Customer Reviews

The Piccadilly Murder

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Ambrose Chitterwick, solver of the classic "The Poisoned Chocolates Case", decides to take a little time out of his day running errands for his termagant Aunt and have a sneaky drink in the bar of the Piccadilly Palace Hotel. As he sits, he sees a red-headed man having having tea with a grumpy older woman (clearly the man's aunt!). He watches entranced, and then realises the man is staring back at him ferociously! Surprised, he looks away, but finds his eyes drawn back to their table, where he sees the man's hand hover over the teacup of his Aunt. The man leaves, and a short while later, the woman is found to be dead, and cyanide in the cup. Chitterwick of course becomes star witness, and the woman's red-headed nephew (he was right! Aunts!) arrested and charged.

And Mr Chitterwick thinks no more about it, until asked to stay at the country house of an old friend of his mother. On arriving he discovers the woman is neither a friend of his mother's nor old, and that one of the other guests is Judy Sinclair. Judy is the wife of the nephew, and she (ahem) persuades timid, virginal Mr Chitterwick that perhaps he wasn't quite as certain of what he saw as he thinks. He agrees to investigate, and all sorts of odd facts start to coalesce into a case against someone else - someone most surprising!

Another great read from Anthony Berkeley, with the mystery well solved by bumbling (but cunning) Mr Chitterwick. His ascension over his snobbish Aunt is very amusing and nicely done, and the motives and actions of the characters (reasonably) believable.