Heathcliff Lennox Mysteries Book #12
by Karen Baugh Menuhin
GENRE: #Christmas-cozy-mystery
My rating: ★★★★☆
Actually 3,7 stars rounded up to 4.
---> If you love classic Golden Age mysteries, then you might like this one even if written by a contemporary author.
In fact, the writing style is very reminiscent of that of "whodunits" from the first half of the 20th century with a very small addition of humor and a little more coziness which in this book is given by the affectionate bond that the two protagonists feel towards their wives, and by the cheerful presence of 3 cats and 1 dog who liven up the scenes from time to time.
__PLOT IN A NUTSHELL ___ England, December 1923.
Major Heathcliff Lennox (ex-RAF pilot) and ex-Inspector Jonathan Swift of Scotland Yard are not at all 2 elderly people as one might expect, but rather 2 charming young people interested in investigating crimes and mysteries, who work for Scotland Yard only for cases involving very wealthy people.
Shortly before Christmas Lennox (who always travels together with his butler and his beloved pets, a dog and a cat) and his best friend Swift are sent by Scotland Yard to shed light on a strange death that occurred at Temple House, near Bath.
Temple House is run by a secret order of old aristocrats who call themselves "The 12 Saints", each of whom has no heirs and who have the common goal of giving money to needy organizations every Christmas.
The two pseudo-investigators must shed light on the death of one of the saints, the circumstances of which are unclear and lead to suspicion of murder.
The perfect harmony soon turns out to be only an external image, in fact jealousies and old secrets emerge which lead to another murder and a very complicated mystery to unravel.
_________ ****** ___________
The writing style is fluid, the dialogues are witty and always aimed at explaining the story of the moment or the private story of the two main characters, there are no stupid digressions and stupid useless chatter as in many contemporary mysteries set in the 1920s.
The story is told in the third person and one of the things I appreciated in the investigative couple is that both characters have equal weight and ability (and sometimes even confusion) in the investigation.
---> I hate the old cliché that sees the main character as super intelligent (and also presumptuous like Sherlock and Poirot, whose books I adore, but in this kind of detective the two of them are enough for me) and his "trusty right-hand man" is slow on the uptake ( like Dr. Watson and Hasting poor things).
Here the investigative couple continuously interacts on an equal basis and I really liked the friendship that binds the two characters and the loyalty towards each other that arises from it.
---> This is book #12 in a series where the two protagonists are initially single and then over the course of the books they find their soul mate and then get married, however the romance is subtle and barely hinted at (as in the detective books of Agatha Christie and his contemporaries) however sufficient to give humanity and to make the two characters more real and to give more warmth to the plot.
---> Although the book is part of a series, it can be read as a standalone. What you need to know about the past of our protagonists is told in a concise and light, but satisfying way.
----> The mystery is very well thought out by the author and until the end I would never have guessed the real culprit.
---> The author's skill lies in creating various hypotheses in the reader's mind that always seem plausible, but which ultimately turn out to be inaccurate.
The culprit was really a surprise to me.
---> What lowered my rating was the fact that the two investigators also stumbled in the dark until the end (and I was also surprised by this!).
In fact, despite carrying out several interrogations, the two are often accused of being incompetent and although they kept a cool head in the face of these offenses and pretended to be close to the truth, in reality they too only discovered the culprit in the final scene.
Maybe a little more cunning in the two characters wouldn't have hurt.
----> What I loved 200%, being a great animal lover, was the constant and lively presence of 3 cats (1 was from Lennox and 2 lived in Temple House) and 1 dog (also from Lennox).
Obviously they had nothing to do with the investigation, but seeing them sprawl here and there, tearing ribbons and baubles from the Christmas tree, sleeping curled up around Lennox, made reading the book more pleasant and serene for me.
I really think I will read more books in the series and next time I will start from book #1.
----> :-( Christmas atmosphere = barely perceptible
(and that little only thanks to the pets).
This also contributed to lowering my rating, in fact, as I always write in my reviews, if the word CHRISTMAS appears in the title, then I expect a festive atmosphere.
Thanks for reading my opinion, I hope it could be useful to you for choosing or discarding this reading.
If you found English errors in my text, please forgive me, it's neither my native nor my every day language.
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