While I was entertained by this Golden Age mystery, I found it irritating to have the story told primarily from Judith's point of view while hiding from the reader facts about her past which obviously she knew. It would have been better from her husband Anthony's point of view if the author wanted these facts hidden.

I was also a bit disappointed by the fact that Inspector Furnival does almost all of his detecting "off stage" and barely appears until the last quarter of the book. It was more like a Gothic Victorian romance, focusing on the horror and fear of Judith rather than on finding the solution of the crime. ( )

Lady Judith Carew, wife to Sir Anthony for the last two years and the ex-governess to his sister has had her peace disturbed by the appearance of her presumed dead first husband. Then a murder occurs in the Abbey Court apartments.
Apart from that I could not find any sympathy for Lady Carew and took a dislike to Peggy Carew, it was an enjoyable mystery
Originally published in 1923 ( )

A melodrama where the bad are very bad, and the silly are very silly. Was the murder committed to prevent a scandal? Oh the horror! There are many holes in the investigation by Furnival who just makes wild guesses and chats up a maid to get information. I can imagine this as an amateur stage production with the audience encouraged to make exaggerated oohs and aahs. And the amount of fainting and swooning makes me worry for the health of the women. When Judith tries to drown herself in the moat (where else?) she is dragged out and proclaimed ok, just fainted. Fun, if you can take this sort of thing but Haynes is no Christie, not even close. ( )

Inspector Furnival is introduced in this 1920’s novel. He’s a character with possibilities, but the book itself...
Reading much more like a Victorian sensationalist novel, as a mystery this is somewhat disappointing since the clues clearly telegraph the murderer and the motive. The reader is inundated with past secrets, mistaken identity, an overly emotional heroine, and just about any cliche you can think of.
All that being said, there’s a nice love story, some good detecting, and one or two engaging if old-fashioned characters. Be warned, though: there’s a reason Annie Haynes isn’t remembered as a mystery writer from the Golden Age. ( )

While I was entertained by this Golden Age mystery, I found it irritating to have the story told primarily from Judith's point of view while hiding from the reader facts about her past which obviously she knew. It would have been better from her husband Anthony's point of view if the author wanted these facts hidden.

I was also a bit disappointed by the fact that Inspector Furnival does almost all of his detecting "off stage" and barely appears until the last quarter of the book. It was more like a Gothic Victorian romance, focusing on the horror and fear of Judith rather than on finding the solution of the crime. ( )