I like a clever, amusing, dark mystery. Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson is a practically perfect mystery. At the beginning, the narrator, Ernest Cunningham, who writes ebooks on how to write mysteries, says he will abide by Ronald Knox's famous 10 Rules of Mystery Writing:
- The Criminal must be someone mentioned in the early part of the story but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has allowed to follow.
- All supernatural or preternatural agencies are ruled out as a matter of course.
- Not more than one secret room or passage is allowable.
- No hitherto undiscovered poisons may be used, nor any appliance which will need a long scientific explanation at the end.
- No Chinaman must figure in the story.
- No accident must ever help the detective, nor must he ever have an unaccountable intuition which proves to be right.
- The detective must not himself commit the crime.
- The detective must not light on any clues that are not instantly produced for the reader's inspection.
- The stupid friend of the detective, the Watson, must not conceal any thoughts which pass through his mind; his intelligence must be slightly, but very slightly below that of the average reader.
- Twin brother, and doubles generally, must not appear unless we have been dully prepared for them.
amusing, insightful, quick bites
Alexander McCall Smith's book Tiny Tales is like eating delightful little canapés. The stories are quick, humorous, and usually have a little zing. My favorites are several stories about Pope Ron, the first Australian pope. Smith swims in some deep waters, talking about God and the nature of evil and how your native childhood country owns parts of your heart. By the end of the book, I'd been encouraged to look for the good in those around me and not take myself too seriously. The short stories are like fortune cookies: sweet but with a message.
Here is another review of Alexander McCall Smith's book The Number One Ladies Detective Agency: https://barbpruittwrites.blogspot.com/search?q=McCall+
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