A nice story but a bit too drawn out in my opinion.

It's a good story about a poising and the trial of the guilty party. Not knowing who it was kept me reading but it was hard. The long and complication law explanations and terms really didn't help.

I also found that the constant shift between timelines confusing and hard to keep up. Even so, points for originality and for the great ending. It made me glad I kept on reading! It's worth it just for the conclusion.

The heart of this book is a classic Golden-Age puzzle mystery, the kind with lots of prose like, "It was a fairly long oak, gate-legged table so that while anyone standing at the end nearest to the drawing-room could see the doors of both the library and the dining room, anyone at the far end was prevented by the angle of the wall from seeing more than a part of the library door." If you want to guess the solution, you should keep notes and sketch maps along the way.

However, as usual with the author, there is no interest in the conventional story. Instead four suspects are identified as most likely, and the tale of the murder investigation is interwoven with the tale of the much later trial--although the identity of the accused is not given until late in the book. So as the reader is gathering evidence along with the detective and others, he or she is also reasoning backwards from things said by the judge, lawyers and witnesses.

While it is an original concept, the author lacks the skill to make it interesting, or even very intelligible. And it suffers the defect of nearly all puzzle mysteries in that psychology, plausibility and commonsense must be ignored, the solution must turn on the official clues in some logical, if not very credible, way. That means we can't have any interest in the characters, they are just pawns to be the subjects of clues.

I had another problem with this book. Driving nearly everything is the supposedly obvious idea that the murder victim deserved to die. Yet he seems to have only three faults. He is rude in expressing his cynical but largely accurate opinions about people and politics. He probably, but not certainly, counterfeited rare stamps to make his collection seem better than it was. He liked to discomfit people by accusing them of minor thefts. Moreover it is the least objectionable of these things, rude expression of political opinions, that seems to be the reason he must die. The book would make more sense to me if there really were a temptation for a reasonable person to kill him.

This is the second book by Richard Hull that I’ve read. However, I didn’t think Excellent Intentions was as enjoyable as the first one, The Murder of My Aunt.

Henry Cargate, of Scotney End Hall, died on a train for London, from a heart attack brought on when he inhaled snuff laced with potassium cyanide. He was an unpleasant man, the most disliked person in the village of Scotney End and several people were suspected of murdering him. One of those suspects (who is not named until near the end of the book) was arrested and is on trial for his murder. The potassium cyanide crystals, mixed into Cargate’s snuff had been bought to destroy a wasps’ nest. So, Inspector Fenby’s investigation concentrates on the limited opportunities available for the murderer to add the poison to Cargate’s snuffbox, which he kept in his study.

The book begins as the counsel for the prosecution makes his opening speech and makes his case for the judge and jury. It then follows the trial through its various stages to the verdict and subsequent appeal.

My problem with this book is that it is so very factual and focused on the times that no one was in Cargate’s study, concentrating on four people that Fenby suspected had an opportunity to tamper with the snuff, and on the position of the bottle of potassium cyanide – whether it was on the desk or on the window sill. It’s clever, but it’s also repetitive and very long-winded. But, I liked the twist in the conclusion.

My thanks to the publishers, Poisoned Pen Press, for my review copy via NetGalley.

Excellent Intentions is one of the British Library Crime Classics series from Poisoned Pen Press. Originally released in 1938 (alternate title: Beyond Reasonable Doubt ), it was written by Richard Hull, this edition is 240 pages and available in ebook and paperback versions.

This series, from various often lesser known authors, is a really nice selection of golden age classic mysteries which deserve re-release to a new audience. I've reviewed a number of them and generally been very happy with the quality and writing.

This book has an odd setup. The mystery is written around the trial for a murder of a despicable man. The book proceeds through the steps from prosecution through analysis, defense, summing up, etc. It's very linear and not really a 'whodunnit' in the classic sense. I found the writing difficult in some places. It's very formal and, to my modern eye, stilted. Much of the book dragged for me. It was well written, but developed very slowly. In contrast, the denouement was fleeting and the twist at the end left me feeling a trifle unsatisfied. It did lead me to think about the ideas of what really constitutes justice and what is a really fair outcome for the criminal trial process.

Anyhow, this series rates a high four stars overall. This particular book for me never quite made it.

Three and a half stars rounded down a bit because it was a slog for me to finish. I think this would probably be a good choice for particular fans of golden age British mysteries or literary mystery history fans looking for lesser known out of print books.

Henry Cargate, a narcissistic, unscrupulous misanthrope, newly moved to Scotney End Hall, has managed to alienate virtually every single villager in Scotney End, most of his staff and even the kindly vicar, Reverend Yockleton. The novel begins after Cargate was murdered on a train with a courtroom drama. But while we get looks at the various witnesses at this trial, the defendant’s identity remains a secret until nearly the end. In effect, author Richard Hull turns the novel on its head with the trial coming before the investigation.

