The Wintringham Mystery - Anthony Berkeley

First published - 1927

My edition - HarperCollins Crime Club 2021

First, I'd love to start off by saying that I adore these Collins Crime Club editions. The vintage cover style is quite lovely and they look so nice on my shelves. I have my eye set on two other Anthony Berkeley editions that will soon be keeping this one company.

Now, onto the actual book review. Our reluctant hero of the story is Stephen Munro, a down on his luck gentleman, who finds himself in need of employment. He finds it in the position of footman for Lady Susan Carey. Upon his arrival, the house guests, including his former girlfriend, Pauline Mainwaring, decide to have a little entertainment and commence participate in a seance. I don't think I have to mention here that nothing good ever comes from a seance in a mystery story. The house part guests could have used this advice. During the fun and games, the much treasures Cicely disappears! It's up to Stephen and Pauline to find her and get to the bottom of the mystery before it's too late. 

Surprised would not begin to describe how I felt when I began reading this book. Considering the age of the original publication, I expected to find a good bit of outdated vernacular making the book a bit hard to read. Having read several mysteries from the 20's, that is just what I have come to expect. However, that was not the case and the writing style seemed almost modern. The characters were fun and quirky and I soon became attached to several of them, including Stephen and his sleuthing partner, Pauline. Berkely creates a cast of characters that are each unique and pivotal to the story. 

The mystery itself is quite well written with plenty of red herrings along the way to fool even the most advanced armchair detective. This would be considered in the genre of "locked room mysteries." While I do love this style, I wouldn't say that this one is a fair play mystery. Stephen solves the mystery with very obscure clues that even the best detective at home couldn't solve. When the book was published originally, it was serialized in a newspaper as part of a contest. Anyone who could solve it would win a cash prize. The story goes that even Agatha Christie entered the contest at the time and did not win, so don't feel disappointed if you can't solve the puzzle before Stephen does.

The Wintringham Mystery will likely go down as a favorite of mine and may even end up on my very short list of books I'd love to reread some day. That's saying quite a bit! 

My rating ★★★★★