A Joy..
A classic of the Golden Age, reissued. A locked room mystery, a whodunnit in the more cozy vein. A country house, a house party taking place when an unexpected guest is found murdered and the host disappeared. Can this confounding case be solved in order that the festivities may continue? Firmly tongue in cheek, laced with satire and wonderfully eccentric and eclectic characters, this really is a joy. A well deserved reissue with some beautiful cover art too.

In his Introduction, A. A. Milne of Winnie the Pooh fame, explains that, as a lover of detective novels, he set out to write the book he would like to read.

Heavily inspired by Conan Doyle's famous detective (who is openly referenced throughout the novel), the story sees our protagonist Anthony Gillingham happen upon a stately home where a murder has just taken place. Teaming up with his friend Bill who happened to be a guest at the house - the Watson to his Sherlock - Anthony sets out to discover who murdered Mark Ablett.

Once you get past the initial set of coincidences required to provide us with our cast of gentlemanly detectives, the rest of the plot proceeds smoothly with the usual cast of dinner guests, secret passages, wastrel brothers and so on and so forth. I guessed the twist about halfway through but it was still entertaining to see it all come together.

A recommended read for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and genteel whodunnits.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the ARC

It's sad that A.A. Milne is mostly known for Winnie the Poo, because this crime book is a work of art. It's a golden age mystery with my favorite trope; locked-room. I don't think I should say anything else in fear of spoiling it, but I highly recommend it! Suspenseful and mysterious all the way

The surprise author of this murder mystery (Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne), intrigued me. Turns out he can write mysteries too. This English countryside murder mystery reminds me of Agatha Christie. The writing is crisp, the pace and plot are engaging. It is a tale which some might class with Cozy Mysteries. But do not be fooled! It is a refreshing read, not lazy, not quite old fashioned, but without the gore, excess violence, or sex that may plague more modern murder mystery books.

Thanks to Vintage and NetGalley for a copy of this. Great fun! A very clever, locked room mystery that had me second guessing the whole way through.

The Red House Mystery is a charming and entertaining read, which was A A Miln’s only foray into the crime genre. It may have been meant to kick off a series. The story's clever plot and classic elements would make for an excellent film adaptation. Fans of locked-room mysteries and the Golden Age of detective fiction are sure to enjoy this novel, as I certainly did!

OK, it's A.A. Milne, the man who has defined millions of childhood memories and inspired a love of reading in all of us. So a locked-room mystery from the Golden Age? Yes please.

It's fun and breezy, light years away from gritty (and depressing) crime that people seem to devour these days, so that alone makes it worth revisiting. It took me a while to get into it, and I'll be honest of I said that the exact ins and outs of who, how and why have slipped my mind some time after finishing it, it's a witty and enjoyable read, and stands on its own two feet despite the 'novelty' value. 4 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

This was a jolly good time! Who knew the mind behind Winnie the Pooh could write such a fun country house mystery? Mark Ablett: rich, patron of the arts, known as an impeccable host, has done a runner. His ne'er-do-well brother returned suddenly, and unexpectedly, from the colonies - most likely to hit Mark up for money he isn't entitled to. Now the wastrel is lying dead by gunshot in Mark's locked study and Mark is nowhere to be found. Awkward for the house guests, it must be said. Luckily, Antony Gillingham is fortuitously on the scene and along with his pal, Bill Beverly, gets stuck in solving the mystery.

This is everything you would expect if Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and PG Wodehouse had a book baby. The fun characters are what make The Red House Mystery shine!

Originally written in 1922, I'm glad it is being republished by Pushkin Press in 2024 or I never would have known it existed! I received this for free on Netgalley.

I read this years ago, and enjoyed it, so when I saw it available on here thought I'd give it a reread. I must confess, this time around I could not get into it! I was flummoxed as to why, given that I'd enjoyed it in the past. I found it to be a slog this time around though... It felt clunky and I had a difficult time engaging with the characters and plot. It just wasn't as fun as I recalled...

This was a real treat. I've read a lot of 'homages' to Golden Age fiction but suspected you could always tell the real thing from the tribute and this book proved it. Country houses and hidden passages can be replicated but the tone of the real deal is a lot harder to copy. Highly recommended, what a skillful writer he was

This is such an enjoyable country house murder mystery with a satisfying resolution. A.A. Milne - what a revelation.

A highlight of the story for me, is the characterisation. The detective character, Anthony, is appealing and likeable. trying to be an amateur detective is just his latest fixation, having tried many careers already. The house owner and his annoying ways are also interesting, as is the owner's estate manager. Anthony's sidekick is more simplistic but serves his purpose as foil and helper. There were laugh out loud moments.

The police amusingly give up early on, leaving a clear field for Anthony. Anthony's reasoning process at many points is very engaging. It's such a pity we don't have a full series of Anthony's cases instead of just this one. I'd ecertainly read them. AA Milne missed a calling. I wonder why his publisher (as related in the Foreword) put him off writing another mystery saying that the genre was overloaded, Even if it was, quality writing of this sort would have surely won out?

Well by Jove, what an amusing read this was !

I was directly charmed by the introduction, where Milne describes his ground rules for a good mystery. I couldn't have agreed more. No focus on romance, a preference for an amateur detective over a professional police investigator and giving the detective no more knowledge than the average reader. I loved the man immediately.

Then the proper book starts and it is very clever and witty, with little hints towards the self-declared rules. If I would have to define one fault, it would be that the second half stalled a bit, but then towards the ends the pace picks up again and it delivers a very satisfying resolution.
I would absolutely recommend it to readers who like a good locked room mystery, set in a grand house in the 1920's.

