Customer Reviews

Black aura

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John Sladek was a satirist and his two detective novels are satires about detective novels and their readers. The comedy is very sly because it makes fun of the English (this being their vice) and these books do not have the hilarity of the American satires. You have to understand the joke to get it, but in terms of novel structure they are Sladek's most accomplished "novels" in craftsmanship. Enjoyable if you understand the satire and very fine.

The plot: American Thackery Phin, living in London, joins a household of people who firmly believe in the hereafter -- so much so that some have moved into the home of their favorite medium. Phin is attempting to debunk the operation. When the medium says she knows his intentions are not what they seem, but asks him to stay and investigate some thefts, he agrees. Soon after some of the household meet "miraculous" deaths, and the race is on to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

My review: An easy to read story with some nice puzzles, easily explained in the end (aren't most of them?). The amateur detective is a little different, and the cast of characters is sometimes hard to keep track of. All in all, though, an enjoyable light mystery.