London 1946. An actress is murdered, not just on camera but in full view of a crowded film set. Only six people had an opportunity to administer the poison yet not one of them had a conceivable motive. As Evadne Mount, bestselling crime novelist, discovers, however, all six did have a motive for committing another, earlier, still unsolved murder yet, on that occasion, not one of them had the opportunity...
Blurb taken from Goodreads.
✼
I previously read The Act of Roger Murgatroyd by Gilbert Adair, which was passed onto me, being the huge fan of Agatha Christie that I am. The title was clearly a play on that of Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, and I was keen to read this parody and see what the story entailed. I didn't find it a spectacular novel (you can read my review of it here, if you're so inclined), and I was really quite put off reading this next instalment.
Over a year and a half later, I finally picked up the second such book, A Mysterious Affair of Style, to read. Sadly, I didn't find this book any better than the first one, and I actually found it arguably worse. As I stated in my last review, if not for being a fan of Christie, I can't imagine I would ever have picked this book up, and this second novel even lacked the humorous nods to Christie's work that had made the first bearable.
It was a real struggle to get through, and I had to wade through it for the most part. However, I really did like the idea for this story much more than the last, which did help me to keep my perseverance up a little.
Rating: ✫✫
SPOILER ALERT
The Story
This story picks up some time after the last left off, and old detective Trubshawe is looking for a little bit of excitement. Enter (or should I say, re-enter) Evadne Mound, author of murder mysteries that are intricate, surprising, and apparently full of suspense.
I must say, I actually really liked the tone of this book, and the way it was set up. The idea of a film director being killed, seemingly by accident, followed by the near impossible murder of our sleuth's own friend; it was exactly the kind of idea that should be exciting to read about. And I did enjoy the build-up to Cora's death. The way Trubshawe and Mound reconnect, their movements leading them to the crime, and the spectacle in the theatre were all enjoyable to read about. And when Cora was killed, I was not expecting it, and found myself really looking forward to the direction of the rest of the book.
The problem came from there. Because Cora's death did not seem to matter to any of the suspects, and there was a very lacklustre investigation that took up most of the rest of the novel. The Scotland Yard token detective comes in, Trubshawe and Mound make some interesting remarks, and all of the potential suspects are questioned. The problem is, there is actually very little to say about this substantial part of the novel, because these parts were all very dull. This is supposed to be the exciting part of a murder mystery - meeting all the important characters and trying to work out who played a significant part in the events. But the interviews had very little to differentiate them, and I found myself skimming over these chapters, because they seemed to be able to give me absolutely no real intrigue that could prompt me to stick with the plot. In fact, when Evadne Mound commented that she knew the culprit, I was thrilled, because I could see the end of the book in sight.
Because, fundamentally, the exciting part of the book is what happened to Alistair Farjeon, the director whom the population had admired. To revert to investigating Cora's death just seemed like a chore; why write about this crime when the story could revolve around Alistair Farjeon?! It was a relief when the ending came and Farjeon was revealed to be alive - finally, I thought, something interesting is happening! But yet again I was to be disappointed, because the explanation, although extensive, which I appreciated, was also slightly dull. Our female sleuth explains the ins and outs of the crime, but it all fell a little short of the high hopes I'd had for a story attached by name to the queen of crime fiction.
"There is, of course, the old chestnut of the least likely suspect. A long time ago, however, we authors of mystery fiction realised that we had to move on from that primitive device. We understood that, if we were to continue enthralling our readers, we'd all have to give our plots one or two extra turns of the screw. In short, we'd have to find an escape-route out of the vicious circle that had begun to bedevil every conventional whodunnit."
This idea was by no means a bad one. It had class, an already established sleuth duo who were interesting and contrasting characters. There's the detective that comes in to spur the plot along, and the pool of suspects that are questioned in connection with the very unusual murder. It just didn't seem to have any oomph. It could have been so much more. All the ingredients were there, but they weren't handled well enough to make a slick story. There is no one thing that makes the book bad; it's fine. It's all just very okay. Such a shame.
The Verdict
"Never. If there's one thing I've learned in my thirty years as a much-acclaimed author, it's that the style of an artist, an authentic artist, can never be successfully imitated by someone else. Never, never, never. Many have tried, all have failed."
I loved the idea of paying homage to Agatha Christie's work. She's the queen of crime fiction, and any celebration of her is absolutely fine by me. But I expected so much more out of these stories than what I actually got, especially in A Mysterious Affair of Style.
Isn't that what this book is all about? It should be a celebration of all things Christie. When I read The Act of Roger Murgatroyd, the story wasn't particularly exciting and I knew it was no extraordinary work, but the little nods to Agatha Christie made it worth it. They made me smile, and I liked seeing the connection there. If anything, it seemed to me that A Mysterious Affair of Style lacked even that. There was very little reference to Christie, and so the magic was lost for me a little. The idea was so much more up my street, but the execution and actual point of the novel were a little disappointing.
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