Minute for Murder

First of all, of no revelance to the plot of this book, it was a shock to me to read that Georgia had died in the war after having just recently read the second book of the series, "Thou Shell of Death", in which Nigel first meets Georgia.

This post-WW2 plot (1947?) was well done and I admit that I was fooled up until the end about who was the killer. It was intriguing to see Nigel working in the "Ministry of Morale" rather than his previous foot-loose ways.

This is the second Nicholas Blake (i.e. C. Day Lewis) mystery I've read. Both of them seem to be in the genre of overly complex puzzles where there's all sorts of facts dumped on the reader to puzzle out what really happened. I'm not fond of this genre in general, so I'm not sure I'll be reading any more of these. However, this one had two advantages over the one I read previously. One was the setting, a British propaganda ministry between VE and VJ days in 1945, when people in England are trying to get used to the idea that the war will be over and things will go back to a normal they can no longer remember. The second was a group of very interesting characters who ordinarily wouldn't have met but were thrown together in the ministry. show more The puzzle doesn't get in the way of enjoying these two aspects of the book. show less

First of all, of no revelance to the plot of this book, it was a shock to me to read that Georgia had died in the war after having just recently read the second book of the series, "Thou Shell of Death", in which Nigel first meets Georgia.

This post-WW2 plot (1947?) was well done and I admit that I was fooled up until the end about who was the killer. It was intriguing to see Nigel working in the "Ministry of Morale" rather than his previous foot-loose ways.

A little better than the first one, but the plot became so incredibly convoluted -- if he'd kept it simple, I would have had a greater appreciation.

It's the end of World War II. Photos are stolen from the war office. Returning Hero. Secretary is poisoned, and the director is stabbed.

Hacia finales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en un inexistente Ministerio de Moral, el investigador Nigel Strangeways deberá encontrar al asesino de una compañera de trabajo. Nita ha sido envenenada durante un reunión y la situación de "cuarto cerrado" obliga a considerar que el asesino fue uno de los presentes en la sala, quien puso el veneno en la taza de café de la víctima a la vista de todos. La desaparición de un archivo secreto y el descubrimiento de un amante de Nita van complejizando la dilucidación del caso.

Hacia finales de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, en un inexistente Ministerio de Moral, el investigador Nigel Strangeways deberá encontrar al asesino de una compañera de trabajo. Nita ha sido envenenada durante una reunión y la situación de “cuarto cerrado” obliga a considerar que el asesino fue uno de los presentes en la sala, quien puso el veneno en la taza de café de la víctima a la vista de todos. La desaparición de un archivo secreto y el descubrimiento de un amante de Nita van complejizando la dilucidación del caso. Nicholas Blake, maestro del género policial y autor también de La bestia debe morir, ofrece en esta magistral novela otra joya del arte de urdir misterios perfectos.