Murder at Melrose Court: A Country House Christmas Murder

Bought this, on the basis of reviews, for my wife's Christmas stocking. Unexpected last minute circumstances caused us to be home alone this Christmas. After Christmas lunch etc we lit the fire, settled in front of the Christmas tree, made a cup of tea, selected a champagne truffle and my wife offered to read the first chapter aloud. Then we had another truffle, another log on the fire, then anonther cup of tea, discussion of the chapter (plot line, authenticity of period and lifestyle, relationships between protagnoists etc) and then we read another chapter aloud, another truffle, another cup of tea and so on. And there started a series of 4 evenings of the same formula - delightful. This fairly short book has a carefully worked plot that evolves at a steady pace, with humorous asides (not as zany as Bertie Wooster but not wholly inconsistent with asides I have heard at country house gatherings in the past). This book absolutely hit the mark as a Christmas-tide whodunnit. It was probably greatly improved by being read aloud as this slowed up the narrative and one maybe noticed and savoured details that might otherwise have been overlooked. It would be a good cozy crime read at any time, but at Christmas, and with scope for slow reading in smallish segments it excelled. If I really had to identify any weakness I would probably observe that one or two items of evidence for the final identification of the culprit were only revealed a little time after they were known to the first-person 'detective'. This is quibbling: although strictly outside the tests for perfect cozy crime writing, the details did not affect the insights, dedutions and actions of the 'detective' and only became known to him shortly before the final 'reveal', confirming rather than guiding the conclusions (with one exception which relates to a tiny plot loose end, more humorous than structural and, who knows, it may get tidied up in the next story about Major Heathcliff Lennox). Many, many cozy crime authors transgress this rule and generally in more flagrant ways. It did not diminish the pleasure of the narrative or the validity of the conclusion. Thank you KBM for helping to make our Christmas: I shall read your other 2 books and hope there may be more if they are anything like this first one.

Really liked this book. It was quaintly old fashioned in a way that was suitable for the 1920s. It was an easy read but the plot was good and I really couldn't wait to see Whodunnit! I really will buy more follow ups but the paperbook prices are quite high. Kindle is cheaper but I like the feel of a book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, at first read, the main character seems to be a privileged war hero with not a lot between the ears, swimming in debt of the sort the privileged have, but still able to afford a new car, but with two deaths within a few days and the finger pointing at him our hero begins to emerge as someone who has the intellect and ability to be a detective.

I love whodunnits and especially those set in an historical context. This was light, entertaining and kept me turning the page right through to the end. The characters were well drawn and I enjoyed the humourous touch - can't wait for Karen Menuhin's next murder mystery.

I purchased this book after reading the review and it lived up to every word. This gentle country house mystery may seems a little tame to some but I loved the main character and his dog and wanted to know what he would do next so my attention was kept right to the end. Will investigate more of this authors work.