A Gentleman's Murder

It took me a little while to settle into this murder mystery set in 1920s England, but once I did, I loved it. Eric Peterkin, our sleuth, is half-Chinese but of English birth, and his experiences of racism and prejudice inform the solving of the mystery nicely (and Huang plays around with some tropes about "the Chinese villain" and "exoticism" in ways that are smart and sharp). The aftermath of WWI, especially regarding returned soldiers with varying degrees of shell shock, added a fascinating layer, as did the use of Eric's gentleman's club, the Britannia. I'm pleased to see there is a second book about Eric, and I hope Huang will do more as well.

This was supposed to be on "Golden Age" mystery. I suppose it was by definition, but I'm not an avid mystery reader, so I can only guess. The mystery was a murder that took place at a gentleman's club, The Britannia, in London. The protagonist was a half-Chinese, half-English, ex member of the Royal Fusiliers, who gained entrance in the club because of his WWI service. This book had it all: PTSD, racism, and sexism. What is didn't have was character development; I could have cared less about any of the characters. I gave it 3 stars because of it's post WWI atmosphere.

For some reason I read the author's notes first about trying to have the 1924 setting accurate, which then made me attuned to any anachronisms in the text. Within the first bit of reading he references a cigarette burning down to the filter. No filtered cigarettes in 1924. Then later on one of the characters gives a cabbie half a pound. Before 1970, it would have been 10 shillings. It was a fun read, but I got slowed looking for anachronisms.

A pastiche of a Golden Age locked-room murder mystery set in 1920s London, where biracial amateur sleuth Eric (born to an English father and a Chinese mother) tries to figure out who killed the newest member of the Britannia Club in the club vault. Author Christopher Huang clearly tries his best to both do right by Eric as someone who is both in society (scion of an old gentry family, wealthy enough to afford membership in a private member’s club, former army officer) and not (he’s subject to a lot of abuse because of his Chinese descent), and to the longterm traumatic effects of trench warfare on so many of the men who served in the First World War.

But the amount of effort put into it doesn’t quite pay off. The plot is a bit show more plodding, and I never found myself getting invested in any of the characters. The treatment/behaviour of one of the women characters in particular seems taken straight out of an actual 20s/30s mystery, and as psychologically unconvincing as it often came across in period literature, it seems even more so coming from the pen of a 21st century writer. All in all, fine, but I wouldn’t find myself impelled to pick up another book by Huang. show less

The premises: a bet between two men in a London gentleman's club leads to murder in 1924.

its a bit of a homage to the classic detective stories of the 1920s and 1930s, with a touch of the locked room mystery thrown in. But don't let that put you off - it is done remarkably well.

The main character - Eric Peterkin - is a veteran of WWI and member of the Britannia Club, where events take place. Despite the long family tradition of membership, Eric is a bit of an anomaly - he is a half-caste amid the snobbery of the upper echelons of pre-war Edwardian Britain. Author Huang imparts his own background onto Peterkin, which gives authenticity to Peterkin's struggles to fit into a society which whilst transitioning into the modern world, still show more finds the ties to the "old ways" hard to break.

There is the usual cast of suspects - for where would we be without those that give own detective the impetus to investigate what he considers his duty to the dead man .... " good or bad, the Empire owes a debt to each and every man in the Britannia ..." Each with their own secrets, foibles, and it is their collective link to the past that draws the reader ever deeper into the mystery.

Huang carefully weaves the threads of these stories together, all the while sending us off in different directions that we wonder just where we are being led, and how will it all tie together. rest assured, it does in the climatic last chapters.

What I also found enjoyable was Huang's wrap up at the end - his epilogue - wherein we are treated to why the author chose the period he did and his choice of the style of detective for the main character. I am always interested as to where authors find their inspiration, and why they choose a particular era, etc.

A first novel for Huang, but let us hope not the last. show less

It's 1924 and Lieutenant Eric Peterkin is a member of a prestigious soldiers-only club in London, like all previous generations of his family. One evening a gentleman's wager is accepted but it results with a member stabbed to death. The previous evening the victim had said that he intended to right a wrong.
Peterkin decides to investigate when he believes that he cannot trust the police officer in charge. Problems arise because Peterkin is half Chinese, and many of his suspects suffer to varying degrees from shell shock.
An interesting mystery, well-written with well-rounded characters. It also seems to capture the English way of life after the Great War very well.
A NetGalley Book

The butler did it.

Okay, he didn't but I won't give it away. This was definitely a good English murder mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie and Dorothy Sayer. You have an excellent cast of characters, twists and turns that keep you guessing, and a proper "I've gathered you all here together to reveal who the murderer is". Classic and a good read.