psychological mystery. How odd, I apparently read this in 2014, but do not recall it at all. Reread it in 2024. Interesting way to tell a mystery--from point of view of two young boys.

Didn't realize this was part of a series.
Two boys in a small town in England help solve a rash of murders that plague their town. I think this was one my mother picked up at a library book sale. Found it when we were clearing out our mountain cabin. ( )

'full of very British eccentric goings-on',, 2 Jan. 2013
By
sally tarbox

This review is from: The Rising of the Moon (Mrs. Bradley) (Paperback)
When a murder occurs at an Easter circus, 11 year old Keith observes to his 13 your old brother "I'm not at all sure this isn't better, in a way, than the circus. After all, the circus only lasts one afternoon, and it's an awful sweat to get in unless you pay. This murder might last us all the holidays."
But the murder is just the first in a series of knife killings in the 1930s town of Brentford. Left largely to their own devices, the boys take to creeping out at night sleuthing by moonlight. But who could it be: the rag and bone man? their elderly friend and antique dealer, Mrs Cockerton? their elder brother (and guardian) Jack? or is Jack protecting his friend Danny?
And will their lovely lodger Christina remain safe?
When eccentric home office psychologist Mrs Bradbury is drafted in to help with the case, she and the boys liaise to catch the killer.
Quite an engaging if improbable read, set in the world of yesteryear. ( )

Gladys Mitchell's storytelling is at it's best when describing the place and time in which this mystery takes place. However, she has a rare ability to depict children in an unusual way. She grants them a level of respect and importance in her books right up with the main characters. In this book, they are the narrators and the whole story revolves around them. Never childish or sentimental, Mitchell's children are clever, into lots of mischief, and usually know much more than the adults in their midst. Most of all, they develop an immediate affinity to Mrs. Bradley. They bestow on her their confidence and recognize her genuine respect for them. In Mitchell's books, pay close attention to the children. She gives them interesting roles and very often, the best lines. ( )

Fun mystery! Gladys Mitchell was a contemporary of Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie. The detective in the books is an outspoken psychoanalyst, Mrs. Bradley (the same one on whom the PBS Mystery! series with Diana Rigg was based).

In this story, a young tightrope walker from the circus is killed by a slasher on the first night the circus is in town. The attentions of the police are focused on the members of the circus until that end proves unlikely due to several subsequent similar murders of young women after the circus leaves town.

Mrs. Bradley doesn't appear until around the second half of the book, and instead, the story is narrated by a young boy who, along with his younger brother, is captivated by the exciting events. Armed with their horse pistol and sword, they are eager to investigate any suspicious movement. Because of their curiosity and their propensity for sneaking around at night, they end up gathering a lot of useful information, and when Mrs. Bradley arrives, they find an ally with whom they can pool that information.

I thought the book was excellent. Because the story is narrated from the perspective of a young boy, the narrator is not always reliable in attaching importance to events and doesn't have the same open avenues of investigation. Nevertheless, the writer is fair and gives the reader enough information to figure out the mystery, as long as the reader can translate the boy's interpretation and doesn't let the contagious enthusiasm distract from the facts.

If you already know Gladys Mitchell, you will like this book. If you haven't read anything by her but like Agatha Christie or Dorothy Sayers, give this one a shot--you will probably enjoy it! ( )