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the opportunity to read this little gem.

It took me a bit to get into The Red House Mystery, but I enjoyed it once I pushed through the first few chapters. The best part of this novel was the relationship between Antony and Bill. While it was published around the time Agatha Christie was starting, rather than drawing inspiration from her works, it's unavoidable to compare the two authors. This novel lacks some of the complexities of Christie’s works, but it was still fun.

Thanks to Pushkin Press for the free e-arc, in exchange for an honest review.

A country house locked room mystery, first published in 1922. Robert, the estranged brother of Mark, a wealthy man, is found dead with a bullet through his head. Mark subsequently disappears, leading Bill and his friend Anthony to decide to play Sherlock and Watson to solve the mystery.
This book paid homage to the Sherlock novels with a proportion of the book spent with Anthony and Bill playing Sherlock and Watson trying to solve this case. It had the classic style of the golden age of detective fiction, with the sleuths being both English gentlemen and a rather twee way of life presented.

The tension in the book really got going for me in the later half of the novel when Bill and Anthony started to take a more active role in the investigation. I thought that in the first half there was a lot of theorising going on as to whodunnit and why. However, there were some very intriguing points of interest, especially with regard to a secret passageway. Although the novel is a bit archaic in the style that it is written, it does take many turns and gives the reader the opportunity to guess at various points alongside the sleuths. At times, it was written like a play with the narrator leading the reader into the narrative. Overall, it is a clever mystery with a unique style of murder. It is very sad that A.A Milne did not write many detective novels, although he did go on to write the very famous Winnie The Pooh stories. 3.5 stars.

I'd been wanting to read the much-loved mystery novel by Milne and am so glad I saw this on NetGalley (eye-catching cover!). Yay for reissues! I very much enjoyed this and have to admit that the mystery pulled me in and kept me turning pages. I had suspicion but couldn't work out the whole thing and I loved that. I would definitely recommend it as a wonderful option if you're wanting to read a Golden Age mystery.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the Advance Reader's Copy.

I didn't know A. A. Milne wrote such different genre from Winnie the Pooh! It's very unexpected!

This is a fun light-hearted locked room mystery/detective story and definitely worth a read!

This was such a fun surprise! Who knew that the author of Winnie-the-Pooh wrote murder mysteries. This is a re-release of a story originally published January 1st, 1922. Anthony Gillingham, a newly fashioned amateur detective (who appears to have very convenient photographic memory) is visiting his friend, Bill Beverley, while he is visiting the English countryside home of Mr. Mark Ablett. They take it upon themselves to investigate Ablett's disappearance and a mysterious locked-room murder.

The story and the writing felt very similar to Agatha Christie, his contemporary, with a good-hearted, yet heavy handed, homage to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. The reveal was fun, if not a little drawn out, but I will happily admit that I did not see it coming, which I enjoy as a murder mystery reader. I would rather a surprise, albeit slightly convoluted, reveal over an ending I can see coming within the first few chapters. The beginning dragged a bit, but I flew through the last half of the novel within a single sitting. I'll have to look more into Milne's adult works because I would enjoy reading another story with these characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for a free copy of this eARC in return for an honest review.

#TheRedHouseMystery #NetGalley

As Anthony Gillingham approaches the country house where his friend, Bill Beverley is staying he walks straight into a mystery. A man who turns out to be Matthew Cayley and who is obviously distressed needs help getting into a locked room in the house. Cayley has heard a gunshot and is very worried about his uncle and employer, Mark Ablett. After they force their way into the room, Cayley and Gillingham discover a body. It is not Mark Ablett who is dead though but, much to Cayley’s relief, Ablett’s ne’er-do-well brother Robert. Of Mark, who was seen entering the office to meet with his brother there is no sign. While the local police are on the case, Anthony Gillingham and Bill Beverley decide to conduct an investigation of their own with Bill Beverley playing Watson to Gillingham’s Sherlock Holmes.

This is the most British of stories. In fact, if it had been written one or two decades later, I would have called it a spoof version of a Golden Age of Mystery story. This is by no means a criticism. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the picture it painted of Edwardian Britain. I figured out part of the solution to this locked-room-mystery early on but that didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the rest of the story. It was a joy to follow Anthony and Bill as they followed the clues and Gillingham’s intuition until they found the answers.

This was A.A. Milne’s only mystery despite the fact that the last paragraph of the book seems to imply there might be more to come. I for one would have happily read more stories featuring Anthony Gillingham and Bill Beverley.

This book was not for me, but it’s definitely someone’s favorite.
I just couldn’t get into the characters or the story because of how it was written. Sometimes the old way of writing just makes me space out and not get interested in the story.
For me it felt boring and the ending was anticlimactic. Even though the whole story was somewhat boring.
I couldn’t connect to the characters either as we were just thrown into everything without any good background.

I did not guess the ending though so that was something!

The Red House Mystery
by A.A. Milne
Pub Date: September 3, 2024
Thanks to the author. publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The Red House Mystery marked Milne’s first and final venture into the detective genre, despite the book’s immediate success. Praised by Raymond Chandler and renowned critic Alexander Woolcott, this gem of classic Golden Age crime sparkles with witty dialogue, an intriguing cast of characters, and a brilliant plot.
The main sleuth and his sidekick style themselves, playfully, as a modern Holmes and Watson, modern, as in the 1920s, when this was written.