Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital galley of this novel.

Published in 1934 this is the debut mystery novel written by Alan Melville and even he admitted in later years that it wasn't very good. I concur. It feels as if Melville might have been reading P. G. Wodehouse before bed and the next day tried styling his mystery novel in almost the same way. Silliness worked with Bertie Wooster, it didn't work for me here. Don't get me wrong, Weekend at Thrackley isn't slapstick comedy but it does try too hard to be flippant and humorous when it isn't needed. The historical country house mystery is a favorite genre for me, but the characters, the house and the location can't be caricatures of themselves.

Jim Henderson has been unemployed for three years and is only hanging on to his social position by a fingernail when he receives an invitation to spend the weekend at Thrackley in Surrey. Jim's never heard of his host but free food and lodging is never to be turned down so he makes plans to get out of London with his friend, the Honourable Freddie Usher, who has also received an invitation. With good luck like that how could anything go wrong?

As I said, this was not a favorite in the British Library Crime Classics series but it was enjoyable enough to keep me reading to see just how obvious the plotting would be. Quite obvious as it turns out but it kept me out of trouble for a few hours.

My first #BritishCrimeLibraryClassics mystery and I really enjoyed it! #AlanMelville had a sense of humor and ease of writing that is entertaining almost Wodehousian. I recommend #WeekendAtThrackley for mystery fans as really there is two mysteries going on in this short novel. I will certainly pick up more Melville in the future!
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This was a #netgalley release and is being published Aug 17, 2018.

"Weekend at Thrackley" is a mystery/adventure set in England which was originally published in 1934. Jim is invited to a house party where the host collects jewels and all the other guests have precious jewels that the host wants to view. It's not really a mystery since the reader pretty much knows what's going on as does the undercover detective that's at this party. The detective is trying to prove that jewelry theft is occurring. Jim happens to stumble across clues to what's going on and recognizes the undercover detective as an old school friend, so he gets in on the action.

The good-guy characters were fun with a humorous view of the world. I thought that we were going to have a murder-free detective story at first (which I enjoy, too), but the bodies started piling up at the end. There was no sex. There was a fair amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this entertaining adventure.

I just finished this book. A very suspenseful story line. From very poor lonely man to a very rich and happy man. Remarable story line in between.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for my copy of this book! I enjoyed the plot, though it is not exactly a mystery, but more of a fun but predictable adventure story. “Weekend at Thrackley” is different from other British crime classics, which usually focus on murder and detectives, while in this book, the murder is not even one of the main plots, and there are no amateur sleuths as per say. The characters are likable, sometimes with inconsistent behavior, but who wouldn’t behave differently from what is expected when faced with imminent danger? Some of the big reveals in the final could be deduced in previous chapters, but it was fun to have everything explained in the end. It was an entertaining book.

Compared to a modern mystery thriller murder book, the Classics are a bit tame. The language, the imagery is slower and the characters are more sedate. The murder however remains the same. Invariably vicious, well planned meticulously so in most cases and very similar to modern murder stories.

This one set in a country style house - the imagery is one of resplendent splendour but at the same time a shadow seemed to hover over it all. A very mixed bunch of invitees - invited to the home of the eccentric owner who is well known the world over for his fabulous collection of jewels. There is a shadow of doubt about the genuineness of his collection but there has been no proof at all of theft. All those invited have one item of fabulous jewellery with them except for Jim, who is impoverished, after the war at a loose end, no job and has no clue as to why he was invited for the weekend.

The story unravels slowly but you do know that it is connected with gems and robbery well planned. Jim was the surprise element. A touch of romance. All ends well.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Jim Henderson is surprised to receive an invitation to a weekend house party from Edwin Carson, a man claiming to have known his father. He travels down with a friend of his and encounters Edwin's attractive daughter.

This was more of an adventure than a mystery, complete with secret cellars and mysterious wiring and alarms etc. Jim was a likeable hero and the tone throughout was light and humorous. I have to confess to getting a little bored half way through and speed reading the second half. I was also confused by certain things: if Jim left school to take part in the war and has been unemployed in the three years since the end of the war, how can he be 34? I thought all the staff met up with Carson in the cellar on the first evening, but then Burroughs claimed never to have been there before. Finally Mary's behaviour seemed a little inconsistent - why did she prevent Jim from intervening when he was some one entering Lady Stone's room?

Entertaining but superficial. The light tone didn't really gel with Burrough's fate either.

This was an enjoyable, albeit minor, English country house murder mystery, written in 1934. The set up is great, but doesn't really deliver. There is no murder to solve in the traditional sense, and the book becomes more a crime novel than a murder mystery. Nevertheless, it was a fun read and there is a mystery of sorts to solve.

3.5 stars.

This jolly novel is part of the British Library's Crime Classics series, devoted to resurrecting overlooked treasures from the golden age of British mystery writing. While not an avid fan of crime novels, I have read one book from the series before - Death on the Cherwell - so it's really the subject that appeals rather than the genre. In Weekend at Thrackley, first published in 1934, a rather feckless young man is surprised by an invitation to a country house weekend in Surrey. But further surprises are to come. Stuffed with dastardly villains, jewel thieves, mysterious pasts and a good dose of pluck, not to mention lashings of humour, this is just the ticket for cosy escapism.

