“
The Butler’s Christmas Eve” by Mary Roberts Rinehart didn’t seem like much of a mystery to me, as the ending was much too tidy, but it was a great and very enjoyable Christmas story. I really liked the headstrong characters, William the butler, the stubborn “old man” and the equally stubborn Sally. As a whodunit, it fails in my opinion, but the characters are so likable they more than atone for the lack.
The intro to “
The Trinity Cat” by Ellis Peters led me to believe this was going to be a Brother Cadfael story (although I was wondering why it was written in first person). It wasn’t until one of the parishioners mentioned “a gramophone record for my little errand-boy” that I realized I wasn’t back in the Middle Ages.
The solution to the puzzle:
Favorite lines from this story:
• “And one mustn’t forget our dumb friends, either, must one?” said Miss Patience cheerfully. [Yes, I know she was speaking of animals, but I got a kick out of taking it the other way.]
• Unusual for [the cat] to be effusive, but when he did decide on it, it was always with someone who couldn’t stand cats. You’ll have noticed it’s a way they have. [True.]
• A kid’s crime, a teenager’s crime. Or the crime of a permanent teenager. They start at twelve years old now, but there are also the shiftless louts who never get beyond twelve years old, even in their forties.