Murder at Melrose Court: A Country House Christmas Murder

I bought this audiobook at an Audible sale some time back and only started on this one because the book I was currently reading had no audiobook available. I was so pleasantly surprised that this turned out to be a way better cosy mystery than the one I had originally been reading.

Major Heathcliff Lennox is a war veteran set to return to spend Christmas at his uncle's place at Melrose Court. Just before he sets off, however, he finds a dead man on his doorstep clutching a note with an enigmatic Countess's name written on it. Imagine his surprise when he reaches Melrose Court and discovers that the said Countess is in attendance! Murder happens, chaos ensues, and Lennox (because he hates to be called Heathcliff) finds out that he's not too bad at investigating mysteries after all.

This was an enjoyable and engaging blend of Agatha Christie and P. G. Wodehouse. The writing flowed well, and the humour worked (imagine if a more intelligent Bertie Wooster started solving mysteries). Most importantly, the mysteries tied up pretty well together and while mostly formulaic, there were still some plot twists that caught me off guard. Still, though, cosy mystery is a genre where sometimes being formulaic can be a good thing (hence the word ‘cosy'?)

Also I want to give a shoutout to the narrator of the audiobook, Sam Dewhurst-Phillips, who did a fantastic job at voicing all the different characters in the mystery. He breathed life into all of them, from the Bertie Wooster-ish quality of the main character, down to the pottering old butler Cooper whom you can't help feeling endeared to even though he barely has lines in the story.

Overall, a great entry into the cosy mystery genre with a slightly unique attitude of injecting Wodehouse humour into Christie-esque mysteries. I would certainly consider continuing the series.

A whodunit in the classic style—just what I was hoping for. I particularly liked the quality of the writing and plotting—it was all very tight and engaging. I also liked the length—it's nice to keep things short and sweet every once in a while. The main character was a tad elitist, but I don't think it went over the edge. And while it took place at Christmas, it didn't distract from the story in any way. I look forward to the next one.