Jim Henderson, formerly Captain, is under no illusions about what he has to offer ('Pleasant and extremely good-looking young man, aged thirty-four, possessing no talents or accomplishments ... with no relations and practically no money'). His life is spent drifting between his club and his lodging house, governed by his maternal landlady Mrs Bertram ('a woman who talked a great deal more than was necessary and who read the newspapers rather more than was good for her'). But Jim's quiet life is thrown into disarray one morning when he receives an invitation to a house party at Thrackley, a house he's never heard of, given by Edwin Carson, a stranger who claims to be an old friend of Jim's late father. It's all very mysterious, but Jim discovers that his good friend the Honourable Freddie Usher has also been invited, and so the two genial young men pile into Freddie's Rolls and scoot off to Surrey to find out what's what.

Things don't seem immediately appealing. Thrackley itself, for all its mod-cons and interior comforts, is a grim fortress of a house, and their host Carson is an ugly, oily sort of fellow (as Freddie observes, 'a rum bird. A bird, Jim, of extreme rumness'). His lack of personal charm is trumped only by that of his looming butler Jacobson, a man who clearly shares his master's rather murky history. But Jim and Freddie hope for the best. Their fellow guests are a mixed bunch: the artistic Brampton siblings; the philanthropist Catherine Lady Stone; and the exotic dancer Raoul (here used as a woman's name), who is currently setting the stages of London aflame. This motley crew have only one thing in common: their jewels. Edwin Carson, for all his quirks, is a renowned expert in precious stones and has invited his guests to bring their treasures for him to examine. Not that this explains Jim's presence, because he hasn't two pennies to rub together, let alone any jewels... but Carson's pretty daughter Mary makes up for his puzzlement.

As the weekend progresses, however, it becomes clear that all is not as innocent as it seems. Rather than tennis and fishing and shooting and rousing walks, this country house weekend will offer murder, burglary, temporary incarceration and some jolly unfortunate encounters with the wrong end of the barrel of a revolver. As Catherine Lady Stone observes, it's just not what one expects of a house party: 

The thing is so ridiculous! Here in the heart of England ... I mean, one can quite well understand this sort of thing taking place in Russia or Chicago or some of those places, but here in a peaceful old country house in England...

Unless someone can foil the shocking plots unfolding at Thrackley, and get to the bottom of their host's mysterious plans, the group of guests have as much chance of escape 'as a drunk man with St. Vitus' dance has of getting to the top of Ben Nevis on a pair of antiquated rollerskates'. However, the malefactors haven't reckoned with Jim's courage, Freddie's bluster, Lady Stone's determination and a little help from an unexpected quarter. Delightfully light and spirited, this doesn't share an ounce of DNA with today's grimly noir murder mysteries, but it's just the thing for a diversion. Imagine if Agatha Christie and P.G. Wodehouse had got together to create a country house mystery. Does that sound fun? If so, give this a try. (I should mention that it was also highly educational in niche ways. For example, I never knew that Dorothy Perkins was actually the name of a kind of rose: I always thought the ladies' clothes shop was named after its founder. You really do learn something every day.)

A jolly good romp of a story.

For the review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/05/20/weekend-at-thrackley-alan-melville/

Six guests are invited for a weekend at a gloomy, but luxuriously-appointed, country house by a rich collector of precious stones who has a murky past. All but the hero, Jim Henderson, are themselves owners of fine jewels. Jim is an out-of-work orphan and war-hero and cannot fathom why he has been invited. Edwin Carson, the host, is rather unprepossessing, but has a beautiful daughter.

A promising set-up for a mystery first published in 1934 and here re-issued with an Introduction by Martin Edwards. Neither author nor editor make any great claims about the book. It is light, very-readable, occasionally amusing… and very predictable. I was not too enamoured of the melodramatic plot or the writing style and I would hesitate to describe it as a classic. It has a “bad Woodhouse meets minor John Buchan” kind of feel to it, sort of jokey and hung-ho at the same time. I enjoyed Alan Melville’s “Quick Curtain” much more.

This will not be added to my list of re-readable, unjustly-neglected Golden Age British mysteries. It whiled away an few hours, but did not show up well in comparison to the wonderfully-written Henry Wades which have recently occupied a lot of my time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital advance review copy.

Mostly light and fun, with plenty of clever, funny dialogue (minus the incomprehensible, indecipherable, and outdated references that sometimes drag older books down). A bit slow in places, but overall a great read. Definitely differently from the typical country house mystery. More fun, a younger protagonist and friend, and full of surprising (occasionally nail-biting) twists and turns. Definitely recommend to any mystery or Anglophile fans, especially those who love the Golden Age, or Christie.

What is it about golden age mysteries that just satisfy so much.! I guess it is the read, so pleasurable and takes you back to another era, one when a mystery was a puzzle, but it didn't worry you if you didn't unravel it, the journey was enough to leave happy at the final turn of the page.
Probably not up to the standard of todays blood and guts read - but for me wonderful,. and anyone else that love these type of novels.