Somebody at the Door

Somebody at the Door is a re-release of a 1943 mystery by golden age classic author Raymond Postgate. Published in the new reformatted edition by Poisoned Pen press 5th December, 2017, it's available in ebook and paperback formats.

I've really enjoyed all of the British Library Crime Classics I've read, and this one is no exception.  The characters are well written and though the dialogue does show its age somewhat (it's almost 75 years old), it suits its period perfectly well.  The plotting is a bit uneven in places and I found my interest wandering a little bit occasionally.  There was copious backstory provided for each of the suspects and I was never entirely sure it was necessary.  On the other hand, there's a lot of pleasure in golden age mystery which develops slowly to a satisfying denouement. 

I read this book immediately after Postgate's earlier book also in the crime classics series, Verdict of Twelve, and for me, at least, it suffers technically by comparison to the earlier work.  The writing in Somebody at the Door is good, but Verdict of Twelve was masterful. 

There is light cursing ('damn' and a few 'bloody' type curses), but nothing to dismay or offend the average reader.  There is also one scene with a description of a female breast, but nothing to scandalize there, either.

Worth a read.  I really enjoyed it.  It's rare to find a good solid standalone these days, and that's a shame.  I'm finding it more and more necessary to go back to the classics for standalone mystery entertainment. 

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.