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robinwalter's review
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Another very enjoyable read. The second Travers mystery, there's a little less Wodehousian whimsy, a little more intricately staged mystery. It's not a "fair play" mystery, as the reader couldn't figure out the 'howdunnit' with the information provided, Bush actually going out of his way to conceal the one name that WOULD have 'given the game away'. But it was great fun, relaxing and truly 'cosy' in the best sense of the word. The climax was a bit TOO implausibly genteel and implausibly gentle, but overall, a solid winner for me, brightened by flashes of wryly amusing imagery like this
" Then Wharton smiled, the kind of smile that might have been given by a lion who had missed a particularly plump but evasive Christian. "
The other thing that is beginning to really fascinate me about this series is the way in which Travers is presented quite literally as a CONSULTING detective. Others do the leg work and gather the pieces, his input is in making suggestions and then proposing an (inevitably correct) solution. This means that he's seldom even IN the story for large tracts of it, allowing other charactrs to shine. He's also very sporting about the credit. The contrast between the way he treats his various Watsons and the way the odious Ellery Queen treats his own father for example could not be greater. I'm looking forward to quite a few more Travers.
" Then Wharton smiled, the kind of smile that might have been given by a lion who had missed a particularly plump but evasive Christian. "
The other thing that is beginning to really fascinate me about this series is the way in which Travers is presented quite literally as a CONSULTING detective. Others do the leg work and gather the pieces, his input is in making suggestions and then proposing an (inevitably correct) solution. This means that he's seldom even IN the story for large tracts of it, allowing other charactrs to shine. He's also very sporting about the credit. The contrast between the way he treats his various Watsons and the way the odious Ellery Queen treats his own father for example could not be greater. I'm looking forward to quite a few more Travers.
kjcharles's review against another edition
More on my 20s murder binge. This series seems to go really big on painstaking detail, taking us through the investigation step by step including all the dead ends and trails that go nowhere. If you enjoy procedurals you'll be in heaven. I can't help feeling the author could have cut this by a third by keeping to the point *demands instant gratification*. There is a strong sense of the detectives closing in on the killer by relentless determination, and it's a clever set-up but overall this series isn't my cuppa.
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