Most Baffling, Mrs. Hudson

Rating:
Summary: Novel is weak overall
Review: Hosier's Mrs. Hudson series is very light and sometimes amusing. Sherlock Holmes never appears, although his presence is hinted at--a running joke that is the high point of the series. Otherwise, the mysteries are nothing new and the atmosphere (and any evidence of historical research) lacking. Worst of all, the series violates a cardinal rule of detective fiction, because Mrs. H. solves most of the crimes with the aid of sidekick Violet Warner's knack for using astral projection to project her hypnotized body into the suspect's apartment and the like. What's with that?!?

Rating:
Summary: Look into my eyes...
Review: In this book, Mrs Hudson and Mrs Warner are called into investigate the murder of Edgar Bramwell, a rich industrialist, who died mysteriously at a party at his home. Despite the fact that there were six other people the room, no-one remembers how it happened...

The third book in this series (preceded by 'Elementary, Mrs Hudson' and 'Murder, Mrs Hudson'), this series has settled down nicely. Originally, I had problems with Mrs Warner's astral projection, and fortunately it only gets a passing mention in this book. The strength of Sidney Hosier's writing is in the portrayal of the characters, and Mrs Watson and Mrs Warner are well delineated.

The slow and steady unfolding of the plot is, however, a little less satisfactory. The murder and its cause are pretty obvious from the start, even if they hadn't been given away in the blurb. Early in the book, a character is introduced who will point the sleuths in the right direction, which makes it seem a little contrived.

However, there are a few twists that aren't immediately obvious, and the book itself is written in a sufficiently pleasing way to make this a relaxing read. Just don't pick it up if you want to be strongly challenged!

Rating:
Summary: Look into my eyes...
Review: In this book, Mrs Hudson and Mrs Warner are called into investigate the murder of Edgar Bramwell, a rich industrialist, who died mysteriously at a party at his home. Despite the fact that there were six other people the room, no-one remembers how it happened...

The third book in this series (preceded by 'Elementary, Mrs Hudson' and 'Murder, Mrs Hudson'), this series has settled down nicely. Originally, I had problems with Mrs Warner's astral projection, and fortunately it only gets a passing mention in this book. The strength of Sidney Hosier's writing is in the portrayal of the characters, and Mrs Watson and Mrs Warner are well delineated.

The slow and steady unfolding of the plot is, however, a little less satisfactory. The murder and its cause are pretty obvious from the start, even if they hadn't been given away in the blurb. Early in the book, a character is introduced who will point the sleuths in the right direction, which makes it seem a little contrived.

However, there are a few twists that aren't immediately obvious, and the book itself is written in a sufficiently pleasing way to make this a relaxing read. Just don't pick it up if you want to be strongly challenged!

Rating:
Summary: "Most Baffling" tends to be "most predictable."
Review: Overall, Sydney Hosier's latest installment tends to be predictable at times. Characters appear, and the topics they discuss lead toward solving the mystery too quickly. I do have to state that the book is not predictable enough to guess the murderer(s), and the motive(s).