The Murder at Sissingham Hall

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,

A re-read prior to reading the next in the series.
A whodunit set in the 1920s at Sissingham Hall. Charles Knox returns to England and is invited to the Hall of Sir Neville Strickland and his wife Rosamund the ex-fiancee of Charles. When Sir Neville is found dead. Told from the point of view of Knox it is left to Mrs Marchmont to solve the murder.
I enjoyed the story again though I did remember who was the guilty party.

I worked out who it was very early on and only kept reading to find out if I was right. Angela Marchmont barely featured, yes she worked out what had happened, but we never heard from her point of view. It was narrated by one of the male characters, who was so stupid he deserved his comeuppance. I won't be reading anymore in the series.

Read 04.06.2023

I have a fondness for vintage mysteries, and this one did not disappoint, even though the clues to the mystery pretty much stared you in the face. I enjoyed the period writing, and the typical stock English country house murder characters, but I thoroughly enjoyed the intrepid lady detective, Angela Marchmont. I'll be reading Benson's other Marchmont stories as well. Good fun!

This is a breezy, unchallenging 1920s style murder mystery. Country house? Check. Murder? Check. Lots of suspects? Check. Amateur sleuth solves what the police cannot? Check.

The 'sleuth' is Angela Marchmont, and this is the first in a series, but oddly it's narrated by Charles Knox, so she remains a bit of a side character until the end. It's fairly obvious (ok, blindingly obvious) whodunit from an early point, but it's a harmless, diverting murder mystery that should entertain a willing reader.

While I enjoyed this country manor English mystery set in the 1920s, I found the culprit easy to figure out early on. Plus, I would have enjoyed a bit more interaction with Angela Marchmont (though I guess if I continue on with this series, I will get it in the later books).

I recently picked this up during my kindle unlimited trial. I was pleasantly surprised. Clara Benson wrote in the classic English country house style of the 1920s but was not published until the 1960s. A nice easy read, more Agatha Christie than Dorothy Sayers, but enjoyable.