Ron K. (WhidbeyIslander) -
Despite the cover of the British Library Crime Classics edition, 90% of the "action" takes place in a secluded house, not on a snowbound train. But the location isn't all that crucial in any case. The writing is fine, characters (quickly fleshed out) are serviceable, but the overall feeling I got from it (besides that it seemed to go on forever) was one of indifference. The killings are unconnected, and characters with important pieces of the puzzle enter very late in the story. Not a great example of the classic British murder mystery.
Maura (maura853) -
Mildly intriguing premise, mired down by terrible writing.
I made it as far as I did -- page 92 --because I wanted to see where Farjeon would go with it -- for this, I thought, I was willing to suffer the awful, droning dialogue (literally pages-ful of exchanges like "What do you mean?" "What are you saying?" "WHAT??") and characters that are ghastly stereotypes. (Particularly found the brother/sister combo, the two supposedly "bright young things," very resistible ...)
But it was the appearance of a Cockney villain, straight from 1930s B-movie Central Casting, that finished things for me ... Some authors can do so-called dialect. Farjeon cannot.
I made it as far as I did -- page 92 --because I wanted to see where Farjeon would go with it -- for this, I thought, I was willing to suffer the awful, droning dialogue (literally pages-ful of exchanges like "What do you mean?" "What are you saying?" "WHAT??") and characters that are ghastly stereotypes. (Particularly found the brother/sister combo, the two supposedly "bright young things," very resistible ...)
But it was the appearance of a Cockney villain, straight from 1930s B-movie Central Casting, that finished things for me ... Some authors can do so-called dialect. Farjeon cannot.
Janice -
An old-fashioned (pre WW2) suspense thriller about a murder on a snowed-in train, an empty house with all preparations for visitors, a group of passengers who brave the blizzard to get there instead of sensibly staying with the train, a psychic, a maybe ghost, a few murders and a budding romance or two. One can follow the twists and turns, or just coast along for the atmosphere of the ride. A good book to relax with.
Carol S. (waucondacarol) reviewed Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story (British Library - British Library Crime Classics) on + 319 more book reviews
I enjoyed this mystery set on Christmas eve first in a snowbound train, then in an isolated house in the country. A group of travelers decide to leave the train and head for the nearest station, but lost in the worsening blizzard, they stumble upon a seemingly deserted country house. The fires are roaring and the table set for tea, but there are no inhabitants. Soon two more stranded passengers enter the door. Soon the doors are blocked by snow and the passengers are unable to leave. They begin to ponder why the house has no owner around, when murder strikes.
