The Affair of the Mutilated Mink
This is a delightful 1930s English country house murder mystery, the second in the series set in the Earl of Burford’s imposing house, Alderley. The Earl, who is an amiable old buffer, invites a number of people to Alderley for a long English weekend house party. These include film actors, directors and a writer, as well as two suitors for the hand of Geraldine, the Earl’s daughter. The tale rattles along at a fine pace with some fine plotting with all sorts of unexpected diversions and twists. The book plays fair with the rules of the Golden Age of mystery fiction, and is indeed very much an amalgam of the styles of Agatha Christie and DL Sayers with a dash of PG Wodehouse. Indeed, some of the famous fictional detectives of the 1930s are referred to in the tale as real characters. A most entertaining, nostalgic read!
