The Red House Mystery

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La trama está muy bien llevada, aunque, a mi parecer, le falta emoción y una resolución final más acertada.

The Red House Mystery is a novel by A. A. Milne about the mysterious death of Robert Ablett inside the house of his brother, Mark Ablett while there was a party taking place. It’s a whodunit novel with a simple story that's skilfully told.There is a murder in which Anthony is unwittingly involved. Anthony and Bill then start an investigation parallel to the police's own. Despite the rather large cast of characters at the start of the book, the story mainly follows three people: Anthony, Bill, and Cayley (Mark’s cousin). Anthony and Bill are suspicious of Cayley, and a good part of the book feels like a cat-and-mouse game, as they try to find out what Cayley is hiding and why. It’s good fun, for the most part, but because the three mainly interact with one another, the book can feel a little draggy in the second half. I think it’s because we don’t really talk to the others – it’s just Anthony and Bill talking, them avoiding Cayley, making a discovery, and repeat. He was also frustrated by Milne’s amateur detective, a likeable everyman who only seemed to be able to solve the crime because the actual police officers on the case were idiots. A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.

In The Red House Mystery, Antony Gillingham decides to visit his friend Bill, who’s visiting another friend named Mark Ablett. But when Anthony arrives, he’s immediately swept up in a case – there’s a gunshot, Mark’s ne’er-do-well brother is dead, and Mark himself is missing. As a key witness, Anthony is asked to stay and he immediately decides that his new career shall be as a private detective. With Bill, the Watson to his Holmes, the two of them begin to investigate the circumstances behind the murder. To μυστήριο του κόκκινου σπιτιού' θεωρείται ένα από τα σημαντικότερα μυθιστορήματα 'κλειδωμένου δωματίου' μαζί με 'Το μυστήριο του κίτρινου δωματίου' του Γκαστόν Λερού και τον 'Ασώματο άνθρωπο' του Καρ και εντάσσεται στην κατηγορία 'whodunit' (τουλάχιστον, μέχρι τη μέση περίπου). O Μίλν βρίσκει τον μοντέρνο 'Σέρλοκ Χόλμς' στο 'πρόσωπο' του ερασιτέχνη ντετέκτιβ Άντονι Γκίλινγχαμ, ο οποίος μένει αξέχαστος στον αναγνώστη με την οξυδέρκειά του, τα λογικά του συμπεράσματα και το εύστοχο χιούμορ του. After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff." En lugar de tener los típicos sospechosos, o los clásicos interrogatorios por parte de un policía o detective, nos encontramos aquí con Anthony Gillingham, un personaje que no tiene experiencia previa en casos policiacos, alguien que intentará seguir las huellas como detective principiante, y que no se dedicará a hacer preguntas a los demás personajes, sino a hacérselas a sí mismo; básicamente toda la historia gira entorno a este sin fin de interrogantes, pistas, misterios por descubrir, que nuestro protagonista se irá preguntando a fin de dar respuesta a ¿qué pasó?, ¿cómo pasó?, y no menos importante, ¿quién lo hizo?I also enjoyed the tone of the story very much. It is very light to be a mystery. So often, it is lighthearted and even humorous. It pokes conscious fun at classic mysteries and all their tropes, and still uses them very cleverly, with intelligence and purpose, which is what makes the mystery so strong. The protagonist is Andrew Gillingham, a young man receiving a fine inheritance who, rather than gadding about (a la Bertie Wooster), finds it interesting to try out different professions for a year or so. One day, while out in the country, he realizes that a good friend is a guest a nearby manor house. He heads out for a brisk walk to pay a surprise call on his friend, only to stumble into the immediate aftermath of a murder (in the office, with a revolver). It doesn't take long for him to realize that instead of being a supporting player in the police investigation, he can, instead, try out a new profession -- that of detective. Given the focus on a select few characters, there’s not much surprise when it comes to who is involved in the murder. The twist is more in the why and how. I was pleasantly surprised by the reveal, though I suppose if you have read a ton of golden age mysteries, you might be able to guess what has happened.

I really wanted to read more about Anthony and Bill going on to solve other crimes, but sadly this seems to be the only mystery that Milne wrote. Meg is in love with Nath but he has a girlfriend, Tibby Renton. Although the two plan to marry, Tibby is attracted to Teller, an older man with a questionable past. He gives Tibby some money and asks her to buy him a savings bond. He doesn't want to be seen in town. They arrange to meet at a later date so she can give him the bond. Nor do I.” He was past the sermons now past the secret door but still tapping in the same aimless way. I had trouble with the whole romance plot so I just ignored it. I think there was enough motive for Cayley without the engagement. I mean, what was going to happen? Miss Norbury was going to finally give in?In it, Milne takes readers to the Red House, a comfortable residence in the placid English countryside that is the bachelor home of Mr. Mark Ablett. While visiting this cozy retreat, amateur detective Anthony Gillingham and his chum, Bill Beverley, investigate their genial host’s disappearance and its connection with a mysterious shooting. Was the victim, whose body was found after a heated exchange with the host, shot in an act of self-defense? If so, why did the host flee, and if not, what drove him to murder? The creator of such beloved storybook characters for children as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore, A. A. Milne was also the author of numerous dramas, essays, and novels for adults — among them, this droll and finely crafted whodunit.