Seven people might have murdered Eric Crowther, the mysterious recluse who lived in the gaunt house whose shadow fell across the White Cottage. Seven people had good cause. It was not lack of evidence that sent Detective Chief Inspector Challenor and his son Jerry half across Europe to unravel a chaos of clues. The White Cottage Mystery was Margery Allingham’s first detective story, published initially as a newspaper serial.
I love mystery novels and I absolutely adore Agatha Christie, so I couldn’t help but give Margery Allingham’s most acclaimed work The White Cottage Mystery a try. This book is a very fast, easy, and cozy mystery to read. I really enjoyed the plot and the twists. I have to admit that parts of this book reminded me of Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and considering that The White Cottage Mystery was published in 1928 a couple of years after Agatha Christie’s novel, Allingham was probably influenced a bit by Christie’s work. In that respect, I can’t say that this book was very original.
Overall, there were some elements of nostalgia in regard to the language and manners that are outdated in this day and age. I liked it, though. I was really happy with the surprising twist at the end. Great and quick summer read.
I’d like to thank NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
