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A Big Murder at the Manor 6-20 Player Murder Mystery Flexi-Party

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Christopher Lane is a great narrator. I was able to immerse myself in the story through his unique way of telling it. My only problem is that most of his female voices just seemed too much alike that I had to wait to see what name he would say said what to make any sense of it. Other than that, he did a great job. It is always hard to review an entire collection of stories, so rather than trying to talk about each story – I will endeavour to give just a flavour of this superb collection, which I just loved. Each story is prefaced with a short bio of the author, setting the story which follows in the context of the author’s body of work. Several of the authors were new to me, some old friends. Inspector Greyson is smart for a period drama police officer. He knows how to do his job and listens when he's given clues. Yet, he flirts with Jane which is very unprofessional. He wants to put her on a pedestal and keep her there. He doesn't believe in the equality of women. He trusts Redvers and Redvers trusts Jane or else I suspect he would have been a lot harder on Jane. Poppy Hughes is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier but she's sweet and earnest. Unless she's faking it. She could be. No one can be that dim can they? The Mystery of Horne's Corpse" by Anthony Berkeley: A man keeps finding the corpse of his cousin (and the man who would be his heir). But when he brings the authorities to examine the body, it disappears. Is he going crazy? Or is someone trying to drive him there? W.W. Jacobs’ “The Well”: No detective here; just a very good psychological story about a crime, a bit in the vein of The Tell-Tale Heart. And the moral of this story is: don't hide the body inside your property.

With me here and him there, that means a hundred percent of his common sense isn’t even in the same state as his penis. I should have known better than to come here. Erica Ruth Neubauer has written a marvellous second instalment in her Jane Wunderly Mystery series. American WW1 widow Jane and her Aunt Millie are staying at Wedgefield Manor in the picturesque English Essex countryside so that Millie can spend some time with Lord Hughes and his daughter, Lillian. Jane, who is currently enjoying taking flying lessons also spends some of her leisure time reading mystery novels. Lord Hughes makes a concerted effort to hire wounded veterans and after dinner and during drinks one evening, one of them, Flight Lieutenant Simon Marshall shows an interest in Lillian. When a disagreement ensues Simon loses his temper but calms down a little before abruptly leaving the room. The noise of a car engine, the beam of headlights and the spitting of gravel alerts the group in the drawing-room that one of Lord Hughes' cars is being driven at high speed away from the house and the driver is Simon Marshall. The next morning whilst Jane is eating her eggs, bacon and toast, Mr Redvers turns up with bad news; there's been a fatal car accident... Altogether it's a winner of an anthology, even for someone--like me--who doesn't read many mysteries. I found myself intrigued by the variety as well as the introductory data (which sent me looking up some promising reads that I never otherwise would have heard of), and I enjoyed the bite-sized tales, suitable for reading in a single evening when one is too tired, or too distracted, to sink into the length of a novel.I heartily recommend this collection for those who enjoy traditional British mysteries or want to give them a try. If you require hard action and lots of gore, this may not be for you. If you've enjoyed some Christie or Sayers or Doyle, etc., I suggest you give this and/or other of Martin Edwards edited collections a try. Lots of fun and good leads for future reading. The Mystery at Horne's Copse (by Anthony Berkeley) seems fairly obvious to the police. A man calls them multiple times, claiming to have found his cousin's dead body on the trails outside his home, but each time there's no corpse, only the paranoid, increasingly disturbed caller. Not only is the plot great, but because the story was published as a serial each short chapter is sharp and ends on a cliffhanger. It's an entertaining format, and it was very interesting to see such a well-written portrayal of a man slowly going mad. Loved this continuation of Jane Wunderly’s adventures! The characters, by far, are the best part of these novels. Instead of Egypt, this story finds us in a stately English manor when an “accident” appears to be more sinister than accidental– and the stakes get higher and higher as other things start to go awry.