Hull pioneered this trick in 1938, which was emulated as recently as 2017’s Glass Houses by Louise Penny. I was deeply curious as to who — amongst so many who were tempted — poisoned the vile Cargate. British Library reissued Hull’s humorous debut novel, The Murder of My Aunt, as well as Excellent Intentions, although its tone was considerably more somber. However, the surprising ending doesn’t make up for how often the novel drags, in sharp contrast with The Murder of My Aunt.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley, British Library and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy Richard Hull's style but, seriously, I totally had to read the ending twice because I couldn't tell what happened AT ALL. Now, I'm not sure if it's vague really or it was too late at night or something similar - all I can tell you is I was legit lost. Does this reflect poorly on the book itself? As I say, I'm not sure; this could have been my fault as maybe I wasn't reading as closely as the book warranted, but I do offer this criticism as a caution for future readers. Don't let your mind wander! Focus in! A recommend even if it made me feel like a bit of a dum dum.

As the description says, Excellent Intentions is a classic mystery novel with a twist: the book begins already in the courtroom but you don’t know the name of the accused. So, like everyone else in the jury, you learn about what happened through the stories that the witnesses tell in court. I thought it was a fascinating way to tell the story and it kept me interested in all the tiny details and clues. I believe you understand who the accused is exactly when the detective figures it out himself, but you still need to wait some time before it’s actually said for sure.

I’m not completely in agreement with the ending, but I don’t feel it affects the rest of the book at all. To put it simply, I loved this book and I want to read more books from the British Library Crime Classics as well as books written by Richard Hull. I’m an Agatha Christie fan and I can’t stay away from crime novels. I guess I need to put my hands on a copy of The Murder of My Aunt asap.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

Herbert Cargate is a very unpleasant man. He is also soon to be poisoned on a train in the English countryside in Excellent Intentions.

Starting a murder case at the end, in the courtroom trying to prove a mysterious person’s guilt, is an unusual plot structure. Published in 1938, fifteen years before Agatha Christie’s more famous courtroom drama Witness for the Prosecution, Excellent Intentions also uses a courtroom setting to obscure the face of a murderer. While I enjoyed the change, it did make playing armchair detective much more difficult. The point of view makes quick jumps between people and time periods. The author uses excessive and mostly meaningless detail as a red herring. The effect is rather like jet lag. Eventually, you are resigned to it and are just reading to find out whodunnit.

Excellent Intentions is an interesting golden-age British curiosity. However, it doesn’t work very well as a mystery. Therefore, it is recommended only for readers interested in the historical underpinnings of mysteries. It would be an unusual structure for a modern mystery writer to use and improve upon. However, even with the unexpected twist at the end, I can’t recommend it to regular mystery readers. To those people, I recommend the much better example of the author’s work, Murder of my Aunt. Excellent Intentions is rated a scant 3 stars.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advance copy.

When we read a book written in a different era and a different culture we must make allowances for different styles appropriate to that culture or era. In this case, however, I found the bombastic courtroom pronouncements of the preening KC, interspersed with flashbacks to the actual events of the murder, and with the inner musings of the judge, to be too much verbiage with too little effect. The trick of the story - hiding the identity of the person on the dock - does not salvage the book.

I have enjoyed several of these British Library Crime Classics releases. This one is below par.

This book has the atmosphere that only the old classic crime stories can give. People might try/might have tried to mimic it later, but that's never quite the same. The world changes, thus writers and literature change, too. I love crime stories of all subgenre, of all times, but it's nice to sometimes just sink into the slow and simple vibe of old times.

What occurred to me immediately when I opened the ebook, was that this book has a very unusual structure, and what a fantastic idea it was! Even from a quick look at the Table of Contents one already know that this book follows the procedure, the legal actions of the court, and at first I was a bit surprised that the whole novel seemed to be set in the court room. It wasn't at all boring, though, because as it turned out, the court room scenes kind of gave a frame to the whole story, and though the narration always 'checked back' on it, it explored the earlier happenings as well. I found it to be a very interesting take on a crime story, though I have to admit that there were a few times when I had to read some lines twice because there were simply no clear transition between the timelines. It was also a bit disproportional, too. The first two parts, especially the second were incredibly long, and it was a bit tiring to read without real further structuring. Otherwise, it worked well.

The idea that we know through the whole novel that the person who committed the crime is known and already in court (basically 'with us', since we are - the scenes are - in the courtroom) accused of the murder, yet we have no idea who they are, is amazing, too! I figured out who it was but that didn't really take away from enjoying the book.

