My enjoyment of the book was rather marred by ending up not liking the people. E. M. Forster said, "If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.." That's pretty much how these people are -- but it's not really friendship, it's more, "how dare you ask me to betray my class." The academics are deeply offended that the the Inspector would dare to ask them about their colleagues, even if they are criminals, or perhaps it is just unthinkable that one of them would be, or that they should be held accountable if they are. It seems fitting that one of the most famous famous spy rings of the twentieth century was "The Cambridge Five," spying on the British and the Americans for the Soviet Union.

The descriptions of the social life are sometimes sprightly and mildly amusing (even though I would probably not enjoy their amusements.) In these cases I can see something of GGG-Aunt Jane. The story abut the crime just seems to drag on, of course, part of that is because of the prejudices described in the first paragraph. The main character, Prudence, who is supposed to be an independent and forceful proto-feminist ends up as a doormat by the end. It's the reverse of the old trope of the ugly girl taking off her glasses and suddenly becoming a beauty. Prudence falls pretty fast, especially for someone who has been an apparently happy single woman for so long. ( )

The Incredible Crime was just that - unbelievable.

The plot was utterly ridiculous. For much of the book I was left wondering if there was a crime at all because there was no real plot. All we had was a CID inspector mentioning to our main character, a young woman and daughter of The Master of one of the colleges, that he suspects a drug smuggling operation to be based in Cambridge.

I still have no real idea why the CID inspector mentions this to our intrepid main character.
I also have no idea why it took 80% of the book to get the plot moving.

There was so much stuffing and distraction by a romance sub-plot that the mystery took a backseat until the very end of the book. And I mean the last four or five chapters out of thirty-two.

And as for the romance sub-plot... Gaaah.

I've never been a fan of The Taming of the Shrew. ( )

"She's too independent for a woman". Now, you would think that this was a line that then demanded that the woman show everyone how awesome she actually was but no, this book went on to make the woman less independent. The "incredible" crime ended up being kind of lame, and the clues laid for the mystery were all misleading but not in a good, smart way, just in a badly-written kind of way. Super annoying from Jane Austen's great grand-niece or whatever.

https://webereading.com/2018/09/ripxiii-update.html ( )

This book falls utterly flat as mystery or detective fiction; its only saving grace is the author's fondness for the hunt. While she has little to say about life in Cambridge, Austen-Leigh comes into her own when her characters abscond to the country, producing effusive descriptions of hunting rituals and the characters involved. 'The Incredible Crime' has far more in common with the works of R.S. Surtees or Somerville and Ross than it does with those of Margery Allingham or Dorothy Parker. ( )

This novel by "the grand-daughter of Jane Austen's favorite nephew" may not be quite as good as the introduction claims, but it mixes scenes of Cambridge University and the English coastal countryside in a pleasing way. There is also a rather subtle handling of the uncertainty of two of the major characters, a brilliant chemist at Cambridge and his kinsman, a country squire type of nobleman --are they part of a drug-smuggling ring, or not, and if not, what are they doing?At one point it seems the question must be answered one way, but then it turns out to be answered another. The heroine is being awkwardly courted by the chemist and grew up with the nobleman, and feels a conflict of loyalties when asked by the police to spy on them. The final answers may seem improbable, and feminists may not approve of the heroine's ultimate submissive attitude, but overall I thought it was cleverly done. There is a brief but beautiful description of .a chapel service at Cambridge I particularly like. ( )