Rating: 
Summary: Satire, Irony, and Farce
Review: This book will be a four star effort for most British readers and a two star work for most American ones. I averaged the two to reach my three star rating. The absurdities of the upper classes always amuse the British, and this one is excellent in that regard. Being the 7th Earl of Lucan doesn't mean that you have any sense, have any purpose in your life, or do any good. Regardless of all that, people will rally around to help him . . . because of the old school tie and all that. For Americans, the joke runs a little thin. It could have been carried off in short story. Ms. Spark seems to have imagined her ending, and then simply developed a plot that could connect that back to the real-life murder and attempted murder that form the basis of the book. The second story line is about a fake stigmatic from Bavaria who disappeared after stealing donated funds. Being at least a little imaginative, Beate Pappenheim will appeal to more readers than Lord Lucan will. However, she wasn't really necessary for the joke, but does give Ms. Spark the ability to stretch a short story into a novella. To stir up a little interest, the book has a small mystery to solve. Who is Lord Lucan? In pursuing this idea of identity, the book takes off on modern psychiatry . . . basically pointing out that there's not much there. Ms. Pappenheim pretends to be a psychiatrist, ignores all the rules, and still creates a series of very devoted patients who depend on her. Ms. Spark also explores imagery in many significant ways to develop her story. Blood is the key image. Blood ties the upper classes together. Blood is part of a woman's monthly cycle. A messy murder causes blood to be spilled. Being able to use blood in new ways creates opportunity for Ms. Pappenheim. Being able to describe what it's like to kill in cold blood is a way to identify Lord Lucan. And so on. Ms. Sharp shows her writing brilliance in these ways. Ultimately, I was sorry that she didn't pick a more worthy subject for her humor. Lord Lucan seems like such a useless person that it seems like a waste of one's time to even have to think about him. That could have been overcome by spending more time satirizing those who helped him, but, alas, she did not do that. If you're British (or have a very British outlook), read the book. If you're American (or don't like British humor about the upper classes), skip the book. If you do decide to read the book, think about who would stick by you no matter what you had done. Why would they? How can you develop more close ties who would do the same, not because they will need to do so, but because you will benefit from that kind of close relationship? Support worthy activities!
Rating: 
Summary: repetitive and boring
Review: this comes from someone who knew nothing of the legend of lord lucan.. but still from the opening of the story i was intrigued by it.. however the book is constantly repeating the few details that it shares with us on the crime and lord lucan's disapperance over and over again. I felt the book to be very incomplete.. and the key word here really is repeatitive.. It's just a bore! Pass it! (the last two sentences being the only two in need of capitalization)
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific! But beware of tell-all plot summaries.
Review: This is a real treat to read, with a wonderfully appropriate grande finale which depends on surprise! A unique and suspenseful twist on the traditional murder mystery, this novel features wacky, off-the-wall characters--including two men who claim to be the murderer Lord Lucan, a variety of aristocratic "aiders and abettors" who have protected and financially supported him for twenty-five years, a psychiatrist who was once a phony stigmatic but who is now treating both "Lucans," and several former acquaintances who now want Lucan caught, only because "...times have changed...Lucky Lucan failed to show up [for questioning], which was really lowering our standards....he was a very great bore."
Satiric and mordantly critical of aristocratic pretension, this is vintage Spark. Her plot is very tight, with no loose ends and no digressions, and her selection of details is exquisitely careful and controlled. Her themes and motifs, especially those of blood as it relates to both crime and breeding, are so intricately connected to all the characters and the plot, that it is difficult to discuss them without giving away the clever plot twists. And Spark does all this in less than two hundred pages! It's impossible not to read this at a gallop to find out what happens--while smiling the whole time at Spark's wry wit.
Rating: 
Summary: Enigmatic novella
Review: Twenty-five years after the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett, two Lord Lucans consult Parisian psychiatrist Dr. Hildegard Wolf. The anniversary is also the catalyst for a new investigation into Lucan's disappearance, conducted by the daughter of one of Lucan's former friends. Hildegard is initially shocked by having to treat two Lucans, but then takes it in her stride. One of the Lucans, obviously, has to be fake, but which one? However, both Lucans know about Hildegard's subversive past, and have got a hold on her, forcing her to flee. If it's one thing Lucan knows well, it's how to run... Resumes of this novel can't help but sound fantastic and more than a little distasteful. After all, those who suffered from Lucan's crime are still living. However, the disappearance of Lucan remains as enigmatic today as it ever was. The rumours of what happened to him, and what actually happened on the night he killed Sandra Rivett are numerous. All these are discussed in Spark's novel, although the common belief amongst Lucan's former friends that he must have killed himself is arbitrarily dismissed. The question is how could such a dull man ever have evaded capture for so long? One of the most improbable stories about Lucan, printed in the Guardian at the time of the murder, was that he was once considered for the film role of James Bond. It seems that Muriel Spark has borrowed the name of Robert Walker (the alias of one of the Lucans), from Hitchcock's film 'Strangers on a Train'. This fits her story since both Lucans are presumed to be in collusion with one another for some reason. In Hitchcock's film, Robert Walker kills Farley Granger's wife, and then blackmails Granger to murder his business tycoon father. Both Lucans blackmail Hildegard about her shady past. I couldn't find any reference to the fake stigmatic Spark based this part of her story upon, but there is another stigmatic of Bavaria in history, who was called Teresa Neumann. All in all, the magic of Spark's prose and characterisation draws you in. The only moment that you may have trouble trying to believe is when the young Lacey and the aged Joseph Murray fall in love when searching for Lucan. Maybe this will draw the attentions of Hollywood to this novel! This intriguing story is composed in a tasteful, elegant way, and there are moments when you can't help but burst into laughter, such is Muriel Spark's great wit. I haven't given this novella full marks though, because it does have quite limited ambitions. I think it could also have gone straight into paperback - it doesn't seem good value at a hardcover price.
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