The Affair of the Bloodstained Egg Cosy

By: James Anderson

Narrated by: Cornelius Garrett

Welcome to Alderley, a magnificent mansion in the heart of the West Country where a grand house party is taking place. The preparations have been made, the guests have been invited, and the staff are on hand. What could possibly go wrong? Let the entertainment begin.

The theft of the diamond necklace and the antique pistols might all be explained, but the body in the lake - that really was a puzzle. 'Don't expect me to solve anything,' Inspector Wilkens announced modestly when he arrived to sort out the unpleasantness. And at a gathering that included English aristocracy, foreign agents in disguise, a ravishing baroness, a daring jewel thief, a Texas millionaire and, of course, the imperturbable butler, it was going to take some intricate sleuthing to uncover who killed whom and why.

©1975 James Anderson (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Good mystery slow starter

The mystery doesn’t start until chapter 15. Many golden age are slow starting but on my. The narrator saves the day. The characters are delightful. And the ending is twisted.

lots of fun

There's a lot going on in this, but I really enjoyed it. It reminds me of some old golden age type books. If you like that type of mystery, you'll enjoy this.

Absolutely Adore This Series

I read them out of order but it didn’t matter.. they are stand alone ,… and there are no spoilers,… they are refreshingly complex,. So one doesn’t get bored… Enjoying the last one with this months credit..

Many surprise twists!

First great thing about this book is the narration, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The second would be the characters themselves, and the surprise ending, I will enjoy this book for years to come!

Fun and clever cozy

If that’s your preference, go for this series. It’s a lot of fun and Inspector Wilkins is delightful.

Great story. and narration

I have listened to other books read by Cornelius Garrett and he is one of my favorite narrators. This book is fun, suspenseful and all around a great listen.

Great mystery, great reader

Wonder period mystery. Loved every second of it. the reader is AMAZING. Not just a reader, but an actor who nailed every character.

It's...fine

MILD SPOILERS POSSIBLE

I really like a lot of this. Our initial protagonist has a lot of potential. It's a promising setup. As the events begin to unfold, I started to get into it. And then...meh. The local police character struck me as just inconsistent. I'm not sure if it was the writing of the performance. It just didn't work for me. The biggest plot issue I have is the way a certain thing was conveyed to a certain place. Um, really? That's the best you could think up? My eyes just rolled again thinking back on it.

The performance fluctuates as well. Some of our characters are just spot-on. It's when he tries to veer into American accents that it falls apart. They're caricatures, not characters at that point. One sounds like my untalented uncle attempting a Foghorn Leghorn impression. Our reader also has trouble sticking with each of these. It almost becomes laughable near the end when a character is speaking and you can hear the accent transitioning to a different voice the actor is using. A bit better direction could have prevented it certainly.

Overall, it was mostly ok. At times it verged on becoming something more, and then just didn't.

the title says it all

The novel follows through on its title -- a very funny, campy "manor house" murder mystery set on eve of WWII. The crazy-quilt denouement was, however, too long for my tastes although lovers of convoluted Golden Age homages may like the multiple twists. Cornelius Garret displays virtuosity, but I would have preferred more restrained voices for some of the international accents. I look forward to the subsequent "mangled mink" affair and hope that Audible unearths more from Anderson.

Cornelius Garret!!!

Cornelius Garret could read the phone book and I would pay to listen. He is the reason I discovered James Anderson. I highly recommend this book. It is a mystery that you could solve IF you pay attention to the details. Really close attention. Really. Close. Attention. If you enjoy Agatha Christy type mysteries please read The Affair of the blood stained Egg Cosy. Garret brigs a myriad of quirky characters together that are so distinct it is impossible to remember that only one person is reading.