't cut it. This one, however, is stellar, everything you'd ever want in a country house mystery, show more including some wit and charm, more than one death, and a romance between John and Anne which is classic. I loved this, and it explains why Farjeon was so respected in his day. Great fun in the very old-fashion - and best - sense of mystery reading fun. Highly recommended for fans of Christie, Alingham, Wentworth and Marsh. show less

Six-word review: Classic mystery wrapped in red bow.

Extended review:

>128 [Mystery in White] came in for me at the library just in time. I started it the day it started, December 24th, and finished it when it ended, on Christmas night. Things can sometimes work out perfectly when you arrange them that way.

This new paperback edition draws you in immediately with a delightfully atmospheric cover painting of a stalled train like the one from which our cast of characters escapes on foot through a show more blizzard. They find a mysteriously empty house with the fires burning and the teakettle aboil. And a menacing presence that soon points to murder.

The story is a thoroughly enjoyable classic Golden Age mystery, set in a snowbound English country house, and just right for filling those odd little nooks and crannies of time over a busy holiday. Most of the characters are absurd, but the principals are charming and likeable, especially young Lydia and Jessie the chorus girl.

The premise requires one's sense of the probable and the plausible to show considerable elasticity; and even at that, the ending is a stretch. But that doesn't matter. Even though a story like this is set in the known material world, without the intervention of magic and supernatural forces, it doesn't do to be too exacting about realism. Don't come here to appease your logical faculty but to satisfy your appetite for a lightweight escapist adventure in an appropriately creepy setting, with a helping of seasonal spirit to brighten the mood. show less

Social climbing Lord and Lady Aveling are holding a house party at Bragley Court on this fine, fall weekend. As one might expect in England during the late 1930’s, the guests travel down by Friday’s trains, the one around noon, the one mid-afternoon (in time for tea) and the last pulling in just before six. On the surface, it’s an interesting assemblage. There’s the political entity whose loyalties Aveling hopes to sway. There’s the commercial entity -- another potential alliance show more to be forged. There’s the actress, hoping that someone will agree to back a play for her, the strikingly lovely widow, and the gushing author with the hyphenated surname, personally responsible for a host of bad novels. There’s the sought-after portrait painter and the jaded gossip columnist. The daughter of the house too has her suitors, anxious to know where they stand. Just as in Downton Abbey, marriage and financial wherewithal go together.

Also at the station, two other arrivals make their presence known. There’s the klutz who gets his foot caught while descending from the train to the platform, and the sinister lurker who merely “observes”.

Sadly, in the context of this final stag hunt of the season, it takes less than 24 hours for two bodies to be found on the estate. Naturally, this invokes a further level of repressed anxiety on the visitors. The weekend gathering won’t appear in the society columns for the “right” reasons, but more embarrassingly for reasons of uncomfortable scandal. But of course, the guests can’t depart as they might wish until Inspector Kendall has found out the secrets of those responsible.

This Golden Age Mystery -- Thirteen Guests by J. Jefferson Farjeon -- has a certain psychological heaviness. There’s no sense of coziness here -- just a growing discomfort as the thirteen guests gather in small groups of three or two, eyeing their fellows across the china tea cups in the pink-and-white drawing room.

The novel is a convoluted tale that requires a tremendously complex unraveling at the end, but it is also an intriguing presentation that succeeds as a different style of classic “Country House” mystery fiction. This novel predates Farjeon’s lighter Mystery in White that was so popular last year, and it is very different in structure and approach. While personally not a purist in these matters, let me note that Farjeon did break one of the famous Detection Club “rules” (http://www.the-line-up.com/the-detection-club-rules/) and he broke at least one of S.S. Van Dine’s set of 20 rules (http://gaslight.mtroyal.ab.ca/vandine.htm) for writing detective fiction. That said, I think Thirteen Guests was an early attempt to render the emotional agonies and social discomforts that can provoke murderous thoughts and actions. The question is not whether a human being is capable of murder, but rather which anxiety-ridden misfit is sufficiently motivated to override existing taboos against it. Of those attending the Avelings’ weekend house party, there are more secretive candidates than you might think. But don’t misunderstand -- this is still a bit of entertainment and not a modern psychological examination . By which I mean that it is probably safe to read this one at bedtime. show less