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Book Review of Murder at the Brightwell (Amory Ames, Bk 1)

Murder at the Brightwell (Amory Ames, Bk 1)
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I like British classic mysteries of the 1930s/1940s very much - Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Josephine Tey, Patricia Wentworth, et al. - so I was intrigued by this first in a series mystery set in 1932.

On a literary level, I don't think it compares to the authors of that era; the prose is in the simplified modern style. It does not for me evoke the mindset of the era either; it reads more like a catalog of clothes and manners seen in films (every outfit Amory wears is described in detail) rather than known or experienced by the writer. As a mystery, it's okay, but the solution is no surprise, really.

I kept reading not for the mystery or the attempt at period ambiance, but to see if the heroine would make up her mind about her feckless wandering husband.