Clara Benson

Freddy Pilkington-Smith starts out as a seemingly well-meaning, pleasant idiot, much Bertie Wooster. This is because Freddy is drunk when we meet him. His mother takes advantage of his condition in order to avoid having a dead body found on her front steps.
Freddy soon sobers up, however, and turns into a fairly clever, but still very engaging, young man about town and fledgling reporter. He sifts through lots of evasions and downright lies to get at the truth and discover who murdered a show more member of his mother’s social set.
I enjoyed this, but be warned: it’s absolute fluff and simply an entertaining way to while away a summer afternoon. show less

Clever enough and rather Christie-heavy, but was also tensely watching how she navigated the cultural attitudes of the time without exacerbating them.

"I stumbled upon the Angela Marchmont series and The Murder at Sissingham Hall (first book in the series) several years ago looking for Golden Age detective fiction. I'm usually very skeptical of self-published books, but the description appealed to me, so I gave it a try. I'm glad I did as I was immediately hooked. Ms. Benson has a gift for writing historical mysteries - I feel as though I'm reading a book written in the 20's, but the writing does not seem stale as some books written back show more then do.

Although Ms. Benson has ended the Angela Marchmont series, this is the third short story she has written, and I'll continue to be on the lookout for more. Angela is an intelligent and independent woman, but realistically so for the late 20's. In the series novels, the clues are usually laid out to be followed by both Angela and the reader - it is more difficult to do this in a short story, but I didn't feel cheated as Angela solved the mystery.

I have read all of the books published by Ms. Benson, and I do have to note that the editing is superb as well. Many self-published books that I have read have misspellings and grammatical errors - NOT so with any of the Angela Marchmont or Freddy Pilkington-Soames series. The books are edited better than quite a lot of books I read these days from the major publishing houses.

Although I believe this short story can stand alone, I highly recommend starting with the first book - The Murder at Sissingham Hall - or even the prequel short story - The Man on the Train. You won't want to miss a moment in this wonderful series.

Recommended for those who enjoy a well-written mystery in the style of Golden Age detective fiction, or for that matter anyone who enjoys a well-written mystery in general." show less

A differently structured novel, written in the first person but not by the sleuth.

Essentially a cozy, sometimes a bit predictable, with the narrator often frustratingly blind-sided by his love for his former fiance, the wife of the victim.

Very readable though with a good balance of mystery and red herrings. It certainly passes muster as a Golden Age novel,