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The Paradise Mystery
The Paradise Mystery
"As a weaver of detective tales Mr. Fletcher is entitled to a seat among the elect. His numerous followers will find his latest book fully as absorbing as anything from his pen that has previously appeared."—New York Times.
Book Excerpt
"If you could only make him see reason and promise not to offend again," she said. "Wouldn't that solve the difficulty?"
Ransford shook his head and made no answer. He picked up his letters again and went out, and down a long stone-walled passage which led to his surgery at the side of the house. He was alone there when he had shut the door--and he relieved his feelings with a deep groan.
"Heaven help me if the lad ever insists on the real truth and on having proofs and facts given to him!" he muttered. "I shouldn't mind telling her, when she's a bit older--but he wouldn't understand as she would. Anyway, thank God I can keep up the pleasant fiction about the money without her ever knowing that I told her a deliberate lie just now. But --what's in the future? Here's one man to be dismissed already, and there'll be others, and one of them will be the favoured man. That man will have to be told! And--so will she, then. And--my God! she doesn't see, and mustn't see, that I'm madly in love with
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Readers reviews
3.7
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An interesting mystery that became more and more complex as the story progressed, with some good twists along the way. I liked the psychological element whereby certain characters would give or withhold key information at various points in an effort to fulfill their personal agendas. Although I enjoyed it, I was ultimately disappointed by the solution, which I thought was somewhat weak.
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I somehow got the impression that this book was written as a serial, because with each chapter the plot got more sordid and another character (or two) were added. By the end, the suspects, motives and red herrings were piling up pretty deeply. On the down side, the pace was slow and the main characters were unlikeable. On the plus side, it was an interesting look at rural English life of the early 20th century, and the mystery was a good one. I, for one, did not guess the murderer.
10/24/2008
Another immersive mystery in the English countryside. It is interesting how the persons change that do the investigating, and with them the perspective. Despite the huge book list of the author, this book is clearly above the pulp level, as well as the other two I've read. Not the usual Gutenberg proofreading quality.
08/19/2008
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