A Night of Errors

Rating:
Summary: Burnt to a cinder in his own study
Review: "...So that night began and continued to the end, in nothing but confusion and errors; whereupon it was ever afterwards called the Night of Errors." (Gesta Grayorum, 1594)

One of the most surreal butlers in all of mystery inhabits "Night of Errors (1948)." His name is Swindle and his conversation consists mainly of the croaked "Urrr" sound and displeasing snuffles through his nose. Most of the really amusing episodes in the book consist of Swindle's monosyllabic interactions with the long-suffering family whom he serves. Naturally, he is one of the suspects in this classical British manor house mystery.

Sir Oliver Dromio is found burnt to a crisp in his own fireplace, but this wasn't the first suspicious fire on the Dromio estate. Forty years earlier, Sir Oliver's infant brothers (he was one of a set of triplets) were supposedly burned to death in a suspect blaze in the nursery.

Sir John Appleby, recently retired from his august position at New Scotland Yard, has had his fill of burnt baronets. But he lets the local constable talk him into a midnight drive in his big yellow Bentley over to the neighboring estate of Sherris, home of the Dromio family since the seventeenth century.

There are a multitude of suspects in addition to the Neanderthal butler: Lady Dromio, whose two infant sons had died so horribly four decades past, and whose baronet husband had died mad; Lucy, her adopted daughter who might have been Sir Oliver's mistress; the Reverend Mr. Greengrave who sometimes drank a glass of wine too many, in order to overcome his shyness; Sebastian Dromio, the black sheep of the family, who was supposed to be in America; the rich, reclusive Mrs. Gollifer, who might be Lucy's natural mother; and her son, Geoffrey who is in love with Lucy.

Appleby and his sidekick, Inspector Hyland set out to solve the homicide in a night of errors compounded by several arsons, multiple corpses, mistaken identities, all sorts of motives (from blackmail to hereditary madness), and an over-full cast of suspects.

Including one very odd butler.