All in all, I'd say everything about this book worked well for me, except for one thing: I cannot for my life feel like the murderer would actually do it. I know they did, and logically it makes all the sense it the world, it is indeed a very well worked-out story, but on the character part... I don't know. I just can't internalize this idea. With my mind, yes, but I just have the feeling that it doesn't add up. For some reason I sense a bit of discrepancy between the character and the motive. But maybe that's just me.
I found this book very enjoyable. This was my first Richard Hull novel, and he definitely made the list as a writer I would read without asking when a book of his happen to be somewhere around me.

"With an introduction by Martin Edwards.

'From the point of view of the nation, it's a good thing that he died.'

Great Barwick's least popular man is murdered on a train. Twelve jurors sit in court. Four suspects are identified – but which of them is on trial? This novel has all the makings of a classic murder mystery, but with a twist: as Attorney-General Anstruther Blayton leads the court through prosecution and defence, Inspector Fenby carries out his investigation. All this occurs while the identity of the figure in the dock is kept tantalisingly out of reach.

Excellent Intentions is a classic crime novel laced with irreverent wit, first published in 1938."

I quite literally adore Poisoned Pen Press for reissue all these classics. I want them all!

A very unusual and enthralling mystery.
It's as good as any other in the wonderful British Classic Crime collection and I was fascinated even if a bit bewildered at the beginning.
The unusual structure of the book keeps you guessing who's on trial and what's going on.
I'd like to read other books by this author as I loved both the style of writing and the way the characters were developed.
Recommended!
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for this ARC

The book is advertised as a crime novel that’s not (quite) like the other crime novels and at first, it is very unlike others. The book starts with the trial and we learn a few things about the judge, the prosecutor and the lawyer. But nothing about the person who’s on trial. They’re only referred to as ‘the accused’ or ‘the defendant’. Then the trial opens, and the first witness gets called: the man who saw the victim taking some snuff and then collapsing. First, he is questioned by a prosecutor who likes long words and run-on sentences, then by the defence who desperately tries to confuse the witness enough to make him doubt his memory – because if the things didn’t happen the way he described it would be advantageous for the defendant.

But then the novel takes a turn. The rest of the investigation isn’t told through the trial. The story jumps back, and we see the investigation unfold in a quite traditional manner: The inspector questions the suspects and reconstructs they day of the murder to figure out when the poison could have been put in the snuff-box. This investigation takes up most of the book and doesn’t read much different than any other ‘typical’ crime novel. The only difference is that there’s no big reveal of the culprit in the library. Instead, it jumps back to the trial and that’s where we learn who was the only person who could have poisoned the snuff and how the inspector figured it out.

It’s not that I’m complaining about that. With the prosecutor and his love for wordiness (I got traumatic flashbacks to reading The Moonstone from just the few pages) the whole story would have been near-unreadable if it was all told via the trial. But the blurb (and Martin Edward’s introduction) advertised quite aggressively how different the story is told in this book when, in reality, it is told quite normally and mostly just plays around with the chronology.

Will I read more by the author? Definitely. The story itself has a fair share of wit and humour. I wouldn’t go so far as saying that it’s a parody, but it doesn’t take itself completely seriously. There’s the victim who was horrible and hated everyone so much that he even wanted his money to go to a place where it did ‘the least amount of good’ and therefore decides to leave it to the state. The remaining characters aren’t quite as exaggerated but there’s still a bumbling vicar, a hyper-competent assistant, an ominous butler and a stupid gardener.

Hull had a real talent for creating completely gripping and page turning stories. Wonderfully written and I hope this reaches many more readers.

When Great Barwick’s most unpopular person, Henry Cargate, dies on a train, probably murdered, no-one seems concerned. But to the police it must be investigated. So who of the possible suspects is on trial
I did find Prosecutor Blayton part of the narrative somewhat turgid and made the story drag at that point but it did pick up. Overall an enjoyable read.
Originally written in 1938.

Enter the courtroom for the trial of the murder of the odious Mr. Carthgate. He made enemies practically wherever he went and therefore the potential list of murderers is at first daunting. As the case is laid out by the prosecution and defense, readers are occasionally taken back to the scene of the crime, a train station, and the victim’s house the day before as witnesses share their memories. But it is not until the very end of the book that readers get to find out who exactly was chosen to be accused with the crime.

