Carol S. (waucondacarol) reviewed Calamity in Kent (British Library Crime Classics) on + 319 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I found this a slow moving mystery with too many coincidences. It begins with newspaper man Jimmy London recuperating in the seaside town of Broadgate taking his usual morning stroll. He comes across the tram operator dazed and nearly incoherent because he has found a body locked in the tram behind a padlocked gate. It is a locked room mystery and London is determined to solve it. Scotland Yard Inspector Shelley, an old friend on the scene visiting the local police chief, and London pool resources to solve the murder, a second murder a copy of the first, and seemingly unrelated black market actions.
Ron K. (WhidbeyIslander) -
In which I became frustrated at the slow pace and wordiness...
Narrated by someone I thought was too full of himself (seemed young, but is revealed to be 40 years old) and pompous, I didn't find the mystery that interesting. The tedious details the reporter enthralls his readers with grow old and many, many passages and pages could have been trimmed. Where's the editor when you need him or her? I thought the Scotland Yard Inspector was pretty foolish having such a close confidant working on the case.
I thought some of these British Library Crime Classic entries were very entertaining (Death of an Airman and Fire In the Thatch come to mind), but this belongs with other duds they have reprinted (The Incredible Crime and Weekend at Thrackley).
Narrated by someone I thought was too full of himself (seemed young, but is revealed to be 40 years old) and pompous, I didn't find the mystery that interesting. The tedious details the reporter enthralls his readers with grow old and many, many passages and pages could have been trimmed. Where's the editor when you need him or her? I thought the Scotland Yard Inspector was pretty foolish having such a close confidant working on the case.
I thought some of these British Library Crime Classic entries were very entertaining (Death of an Airman and Fire In the Thatch come to mind), but this belongs with other duds they have reprinted (The Incredible Crime and Weekend at Thrackley).
