Review: Mysteries that are about the mystery!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2011
These stories were described as "pulp", and I would never have guessed that I'd enjoy them, but I did!  Immensely!  All 4 stories in this collection take place in the mid-1920's and have a definite 'feel' to them that is characteristic of the era.  Most of the mysteries set in this time period in Britain tend to focus more on the lives of the (usually upper-class) characters and only secondarily on the mystery.  These books put the mystery front and center, and while Drummond is definitely upper-class in terms of being comfortably off financially and without a need for 'gainful' employment, he's not nobility and he doesn't hobnob with the landed gentry.  In our day and age, he'd be considered middle-class, and this gives the stories a sense of familiarity.There's a great deal of action, and violence - but it's fistfight and rough-and-tumble violence, not blood and guts like so many modern tales.  It's the violence of a refined, genteel world that still remembers the eye-opening shock of WWI as a salutatory lesson in man's inhumanity to man.IMO, the first 3 stories were much stronger and more likeable than the 4th, which is told in a different 'tone' and 'voice, but the tales themselves are very well done and interesting.  There's a common thread running between all 4 stories in this book, so they lead one to another.  All were excellent examples of the writer's art from the time period, and still have considerable appeal today.  Highly recommended!  There is also a volume 2  with 3 or 4 more books collected to show the further adventures of Bulldog (who I must say is an extremely likeable character!).Note on Kindle formatting:  Very good.  I couldn't find any issues with the first 3 books in this collection.  The 4th wasn't anywhere near as good - there were many OCR errors, which did slow down reading somewhat, though not to the point where the book was difficult to read.