I felt quite pleased that I caught on to all the relevant pieces of evidence and figured out who was on trial before it was revealed. It was just enough that I didn’t feel like they handed it to you on a silver platter, but it was there for the noticing if you were paying attention. The method of telling the story is certainly very unique for the original release date. Now it is much more common to see murder mysteries told through the trial, but this was one of the originals. It takes some careful reading to catch on to when flashbacks start or when we are given access to certain characters’ internal thoughts (it would transfer splendidly to TV though). I did like the flashback parts the most. The prosecutor, as the judge is also annoyed to notice, is much too full of himself and tries too hard to wax eloquent. So listening to him talk about things was frequently eye-roll-inducing and I was happy to get away from him and get some straightforward storytelling. The ending of this one reminds me just the tiniest bit of Murder on the Orient Express. And no, I’m not going to tell you which aspect. I’ll just say it is a very tiny similarity, so don’t expect complete parallels to Murder on the Orient Express. This is definitely its own story. Probably the most impressive thing was the skillful writing so that there wasn’t even a hint as to who the accused was until the author wanted you to know. It would’ve made his life much easier to tell that at the beginning, but not telling you allows the reader to weigh all the evidence and come to your own conclusions as to who most likely did it. If you like courtroom based mysteries and artful storytelling, give this old mystery by one of the original Detective Club members a try.

Notes on content: No language issues that I remember (at most 1 or 2 minor swearwords). No sexual content. One non-gory murder and no other violence.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve never read a mystery formatted like this one. It took me a while to figure out just what was going on. It starts in the courtroom with the opening arguments of the prosecution and the thoughts of the judge, then moves on to the witness’s testimony. That’s where it got a bit confusing. It jumps back and tells, in minute detail, what happened when the ‘least popular man’ drops dead on a train. We learn all about everyone’s thoughts, words, and actions. Then it goes back to the courtroom for a little bit and then jumps back to Police investigations. Once you get used to following the jumps, it makes a really interesting format.
Despite the setting being in a courtroom, we are never told who is on trial till the very end. I did figure it out, but just when the author wanted me to, so just at the very point Inspector Fenby also figures it out. Oh, all the clues were there in plain sight; I didn’t put them together till he has sorted out all the red herrings. It was really a very fun read.
The last chapter was not precisely to my liking though. I thought it was the weakest part of the whole book. It really has nothing to do with the mystery or the solution, and could easily have been left out. I guess it was just Hull’s attempt to make us feel better.
I remember one curse word and have a vague feeling that there was another one somewhere, but I’m not certain about that. There was no sex even vaguely hinted at. There were no affairs. It was just a good clean murder mystery. I would recommend it to everyone.
I received this as a free ARC through NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. No favorable review was required. It was my pleasure to share my honest opinions.

Richard Hull tries another unorthodox story method in Excellent Intentions. He opens with a trial for the murder of Henry Cargate, a really unlikable human being who had antagonized nearly everyone he came in contact with. When he took some snuff which was laced with potassium cyanide, there were any number of folks who were not sorry to see him dead. The unusual aspect of this mystery is that the author keeps the reader in the dark as to who is on trial. Throughout the novel the suspect is referred to as the “accused”, never by name. It seems a clever ploy and for about the first 60 pages it is.

Then I found this device became extremely tedious and artificial. The mystery itself is picky, with lots and lots of fiddling about time down to the minute, the position of bottles and snuff boxes, the finer points of poisoning wasps and growing roses, the seemingly endless discussions about counterfeiting collectable stamps. I had to slog through to the end and didn’t really care whodunit.

For an outstanding example of Hull’s work, I recommend The Murder of My Aunt, an inverted mystery also published by Poisoned Pen Press

Henry Cargate is the new owner of Scotney End Hall and is disliked by everyone in the village and by some in London.
Therefore nobody is shocked to learn he has been murdered. In fact, a few breathe a sigh of relief.
There are 4 distinct suspects. 4 Alibis. 4 motives. Who is guilty? Who is capable of murder?

Excellent intentions is an unusual murder/mystery. The story begins in a courtroom by the prosecution’s opening statement. We know who the victim is. We know how he was murdered. What we do not know, is the identity of the accused.
Yes! You heard me right! We don’t know who is standing in the dock till the very end of the story.

Unfortunately I had never heard of Richard Hull. What i really liked was his style of writing and his unusual approach to solving the mystery.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and the NetGalley for providing me with a copy.

This is an excellent whodunit murder mystery from the Golden Age of Murder, the period between the two world wars, and is set in the English countryside. The story is told within the structure of the courtroom trial of a person accused of killing a rather despicable man. Uniquely, the identity of the accused is not revealed until the end of the book so the reader faces a double mystery: who is the accused, and are they in fact the murderer? There are several potential suspects to consider during the course of the story and along the way readers learn about stamp collecting and rose gardening. Even after the trial has concluded and the jury has delivered its verdict, there's a surprising conclusion to the story. It's a satisfying finish to the book.
The book was published in 1938 and the dialogue reflects the times and the pompous language of the lawyers in the trial, but it is not difficult to read. The judge plays an interesting role in the story and readers get a glimpse into the thinking of the jury foreman.
It's an entertaining mystery written by a talented author. Highly recommended for fans of English country house murder mysteries. The Introduction by Martin Edwards is a must read as it provides interesting background about the author and the story.
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for a copy of the book. My views expressed above are my own.