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The Red House Mystery

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The Red House Mystery

By: A. A. Milne
Narrated by: William Sutherland
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About this listen

 "Like all really nice people, you have a weakness for detective stories...after all that you have done for me, the least that I can do is write one." So wrote A.A. Milne, beloved creator of Winnie the Pooh, to his father, to whom he dedicated this delectable mystery.
Mark Ablett's stately mansion, the Red House, is filled with very proper guests when his most improper brother returns from Australia. The prodigal brother enters Mark's study, the parlor maid hears arguing and the brother dies...rather suddenly, with a bullet between the eyes. The study is locked from the inside and Mark is missing!
Investigating the crime is wealthy Antony Gillingham, who rivals Sherlock Holmes in his remarkable powers of observation. He is aided by the perfect Watson, his friend Bill Beverley, a cheerful young man in white flannels. Echoes of Christopher Robin and his friends chime nostalgically throughout this charming classic of detection!Public Domain (P)1999 Blackstone Audiobooks Crime Fiction Mystery Fiction Detective

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I only read this because it was referenced in another book (Rules for Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson) and I was pleased to discover it was included free. Who knew that the celebrated author of Winnie the Pooh wrote a detective novel- and a highly entertaining one at that. At times it reads almost like a parody of contemporary detective fiction and the various amateur sleuths that inhabit such works but the puzzle it sets is really quite absorbing.

Jolly good show!

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What did you like most about The Red House Mystery?

I love agatha christie for as much as her characters as stories, however, this is a distinctly male voice and the main protagonist is entertaining, young and non judgemental

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Red House Mystery?

when the protagonists sidekick had to pretend to go to bed

agatha christie could not have done better

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I enjoyed this. It’s a low-key ‘Miss Marple or Miss Silver’, you don’t realise that at first. It’s a “locked room” tale and diligently told. Anthony is very convincing and Bill is more Wooster than Watson, having said that, I think that a little more animation in the narration would have enlivened the story somewhat. You ‘hear’ the missed opportunities.

Perhaps for that reason, the tale seemed rather long. I’m sure that, if I’d read it rather than listened to it, it would not have seemed pedantic.

I wonder if he wrote anymore mystery novels, because this was a great first. I shall look out for more!

Slightly lengthy, but really enjoyable

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The narrator was too ponderous for the fairly witty story and the lighthearted characters. Several witty remarks were spoilt by the flat delivery and the narrator style was too old for the books main characters

The poor narration

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a bit slow but definitely worth a listen as it is so different from the usual detective stories - dated obviously but then it was written in 1920

amusing and different

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William Sutherland's rendition is awfully good; with minute modulations of his voice he brings out subtleties in the text that a less intelligent reading would miss completely. His bluff Received Pronunciation is perfectly suited to the upper-class milieu.

I've heard other audiobooks of A A Milne's classic but this is the first one that really held my attention due to the fine perceptions Sutherland has noted. I didn't find it boring at all. If you like Golden Age texts, try this one.
I have to admit that ther transference created by writer and reader left me wishing that Milne had written at least one more book with the 'Holmes' (Tony) and 'Watson' relationship. Unlike most of e.g. Sayers, Marsh or Allingham this book swings.

V subtle reading of clever Golden Age whodunnit

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Wasn’t prepared for how much I would enjoy something by a well known children’s author. Really sad there is no more?

Intellectual

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The style is early PG Wodehouse, the plot thin and quite obvious and the narrator poor. Of interest only because of the author.

A A Milne Interest Only

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As the introduction explains, AA Milne wrote this book to amuse his father ? and it reads like a bit like a charade. It does have a slightly Pooh-ish quality to it, but lacks the essential humour of Pooh. It should probably be seen as a literary curiosity. However, the reading by William Sutherland is definitely on the poor side. Were this book to be read by somebody who really camped it up or even sent it up, this could be a very amusing listen. One can?t help thinking Milne intended the book to be transformed into a stage play with people in flannels coming in through French windows, and the reading needs something of that atmosphere to make it swing. Not worth going for if you pay for your books by the unit, but perhaps worth trying if you have a monthly subscription and are interested in the early history of murder stories.

A sweet book but just a bit boring

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The prose feels very akin to the style of Winnie the Pooh, which isn't necessarily appropriate to a murder mystery, that said there's not much of a mystery on the who did it, more the missing person, so the movitation to keep listening was weak.
What really spoilt it though was the narration, as there was absolutely no differentiation between characters and it became a bit of a slog to listen to. Glad I've ticked it off the 'must listen to' list, but won't be listening to again in the future.

Poor narration.

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