Love this. Quirky and off-beat, but great fun! ( )

A classically British crime caper, A Scandal At Bletchley is a fun mash-up of Downton Abbey, Agatha Christie and James Bond.

The protagonist, Hilary Manningham-Butler, is a woman who has spent most of her life living as a man and a lot of fun is had with the difficulties this entails. The narrative is both fresh and familiar, with Jack Treby’s mastery of pace and narrative suspense making for an engaging read. The author shows little interest in straying from the traditional tropes of the mystery genre but this is not necessarily to its detriment. The dialogue is animated, the plot is genuinely riveting, and while a couple of the characters are fairly obvious, they are brought to life with a fullness that excuses any lack of originality. ( )

Very enjoyable. A thoroughly good mystery to curl up with. Interesting characters, unusual plot, and I greatly enjoyed the writing style. Great read, and I look forward to the next one! ( )

Sir Hilary Manningham Butler, a middle-aged drunk with a secret, joins a number of past and current employees of MI5 at a weekend house party. When one of the other guests learns Butler's secret and threatens to expose it, it ends in death. But there are other secrets among the guests and more deaths.

I tried to like this book. I am a mystery fan and the setting and time period brings to mind early British mysteries. My main problem was with the main character. Sir Hilary Manningham Butler is not someone I could root for or feel sympathy. He is drunk most of the time and seems to have done little with the advantages of birth. Even his secret doesn't make him more interesting. I found I didn't care about what happened to him or most of the other characters. There was no one to root for, except for two of the victims and even then I wasn't invested enough to really care about the resolution of the mystery. ( )

british, murder-investigation

I was somewhat offended by the main character's snobbery, but it was probably a norm for some on both sides of the Atlantic prior to the worldwide financial depression. The story was great. The bodies just piled up and the suspense grew. The characters seemed rather barmy for the most part, and there are more twists and red herrings than I expected. No spoilers here, the publisher's blurb gives hints, so just go ahead and enjoy. Definitely a worthwhile read!
The audio is narrated by the author, and that's always fun.
I requested and received a free copy from the narrator courtesy of AudioBookBOOM. ( )