James Anderson (2) (1936–2007)

In a re-release of this 1975 gem, author James Anderson has penned a lovely — and loving — send-up of that old chestnut, the British house-party cozy mystery. Gathering for a weekend party at the West Country mansion of Alderley, owned by the stereotypically bluff Earl of Burford, are his diplomat brother, two Duchy diplomats there to conclude negotiations with Britain, a Texan oil tycoon and his wife, a travelogue writer, an insufferable bore, a shadowy French baroness, and a plucky show more gal-pal of the earl’s daughter. What could go wrong?

What doesn’t go wrong? A diamond necklace and a brace of semi-automatic pistols that once belonged to Czar Nicholas II both go missing, and a body turns up in a lake on the grounds — plus diabolical espionage and treason. While so many plot points might prove confusing in less deft hands, Anderson handles the high-jinks with aplomb. I couldn’t put the novel down, as cliché as that sounds! The novel’s resolution proves perfect, too.

Lastly, I absolutely adored the lugubrious Detective Inspector Wilkins, who resembles Hercule Poirot a bit in looks — but certainly not style. There he resembles a British version of the seemingly buffoonish TV detective Colombo; however, like his counterpart, and despite his self-deprecation, Wilkins doesn’t miss a thing. How pleased I was to find out that Anderson penned sequels and that I will soon be encountering Wilkins again! show less

Yes, yes, I know. What am I doing reading a book like THE AFFAIR OF THE BLOODSTAINED EGG COSY. In my defence I used to be quite a SPLASHER (4MA speak for somebody who reads a wide range of crime book "styles") although in recent years I will admit I've moved more and more to the dark side. But every now and then I like a bit of a splash around in the lighter side of the genre, and I do rather like the eccentric side of the classic English country house sub-genre. Chuck in a slightly batty show more Lord; an unflappable Lady; a house with secret passages; a poor cousin / secretary / jolly young thing girl; a bit of spying and/or intrigue; an imperious butler; an exotic unknown female and some dashing around in the dark, and well I can be quite happy. Provided it's all done rather well, and doesn't veer too much into cartoon territory. Which THE AFFAIR OF THE BLOODSTAINED EGG COSY (henceforth to be known as THE AFFAIR ETC) avoids nicely.

Originally written in 1975, THE AFFAIR ETC has a very authentic 1930's feeling to it. And just the slightest dash of lunacy about it. The biggest part of the action takes place on one night, when there's a woman screaming; somebody gets locked in a linen closest; one man goes missing (his dead body shows up the next morning in the lake outside the house); one valuable necklace is stolen; the exotic female goes missing; alarms go off; people rush around; and a lot of stuff goes bump in the night whilst nobody thinks to turn on the lights. All of which culminates in the arrival of a very self-effacing detective, who seems to think he's been promoted above his abilities, and mostly seems to do his detecting by standing around and waiting for others to stick their feet in it... so to speak.

There's also a bit of business to do with a famous pair of guns; a famous gun collection; and a dirty, bloodstained egg cosy in the lavender bushes. Now it goes without saying that we're talking a very busy plot here, delivered with just a hint of really good farce. This is the second book from the Burford Family mysteries (actually the first in the series I believe) that I've read and I've got to say I really like these books. Light-hearted, enormously batty, good humoured and very entertaining, THE AFFAIR ETC is incredibly complicated. You'll be doing better than me if you can work out what's going on for most of the time, but I hope, like me, you really not going to care and just enjoy being very entertained. show less

A solid entry in the "murder at a country house party in interwar England" genre. James Anderson has his tongue just enough in cheek to add some extra enjoyment for the reader, but not so much that Affair of the Blood Stained Egg Cosy descends into farce. It's got about everything you could want from this kind of book—impoverished daughters of the gentry, Texan oil millionaires, blackmail, aristocrats, Ruritanian duchies, and so on—which make it an ideal read on a lazy, rainy weekend.

Jessica Fletcher, a middle-aged widow in New England, writes a mystery novel in her spare time. Despite her objections, the novel ends up getting published and Jessica finds herself trapped in New York doing a round of publicity for the newly minted bestseller. After a weekend invitation to a party at the country house of her publisher turns into a real life murder mystery, Jessica transforms into a reluctant detective in order to extricate her nephew, Grady, from a murder charge.

This is a show more decent enough murder mystery and a respectable first installment to a series. The reader gets introduced to English teacher, Jessica, in her natural habitat of a quaint small town, and then follows her to her adventure as a fish-out-of-water in the big city. The murder that follows is an interesting enough story without being overly original or compelling. Jessica’s nephew is arrested for murder after his employer and a private detective are both killed, and the evidence points to Grady as the murderer with corporate espionage as the motive.

The real murderer is easy to spot early on; but I vaguely remember seeing the TV episode on which this novel is based several years ago, so that may explain why it was so easy to intuitively identify the culprit.

The most unappealing aspects of this book are the annoying characters themselves: Grady in particular, and—to a lesser extent—Jessica. Grady is just obnoxious in the extreme; it was actually quite satisfying to see him get arrested and face the possibility of execution when he is arrested on suspicion of murder! The fact that he actually steals…STEALS!...his aunt’s manuscript and then has the nerve to pass it off to various other people without her permission is just insufferable and really made me utterly despise him throughout the book. His constant insistence on forcing his aunt to do everything she doesn’t want to do, but that is advantageous to him & his girlfriend, is equally obnoxious…agreeing to publish the book, going to New York, staying in New York, accepting her publishers’ invitations, etc., etc., etc. I got so sick of Grady by the end of the book, I wanted to toss him off the side of a cliff myself.

And the fact that Jessica just puts up with it is equally infuriating. Grady violates her privacy while a guest in her home, steals from her, and bandies her manuscript all over, and then strong-arms her into having the book published against her will. Jessica just meekly takes all of his crap…and then some. Her attitude as a doormat then extends to her relationships with Kitt, and her publisher, and so on. That grew really tedious, really quickly. Jessica’s character is an older widow who has spent years working as an English teacher; one would really expect her to have more of a backbone than that. Hopefully, she’ll acquire more self-respect and grow a spine as the series progresses. show less