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Rating: 
Summary: lackluster
Review: AN ENGLISH MURDER by Louise Doughty is extremely well written and very readable--I read it in one afternoon. However, Doughty's story is not like other "short" mysteries--or long ones for that matter. Doughty is a very clever writer, and she has created a complex little tale. Doughty is obviously familiar with English murder mysteries. She has created a story for the ardent mystery reader, but one familiar with the English classics. To fully appreciate this book you need an understanding of the works of Dorothy Sayers and P. D. James and their personal reflections on the ambiguity of morality. This book is a morality play of sorts, and like the play within the play in Hamlet, there are mysteries within this mystery. Dorothy Sayers created a character, a young woman writer named Harriet Vines, who figures in her three best stories involving the detective Peter Wimsey. Some critics think Vines is a thin disguise for Sayers herself. AN ENGLISH MYSTERY contains two writers. The earnest newspaper reporter Alison Akenside lives next door to Miss Crabbe, a mystery writer. Miss Crabbe's favorite book is HAVE HIS CARCASE (Habeas Corpus) by Sayers. Miss Akenside discovered the bodies (neighbors who lived on her other side), and she is writing news articles about the discovery and subsequent investigation. At one point, the narrator (Doughty?) provides an overview of what Miss Crabbe thinks about finding dead bodies, a thought which she presumeably relayed to Miss Arkenside earlier. "The discovery of the body was the most important single event in a murder story - far more important than the murder itself, which ususally happened off-stage and quite right too. [Miss Crabbe] couldn't stand those modern novelists who went in for graphic garrotting and exploding eyeballs. How tasteless to describe all those horrible things happening to a living person." At this point in the narrative, Doughty is relaying Akenside's understanding of Crabbe's thoughts about Sayer's narrative of Harriet Vines' thoughts, and the reader is inside a loop involving five mystery writers. Doughty's writing is complex, laugh-out-loud funny at points (including a game of CLUE the murderer plays with the victims), sobering, and fairly accurate regarding the human condition. As much as we might like tidy little stories that put all moral ambiguity to rest, they are not reflective of real life. And, there are those pesky flies. Those damned flies.
Rating: 
Summary: A book that will stick with you
Review: AN ENGLISH MURDER is an amazing read! It has been a while since I was so completely engrossed in a story which starts out being so conventional, and quickly turns the entire "village mystery" genre into something quite different. The murders of a middle-aged couple and the disappearance of their teenage daughter Gemma cause quite a stir in the quiet Rutland village where Alison Akenside is a reporter with the local paper. Besieged by national media, Alison sees it as an opportunity to make a splash with a story of her own. As we learn more about the dead couple, the daughter and Alison herself, the atmosphere becomes suffocating, and Alison more of an enigma. Fans of Ruth Rendell should rejoice over the discovery of AN ENGLISH MURDER.
Rating: 
Summary: Dreadful
Review: AN ENGLISH MURDER is NOT a detective novel. It's about a journalist, but I wouldn't call it a journalist-detective novel, either. It confused me a couple of times. Still, it was compelling enough that I read it in one sitting. It has a definite English flavor, but not a persuasive sense of place. The story is presented alternately from different points of view. It presents more than one moral dilemma and ends with an interesting one. Thought-provoking!
Rating:
Summary: Maybe I Expected Too Much...
Review: AN ENGLISH MURDER was chosen (by me) to be read by my book group, after a good review of it in the Cincinnati Enquirer. I was disappointed. I'm not a frequent reader of "English mysteries," so I can't compare and contrast this book to all the other mysteries I've read. It's just that I was left wondering where the "mystery" was. The identity of the murderer was obvious from the start. It's not a "whodunnit." Where this book did succeed was in slowly revealing that the citizens of a seemingly pleasant little English village are not as quaint as their surroundings...everyone has dark and often slimy secrets in their past. As the weather turned gloomy and characters' conscious and unconscious motives were uncovered, the book just went sort of grim. If you're looking for a classic mystery with dead ends and plot twists, AN ENGLISH MURDER isn't it. If you're looking for a character study of the dark side of people's souls, you'll find those secret corners here.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time and a Waste of Money
Review: An unusual book, filled with small surprises. The story of the murder itself is straight forward. The revelations of character in the town though are not. There is real originality here.
Rating: 
Summary: Not sure . . .
Review: I read this book with some enjoyment. The writing was good. The story kept me interested and reading, but when I reached the end, I felt disturbed and unsatisfied. I did not like the ultimate let down the main character gave me. However, because I found the writing very good, I am going try another book by this auther and hope for a more satisfying end.
Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time and a Waste of Money
Review: One of the worst "mystery" books I have ever read. As other reviewers have noted, there was really no mystery in this disappointing novel. The main character was not very likeable, and the details of her family were painfully boring and irrelevant. I kept hoping the book would redeem itself with a clever ending. It didn't.
Rating:
Summary: Not Really a Murder Mystery
Review: The back of the book, which I read before I made my purchase, led me to believe that I would be in for a good thriller. Boy, was I mislead. From the start, it is obvious who the killer is. The only "mystery" to solve is, where did the killer run to?
I expected some deep, dark secrets regarding the double murder and their child, but there were none. I am so disappointed, that I will never read this author again.
Rating:
Summary: A fast, entertaining read
Review: This book is very well written, and laugh out loud funny in some parts. However, I found some of it to just be a little pointless. What was the purpose of the chapter about Alison's mother? I seemed like it was just stuck in there to fill pages, and did not serve to illuminate the story at all. However, I found all of the characters to be very well drawn (Miss Crabbe is one of the funniest characters I seen in a long time) and the book was a pleasant afternoon diversion.
Rating:
Summary: Too Many Plots
Review: This is not a murder mystery; indeed, it is well nigh impossible to say what it is. The author has tried to jam 3 or 4 plots into a very small space. What is worse is that she tries to emulate P.D. James and does an atrocious job of it.
Many threads are left dangling.The characters are one dimensional. The prose is at times pompous and at other times simplistic.
Save your money.
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