You’re a free spirit in floaty fabrics, adorned with scarves, belts, bangles and big earrings. You’re often seen listening to unseen forces or reading strangers’ palms. MRS WITHERING Leave the dining room and get the key from the little stand. Then use it to open the door to the basement. I wondered if the author was being deliberately inaccurate to portray the world as she wishes it was, or if she actually has no idea what 1926 was like. The story fell apart more and more as other people found about the relationship, and of course, they were just as supportive! Jane feels sorrowful for misjudging these people and thinking that she should keep the secret from them, because of course they are all very open-minded. OF COURSE they would never feel scandalized, flustered, or embarrassed, let alone actually disapprove of the relationship. Only Marie's missionary parents would! They would disown her, but they're out of step with the rest of society, because obviously everyone else is falling over themselves to share their approval.

DATES

The murder mystery was very well-plotted and written. The police, Redvers, and Jane all were active in the investigation and I like the way they worked together. Clues were sorted through, secrets were revealed and some good honest legwork came together leading up to an exciting chase to catch the killer. I thoroughly enjoyed every part of solving this mystery. The Message on the Sun-Dial" by J. J. Bell: A dying man leaves an illegible scrawl on the nearby sundial as a pointer to his murderer. Will anyone be able to decipher it? This story also contains a downstairs element. Evelyn hopes to relieve stress and obtain clues by working in the kitchen. She knows how to manage Mrs. O'Connell, the cook and endears herself to Nora, the maid. Nora is young and silly but she's aware of the village gossip and that could help the case. Plus, her crush, the butcher's boy, is sweet enough to bring sausage links for Nancy so I think Nora's crush is reciprocated and I think that's cute. Win over the dog, win my heart. Nora is young though and shouldn't settle just yet. Evelyn also knows how to handle Mrs. Chapman, the stern housekeeper. Mrs. Chapman runs a tight ship. She's old-fashioned and loves routine. Evelyn understands this and uses it to her advantage. I don't think the housekeeper knows anything and the juicy gossip is all in the kitchen.

The early ones show the relative roughness of the form as mystery writers were beginning to assemble their tropes. Somewhere along the line the English mystery shifted from its pulpy origins to an acceptable literary game for the respected auteur, though the funniest story in the entire group, penned by E.V. Knox (brother of Ronald Knox, and editor of Punch) pokes fun at the subgenre with a hilarious deftness. The prose and characterizations show a steady advancement in polish and sophistication over the course of the anthology, though those early ones are not without charm and vigor. It starts with a large stash of cash, and several secret invitations Klarinda has never seen before. Each guest has an invitation in their possession, no clue as to who sent them or why they’ve been invited to some remote B&B in the middle of nowhere. Even Klarinda is kept in the dark, with no proper reservations and no notice given. All she can do is get her guests set up in their rooms and make them as comfortable as possible. Diana helps with the search now and admits that she came to the weekend to experience it for one last time because Charles was planning on selling the business. They find a burned deed. The Long Shot" by Nicholas Blake: The lord of the manor is killed--poisoned by ginger-beer that it seems nobody could have poisoned. Nigel Strangeways uses a handkerchief to get the culprit to give her/himself away.Anthony Berkeley's “The Mystery of Horne’s Copse”: A really good story about someone who keeps finding a murdered corpse, only to have the body disappear as he tries to alert the police. The longest story in the book and enjoyable throughout. Once you know the solution, though, you have to wonder at how many things could go wrong with the criminals' plan. Guests start to turn up dead one after the other in a matter of hours. The cause of deaths appeared to be accidents. Police were in and out of Mistletoe Manor. Never had they been so busy as Windy Pines has always been heralded as a safe, crime-free place. Will Klarinda and her staff be persons of interest? What was the significance of what happened ten years past? Will they be able to solve the mystery why her guests were dropping off like flies? What exactly was the connection her guests shared? Mistletoe Manor got trashed and Klarinda despaired that no one would ever like to stay in a place where people got killed off. Will they ever get to the bottom of this? Who will be the next victim? Is this the end of Klarinda’s dream? Will she die a slow, agonizing, financial death? WHY? Normal people would keep other people's scandalous secrets in 1926? That would be the proper and kind thing to do, especially when this was something that was considered deeply scandalous and that people were socially ostracized for. Also, why does everyone assume that others should have felt totally chill discussing something regarding people's private, sexual lives, when that wasn't something typically discussed in upper class, polite society anyway? Even if it was an affair between a man and a woman, people still would have felt tight-lipped about it due to social decency towards the secret partners and their own likely sense of embarrassment.

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