Review: Silly and enjoyable
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2014
Anya Wylde's writing has a strong tendency towards the absurd, in both humor and plot, and this certainly holds true for her mystery novel "Murder At Rudhall Manor." The protagonist is an odd sort of young woman, who dances spasmodically when she's happy, drops parasols on people's toes to make her point, gets into catfights with her employers, and uses such curses as "may maggots fill their brains and poison ivy adhere to their behinds forever." Her abstracted sailing through life is interrupted when jewels are stolen, the head of the household she works for is found stabbed to death, and she is blamed for all of it. She feels she is the only one that can save her neck from the gallows. It is quite amusing to watch the incompetent protagonist bumble her way through an investigation, whether it is by trying to disguise herself as a tree or hide under a bed of a trysting couple. True to form, the big reveal and ending are as ridiculous as one could hope for. It is a very good sort of novel, as long as you can not only suspend your disbelief but throw it off a cliff.(less)