3.5 stars. Great twist in the 2nd to the last paragraph! Love it! ( )

Das Buch fängt gut an und auch das Ende ist überraschend und nicht ohne Reiz. Aber die Figuren blieben merkwürdig blass und zweidimensional. Ich bin nicht sicher, ob ich nochmal ein Buch dieser Reihe lesen möchte. ( )

An old man, a bit of a recluse who drinks too much and who lives in a big old house that is going to rack and ruin around him, returns home from his daily walk to the village for his bottle of whiskey to find someone he doesn't know lying on his sofa. After some poking and prodding Monty determines that this unwelcome visitor is in fact dead.

With such a premise, and the humour involved in the dialogue when the police arrive to investigate, one cannot help but be drawn in to the mystery. Who is this man, and why is his body in the house, which is never locked. And who was using an upstairs bedroom as a trysting place, unbeknownst to the old man?

I enjoyed this mystery immensely, with its eccentric but very humanly real characters, and lots of humour in the telling of a serious and sad tale. Highly recommended. ( )

Campbell & Carter 2