Customer Reviews

The Case of the Baker Street Irregulars

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

* * * * *
~ ~ This book is not at all your average Who- Dun-it! It is a neat little mystery but so much more. The cast of the "Baker Street Irregulars" includes amateur detectives with some strikingly similar styles to some of the top detectives in Mystery fiction at the time (set in the 1940's).

~ ~ After the obligatory obnoxious and odious character is murdered, there is naturally a nice damsel in distress whose name needs to be cleared. Each of the amateur detectives (all members of the Sherlock Holmsian exclusive club), seizes upon a slightly different bit of evidence and goes off on their own private investigative track, each coming up with wildly different results.
Each of these sections in narrated in a style closer to the different authors that created each detective. The result is just wonderful for anyone who's read enough mysteries to recognize at least 3 or 4 detectives. Any that you don't recognize specifically will be recognizable by type.

~ ~ I lost my copy of this book a long time ago, probably lending it out to other mystery lovers. I was so thrilled to see this listing at Amazon[.com], that I not only had to write a review, I'm putting it in my shopping cart immediately for my next purchase. I can't wait to reread it.

~ ~ Maybe the best thing about the book is that while Boucher, a talented critic himself, is mocking other detectives, it is very clear that he himself has enjoyed reading tales of these beloved detectives himself. He could never write such an accurate spoof, without being an addict himself.
This is one of those rare books you want to share with everyone! Definitely 5 ***** stars!

Boucher obviously had a grand time writing this outlandish whodunit, and you will have an equally fun time reading it if you let yourself be taken along for the ride.

Boucher wrote a few golden age mysteries and science fiction tales, but was more prolific as a reviewer and critic of other people's work. His reviews from his years with the San Francisco Chronicle have been compiled in two volumes by Francis M. Nevins and published by Ramble House in 2002. These are great volumes to peruse while looking for other golden age mysteries to read (and avoid.)

Having read thousands of other mysteries, Boucher was qualified to write some of his own. "Irregulars" has some of the elements of the typical golden age mystery: a house where murder occurs and all the suspects are gathered under one roof for the duration, an impossible crime, and a plucky heroine. It also has elements that I can't resist: charts showing suspects and alibis, a diagram of the house, graphic representations of the clues and solution. The only thing missing from the Carrol & Graf paperback edition I have is a crime map on the back cover.

If you are prepared to have your leg pulled for 250-odd pages, dig in.