The Curious Incident at Claridge's
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- $0.99
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- $0.99
Publisher Description
Did the young and beautiful Lady Tradescant try to poison her elderly husband? If not, who did?
There is no shortage of suspects - quite a few people might have wanted Sir Seymour Tradescant dead. His eccentric twin sister Bettina, his disgruntled son Nicholas, his scheming daughter Olivia... Antonia Darcy and Hugh Payne face one of their most baffling cases.
Their investigation takes them from the luxury of Claridges Hotel to Mayholme Manor, a residential home for elderly gentlemen. This proves to be a distinctly sinister establishment, where they encounter the mysterious Doctor Fairchild and his albino manservant Madden. Does the solution to the puzzle lie in the past - there seems to be a link to the Nuremberg Trials? It looks as though a controversial royal figure might have secretly plotted to save one of Hitler's mot notorious henchmen from the hangman's noose.
Even when Antonia and Hugh believe they know the identity of the killer, the necessary proof is dangerously elusive.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Raichev's mannered sleuthing couple, Maj. Hugh Payne and his wife, mystery writer Antonia Darcy, tackle their fifth case (after 2009's The Little Victim) in rather disappointing fashion. While dining at Claridge's in London, Captain Jesty, a regimental comrade of Payne's who's enamored of a beautiful young woman, Penelope Tradescant, observes Penelope surreptitiously switch capsules in the pill case of her much older, wealthy husband, Sir Seymour Tradescant. Within days Sir Seymour is dead in circumstances that leave many other suspects, including his twin sister, his son, and members of Mayholme Manor, a retreat where Seymour often stayed. Set in the present but written in classic British mystery style, this slight effort often refers to the dos and don'ts of mystery writing, not all of which the author follows. Providing a deus ex machina solution when Darcy says she'd never do so in her own detective novels, for example, will strike some readers as more lame than clever.
