The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull

I read and reviewed another of this author’s works here. I have been enjoying these British Classics being published by Poisoned Press publications. They are my cup of tea in terms of the writing and content. I do not know if I am partial to the writing because they are a throwback to the books and the kind of mysteries that I started reading with. Either way, if you have the time and leisure to appreciate the narration and not just expect something from the story’s ending, they are a treat.

I have had this book pending for a while and I finally got around to it. I once again am amazed that I let a book this size ( at less than 200 pages) sit around for this long! I read it in one sitting this morning. The most important thing I need to point out, is the tone of the narration. If you have even the slightest sense of humour and like to read between the lines and actually see even the picture the protagonist refuses to narrate explicitly, this is just the book to read!

The story is quite simple, if not a little shocking. