The Red House Mystery

Mystery and thriller

First published: 1922
Print length: 119 pagesFeather Trail Press, 2009

Description

At an English country house, a locked-room murder draws an amateur investigator and a helpful companion into a seemingly impossible case. The Red House Mystery uses familiar country-house detective conventions to build an ingenious, light-toned golden-age whodunnit. Its appeal lies in the central puzzle and in the promise that the baffling crime can be approached through investigation and explanation. The book also became notable partly through Raymond Chandler’s extended criticism of its lack of realism. That critical response accompanies a mystery defined by its country-house setting, amateur sleuth, helpful companion, and locked-room design.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Dialogue-driven · Direct · Witty

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Cerebral · Humorous · Playful · Suspenseful

Structure

Linear

Focus

Mystery · Plot

Emotional intensity

2 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 2 / 5
Ideas: 2 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 1 / 5

Themes

Crime and punishmentJusticeKnowledge and truth

About A. A. Milne

A. A. Milne was an English writer whose career ranged from plays and detective fiction to children’s poetry and the stories of Winnie-the-Pooh. His characteristic comedy begins with plain speech and orderly intentions, then lets literal thinking, verbal confusion, and overconfident plans complicate the smallest occasion. In the Hundred Acre Wood, he works episodically rather than through a single quest. A search, a visit, or a wish for honey expands through dialogue, while sharply differentiated voices allow Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Tigger to misunderstand one another without losing their instinct for companionship. Winnie-the-Pooh turns circling footprints and a narrow doorway into sustained comic situations. The House at Pooh Corner similarly builds stories from searches, construction projects, and Tigger’s exuberant arrival. The direct, conversational prose often makes nonsense sound like careful reasoning, and its leisurely pacing leaves room for digressions and repeated phrases. The Red House Mystery shows the same taste for talk, puzzles, and ingenious arrangement in a country-house locked-room plot.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Feather Trail Press
Language: English
ISBN: 9781449595142

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