the Riverside Villas Murder [Hardcover]

Kingsley Amis (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Book Club Associates; First Thus edition (1974)
• ASIN: B000NUH9CY
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,474,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sophisticated period piece and darn good read, June 20, 2005

By 

TamarDC "tamardc" (Newton, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Riverside Villas Murder (Hardcover)

I am surprised that no one has taken the time to review this classic--a great favorite of mine. I am not really an Amis fan, finding most of his novels too cynical and women-hating to bear. The plot of this book centers on an evil woman also, but Amis's sympathetic treatment of the protagonist--a teen age boy, growing up in post-war Britain, makes this book a softer, kinder offering than some of his more celebrated creations.

The story revolves around a cleverly-thought out murder in a dowdy British suburb in the late forties/early fifties. The protagonist, a school-boy of extraordinary sensitivity, but also endowed with a real helping of good sense, gets roped into the cover-up and resolution of the murder. Along the way, he comes into contact with several beautifully drawn out characters. Like other Amis characters, the characters feel terribly real and plausible. Unlike other Amis characters, they arouse sympathy--even unto the villain. Particularly touching is the portrayal of the protagonist's father--a war veteran who struggles to uphold the vestiges of middle-class respectability and who, when push comes to shove, does the honorable thing, despite the dire implications to his self image.

I'll close by mentioning that this book is a period piece. Amis lovingly describes the little details of daily life in Britain of the late forties and early fifties. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your average mystery, May 15, 2004

By 

Marcus Collin (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Riverside Villas Murder (Hardcover)

I find it truly refreshing that once in a while one can come across a book that is odd and strangely good at the same time. I thorougly enjoyed reading The Riverside Villas Murder and was engrossed the whole time. I highly recommend it.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Rather strange little mystery, February 3, 2000

By 

frumiousb "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Riverside Villas Murder (Hardcover)

The Riverside Villas Murder contains a boy detective in the typical tradition-- sort of. We've read the kind of book before where a boy is interested in a woman and his youthful curiosity gets him involved in a murder that surrounds her. What's strange about this is that the book seems amazingly preoccupied with the boy in question's sex life. Not that I'm a prude, but it's rather jarring and odd to have that sort of thing mixed in with what in other respects is a fairly traditional detective novel.