This is a classic golden age interwar British mystery from a somewhat lesser known author. I reviewed another of his mysteries, Excellent Intentions, on my blog earlier. The author was certainly not afraid of testing alternative narrative styles and plot devices. This book starts in the literal middle of a conversation at a dance and the beginning is so jarring that I wondered if my eARC was missing some pages or an introduction. The ending is also very steep and, for me, abrupt. That being said however, it is well written (if a product of its time period). The characters are mostly just sketched in, and the strongest facets of the mystery are the pacing and dramatic tension. Hull was very adept at the 'show, don't tell' school of writing and I spent probably 80% of the book with a very wobbly and uncertain feeling of near-dread.
The intro and denouement were the weakest parts of the mystery. The plotting is intricate and the pacing is methodical (but I never found it plodding, it's not dull, it's deliberate). I did hope that my guess about 'whodunit' wasn't spot on, but I was disappointed. I would submit that it could seem a bit predictable simply because modern readers are viewing it through the lens of history and so many authors have adopted the plot device since the 1930s that it's become a lot more mainstream.
Agora seem to be engaged in the worthwhile goal of reintroducing these out of print golden age authors to a new, and hopefully appreciative, audience. Possibly worth noting for Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this and some other Hull mysteries are included in the KU subscription library.
I enjoyed it, and I appreciate the publisher for making these long out of print classics available again.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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