Murder after Christmas

Rupert Latimer, 1905-1953

Book - 2022

""A war's on and a murder has been committed and we sit here talking nonsense about almond whirls and mince pies!" First published in 1944, Murder After Christmas is a lively riot of murder, mince pies and misdirection, cleverly twisting the tropes of Golden Age detective fiction to create a pacey, light-hearted package admirably suited for the holiday season. Featuring an introduction by CWA Diamond Dagger Award-winning author and series editor Martin Edwards. Good old Uncle Willie - rich, truculent and seemingly propped up by his fierce willpower alone - has come to stay with the Redpaths for the holidays. It is just their luck for him to be found dead in the snow on Boxing Day morning, dressed in his Santa Claus costu...me and seemingly poisoned by something in the Christmas confectionery. As the police flock to the house, Willie's descendants, past lovers and distant relatives are drawn into a perplexing investigation to find out how the old man met his fate, and who stands to gain by such an unseasonable crime"--

Saved in:

1st Floor Show me where

MYSTERY/Latimer Rupert
1 / 1 copies available
Location Call Number   Status
1st Floor MYSTERY/Latimer Rupert Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Detective and mystery fiction
Novels
Published
Naperville, Illinois : Poisoned Pen Press [2022]
Language
English
Main Author
Rupert Latimer, 1905-1953 (author)
Other Authors
Martin Edwards, 1955- (writer of introduction)
Physical Description
pages cm
ISBN
9781728261218
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

First published in 1944, this entry in the British Library Crime Classics series from the virtually forgotten Latimer (1905--1953) offers some festive Christmas trimmings, if little else. Frank and Rhoda Redpath have decided to invite Rhoda's stepfather, Sir Willoughby Keene-Cotton (aka Uncle Willie), to spend Christmas at their country house, because Mussolini's decision "to take sides in the current European unpleasantness" has made it impossible for the old gentleman to occupy his villa in San Remo. Having such a "scandalously wealthy" houseguest makes the Redpaths popular indeed during the holiday season, with neighbors and distant relatives showing up en masse for their Christmas party. Shortly after Father Christmas, played by Uncle Willie, delivers his gifts for the guests, his body is found on the lawn, lying near a capsized snowman. Superintendent Cully's investigation into the death is hampered by the compulsive need of everyone concerned to lie to the police. The book overflows with too many running gags (one regarding mince pies) and too many suspects, motives, and secrets--both old and new. This creaky old chestnut is no classic. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review

This pseudonymous novel from 1944, one of the most obscure entries in the British Library Crime Classics, is also one of the most rewarding. Wartime needs have turned Sir Willoughby Keene-Cotton out of his hotel, and Rhoda Redpath, his stepdaughter by his late wife, thinks it's too dangerous for him to join his ailing current wife, Lady Josephine, in London. So she talks her husband, Frank, into inviting him to their country home, Four Corners, for the holiday; Frank's aunt, Paulina Redpath, has already come to live with them, and they invite lots of other people to round out the party. Rhoda and Frank's son, John, and his intended, Margery Dore, will stay for the duration along with Josephine's daughter, Angelina, and her husband, Puffy Freer; the neighboring Crosbies and Coultards will stop by for a party featuring not one but two Father Christmases. His exorbitant wealth, complicated family relations, ambiguous will, and habit of confusing his wives with each other make it obvious from the get-go that Uncle Willie, as Rhoda calls him, will be murdered, but that's about all that will be obvious. Even after Willie's old friend Maj. Smythe, now Chief Constable of Blandshire, and Superintendent Culley establish that he's been fed a lethal dose of laudanum, there are riddles upon riddles about how it got into him (medicine? chocolates? mince pies?) and how his body came to end up outdoors next to a ruined snowman. Latimer, a pen name for Algernon Victor Mills (1905-1953), supplies cheerfully calculating relatives, decorously brutal dialogue, and a fiendishly intricate set of Chinese boxes before the surprising reveal. No, they don't make them like this anymore--so golden-age fans should welcome this rediscovery with open arms. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.