Books › One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
322 pages
A brilliantly constructed puzzle box that transforms the mundane dread of a dentist's waiting room into a web of high-stakes deception.
What it feels like
Reading this mystery feels like sitting down to untangle a perfectly knotted ball of yarn. It begins with the universally relatable, mundane anxiety of a dentist's waiting room, only to spiral into a surprisingly complex web of political intrigue and hidden identities. The pace is steady and methodical, inviting you to play detective alongside a wry, observant narrator who misses nothing. The atmosphere is quintessentially British and orderly, yet shadowed by the creeping realization that no one is exactly who they claim to be. Crisp, dialogue-heavy prose keeps the focus squarely on the psychological puzzle, making it a delight for readers who crave intellectual rigor wrapped in the comforting, nostalgic trappings of a Golden Age whodunit.
- Mood
- cozy yet shadowed
- suspenseful
- orderly
- Tone
- wry
- analytical
- observant
- methodical
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- facades of respectability · political extremism vs individual justice · the hidden lives of strangers · deception and identity
- The writing
- Crisp, dialogue-driven, and unadorned, the writing serves as a clear window into the psychological quirks and hidden motives of its cast.
- The arc
- The reader moves from the relatable, mundane dread of a waiting room into a labyrinth of suspicion, ending in the satisfying clarity of a perfectly assembled puzzle.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love a classic, intellectually rigorous puzzle mystery that hides dark motives behind the veneer of polite society.
Content notes
- murder
- staged suicide
- dental anxiety
About the book
The dentist was found with a blackened hole below his right temple. A pistol lay on the floor near his outflung right hand. Later, one of his patients was found dead from a lethal dose of local anaesthetic. A clear case of murder and suicide. But why would a dentist commit a crime in the middle of a busy day of appointments? A shoe buckle holds the key to the mystery. Now – in the words of the rhyme – can Poirot pick up the sticks and lay them straight?
Description from Open Library.
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