Dead March for Penelope Blow (Chief Inspector Littlejohn #18)

Dead March for Penelope Blow is the 18th Inspector Littlejohn mystery by George Bellairs. Originally released in 1951, this reformat and re-release by Agora is 278 pages and available in ebook format (earlier editions available in other formats). It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free.

This is an engagingly written and well constructed silver age mystery. Full of Bellairs' well rendered characters, this one sees Littlejohn trying to sort out a convoluted "maybe" murder/accident along with poisoning and skullduggery and subsequent winnowing of a whole stable of potential murderers. The dialogue, though admittedly a product of its time, is well written and urbane, lightly witty and humorous. Although I have enjoyed all the Littlejohn mysteries, this one does work quite well as a standalone, and it's not necessary to have read the other books.

It's really lovely to see these gems being dusted off and re-released to new generations of readers. Bellairs (Harold Blundell) was a gifted writer and a technical master of construction.

Four stars.

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