The Christmas Clue
‘Cluedo’ (‘Clue’ in the US) is a family board game requiring logic and deduction to solve a murder in a country mansion, the floor plan of which is the gaming area. Players vie to identify the ‘who’, where, and with what-‘dunit’ from the six suspects, nine rooms and six implements provided on illustrated cards. Three of these cards – one suspect, one location, one weapon – are blind-selected as the solution and set aside. The remainder are shared among the contestants who in turn declare their theories, inviting rebuttal. This cleverly simple conceit, formulated in the early 1940s, was commercially launched in 1949, becoming a global success for its husband-and-wife designers, Anthony and Elva Pratt.
In this novel the same couple are hired to provide the entertainment at a country house hotel over Christmas 1943. Anthony is also a competent pianist, but their prime intention is a murder-mystery game. However, there’s a major turnaround when a real killing takes place as they arrive, then another, and we’ve a classic detective story developing, somewhat mimicking the board game, but with darker motives, providing a twisting tale as they sift clues and swiftly rethink the show.
At a slim 174 pages, this compact stocking-filler of a story describes how the now-famous game might originally have been formulated and combines the inklings of the Pratts’ ideas with fictionally enhanced truths and an amusing nod to some original characters. Fully redolent of the era and Christmastime both, it is a fine read, informative, fun, perfect for a lazy post-Christmas afternoon.
