Books › A Blunt Instrument
A Blunt Instrument
383 pages
A delightfully witty puzzle that peels back the respectable veneer of the English suburbs to reveal a tangle of scandalous secrets.
What it feels like
Reading this classic mystery feels like stepping into a perfectly preserved 1930s drawing room, where the tea is hot and the gossip is deadly. The experience is less about pulse-pounding thrills and more about the sheer delight of untangling a clever puzzle alongside sharp-witted detectives. Driven by sparkling, period-perfect dialogue and a wry authorial voice, the narrative peels back the veneer of suburban respectability to reveal a delightfully eccentric cast of suspects, all harboring dirty little secrets. The mood is quintessentially British and comfortably cozy, balancing the grim reality of murder with a lighthearted, almost theatrical charm. It is a perfect match for readers who savor Golden Age detective fiction, intricate alibis, and the quiet satisfaction of a brilliantly deduced conclusion.
- Mood
- cozy
- suspenseful
- quintessentially British
- Tone
- wry
- witty
- observant
- lighthearted
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- facade of gentility · hidden scandals · eccentric suspects · the puzzle of human nature
- The writing
- Elegant and sharply observant, driven by sparkling, period-perfect dialogue and a dry authorial wit.
- The arc
- Begins with a shocking disruption of suburban peace, winds through a labyrinth of amusingly deceptive suspects, and culminates in a clever, satisfying deduction.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love Golden Age mysteries and delight in drawing-room interrogations, eccentric characters, and clever banter.
Content notes
- murder
- infidelity
About the book
Inspectors Hannasyde & Hemingway #4
Who would kill the perfect gentleman?
When Ernest Fletcher is found bludgeoned to death in his study, everyone is shocked and mystified: Ernest was well liked and respected, so who would have a motive for killing him? Inspectors of Scotland Yard felt it was an unlikely crime for the London suburbs: a perfectly respectable chap at home with his head bashed in. It seems the real Fletcher was far from the gentleman he pretended to be. There is, in fact, no shortage of people who wanted him dead.
Superintendent Hannasyde and Sergeant Hemingway, with consummate skill, uncover one dirty little secret after another, and with them, a host of people who all have reasons for wanting Fletcher dead. Who tiptoed into the study to do the deed? The rather nefarious nephew Neville? A neighbor's wandering wife? A fat man in a bowler hat?
The mystery's key was a blunt instrument--a weapon that the police could not find... and that the murderer can to use once more. Then, a second murder is committed, with striking similarities to the first, giving a grotesque twist to a very unusual case, and the inspectors realize they are up against a killer on a mission....
Description from Open Library.
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