Review: Home Sweet Homicide

Well, finally I have sat down and gobbled up this little gem of a book. It's delightful. I love it and I'm really, really pleased I finally got around to it.

I'm equally pleased that Rue Morgue Press brought out a new edition in 2002, even if the cover art is terrible (which it is) so that more people may get a chance to read this book. I was given a 1946 Pocket Books yellowback which, in spite of being rather discolored, was still in very readable condition and I thoroughly enjoyed leafing through it and noticing the name of the previous owner, carefully written in pencil on the red flyleaf: Ruby Collingswood; and then written again in a slightly looser, more mature script just below that. I suspect that the mysterious Ruby loved this book, too.

If you're a fan of Golden Age mysteries, this is an American classic. No violence, no sex, no drinking, drugs or bad language. Straight forward mystery, a touch or two of romance which does NOT come tromping in on big, hairy, hobnailed boots to mess up everything and run the story off into the weeds, and the author plays fair with the clues and the characters all the way through. Really delightful, great little summer read.

It's got a lot of period slang and it's loaded with little details from the period (1944) and a breezy, easy-going style which is a pleasure to read. Nothing heavy, no big psychological studies or horrible historical secrets. There's a touch of autobiograpy, but it's not 100% a fictionalization of Rice's real life, though it does feature 3 kids and their mystery-writing mother.

The mystery doesn't turn on any kind of arcane knowledge and is revealed through machinations of the three young Carstairs children as they attempt to solve the mystery to gain publicity for their mother and, incidentally, introduced a little romance in their mother's life. The ending probably won't surprise any long-time mystery readers and the plot is not extremely twisty, but the charm of the book and the realistic, quirky characters were more than enough to engage me.

Lots of fun. Highly recommended and easily available new or used, now that the new edition is on the stands. You can get it through Amazon.com for cheap!

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Kat R - RAM - Seattle

Book Review: Home Sweet Homicide