Thursday, August 8, 2019

British Library Crime Classic


Title & Author:  Murder in the Museum by John Rowland
First published: 1938

How it begins: Beneath the high, gloomy dome, Henry Fairhurst looked around him. There was an air of deathly stillness in the place, and a silence broken only by the occasional rustle of pages and the subdued murmur of a borrower discussing books with an official. The British Museum Reading room is a strange place ...

A brief summary of the plot: Henry Fairhurst, who's short, wears pince-nez glasses, and lives with his older sister, Sarah, likes to play his own "Sherlock Holmes" game:  guessing the occupations of strangers. But his game takes a serious turn when he discovers the body of Julius Arnell, a professor of Elizabethan Literature, in the British Museum Reading Room, dead from cyanide poisoning. Inspector Shelley and Sergeant Cunningham are the detectives investigating the murder, but Henry is determined to help them solve the case, whether they want his help, or not. And it's he who discovers that another expert in Elizabethan Literature, Professor Wilkinson, also died in the British Museum Reading Room five months earlier. Coincidence? Henry thinks not. And neither do Inspector Shelley and Sergeant Cunningham.

My thoughts: Is it wrong to use the word delightful when describing a murder mystery? Because that's how I'd describe this book. I liked how each of the main characters had their own little quirks. Inspector Shelley and his colleague are pretty witty. And it was nice that Arnell's daughter, Violet, wasn't one of those shrinking/fainting women that are so often depicted in books from this time period. There's lots of dialogue, and I thought the mystery moved along from one suspect to the next at a pretty good clip. All in all, this old-fashioned mystery is a rollicking fun ride.

Happy Reading!

22 comments:

  1. That does sound like fun. I'll have to check it out.

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    1. These classic British mysteries are a lot of fun. :)

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  2. All too often, those old mysteries seem to show their age when I pick them up, and I let that scare me away for too long. Sounds like I need to give them another chance.

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    1. Some definitely do show their age, but I thought this one held up pretty well. :)

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  3. This does sound like a delightful read. I should probably check out more of these classic mysteries. They seem like stories I'd really enjoy. :)

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    1. They're just fun. I love that they've been reprinting so many of them.

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  4. There is something about those old fashioned Golden Age mysteries that are delightful despite the fact that in most cases, a murder occurs. It's the same with certain T.V. shows (Agatha Raisin or Murder She Wrote come to mind). A corpse is just part of the trope. :D

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  5. Ooh adding this one. I've been loving these British Library Crime Classics...

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  6. There's something about these classic mysteries that attract us, huh? :) And the characters in this book sound interesting, too.

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    1. I thought the characters in this one were a lot of fun. :)

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  7. I think delightful is a word that does fit this kind of read. Classic mystery and cozy mystery could both be regarded as delightful even with murder in them!

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    1. It just feels so weird to use delightful and murder in the same sentence! :D

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  8. Quirky characters and a Sherlock Holmes game--that does sound delightful!

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  9. This sounds like a fun Agatha Christie sort of mystery. I'll have to check out the series. :)

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    1. This old mysteries do have an Agatha Christie feel to them. (Although her books are just a little bit better.)

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  10. I don't think it's wrong to use words such as "delightful" and "fun" to describe a murder mystery. Especially ones like this. :-) I haven't read this yet, but I must now! It sounds wonderful.

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    1. I hope I haven't hyped it too much. But I did really enjoy reading this one. :)

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  11. I'm always saying that murder mysteries are my comfort reads so I get it when you say delightful! :) I love these mysteries that are from the Golden Age. So cool that they've been reprinting these.

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    1. I love that they're being reprinted...even more that my library has them! :)

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