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I’m participating in the British Crime Classics Challenge over at The Book Decoder for the first time. The challenge is to read any Crime/Mystery story by a British author that was published on or before 1965. The theme for August is “Authors New to Me” and I chose Molly Thynne. Coincidentally, this month’s theme is also one of the squares to fill out for the BCCC Bingo, so I’m hitting 2 birds with one stone here!

Story Summary & Thoughts

The story opens with the quintessentially British topic of conversation—the weather. Christmas is fast approaching, bringing with it the threat of a heavy snowfall.

Caught in the snowstorm, we meet the newly successful author Angus Stuart, who arrives accompanied by the elderly Misses Adderley. Soon after, more guests arrive: a suave young professional dancer, a timid clerk, and Dr. Constantine, the chess enthusiast and amateur sleuth.

The main cast is rounded out by the objectionable Major Carew, the pragmatic businessman Mr. Soames, the aristocratic Romsey family (consisting of a father, son, and two daughters), the enigmatic Mrs. Orkney Cloude, and the wealthy American Mrs. Van Dolen with her entourage.

The story is a twist on the classic locked-room mystery, as the cast is stranded at The Noah’s Ark by the snowstorm. It becomes clear that the suspect must be someone staying at the inn when the theft and murder occurred.

The character of Angus Stuart is particularly relatable and charming. His reflections on his struggles as a fledgling author struck a chord with me, making him all the more engaging. This well-crafted portrayal of human nature added depth to his character and helped establish a strong connection with the reader.

At present they were clouded with an anxiety which Stuart, in view of his own recent past, had no difficulty in interpreting. He was probably summoning up his courage to ask for the cheapest room in the inn, and wondering how much even that would cost him.

Angus Stewart, chapter 11

There was plenty of running up and down stairs and climbing out of windows at night, which left me feeling confused, and I ended up speed-reading through most of those passages. I suppose I’m not familiar enough with old English houses to visualize the scenes clearly, and the lack of illustrations of the inn’s layout didn’t help. On top of that, there was another thief working independently from the first, which muddied the circumstances of the primary crime.

Aside from that, I found Dr. Constantine’s method of detection (or deduction?) lacking energy and focus. There wasn’t much in the story to indicate where his suspicions lay, other than his firm denial of some characters’ involvement.

The reveal of the main culprit felt disappointing to me—not because I couldn’t guess who it was, but because it sidestepped the cases built against the other suspects. I prefer crime mystery culprits to be characters that have been thoroughly discussed and developed by others in the book.

At least I can take some credit for guessing the identity of the other mischief-maker. Once certain events were explained, my crime-reading experience kicked in, and I knew who they were and what their likely scheme was.

I’m reserving my judgment for now. While I was hooked and finished the book in one night, there were parts that didn’t fully convince me. However, I’ve learned that I can’t usually judge a book or its author after just one reading. So, while I wasn’t particularly keen on Dr. Constantine, I have to remember that I wasn’t a fan of Inspector Alleyn or Ngaio Marsh initially either.

Perhaps it’s just the newness of the author and character that makes me hesitate to add this to my ‘Must Read’ list. I’ll revisit this post once I’ve re-read it or explored other stories featuring Dr. Constantine.

It’s certainly a shame that Molly Thynne isn’t as widely known as some of the other Golden Age mystery writers. I’m looking forward to discovering more of her works in the future.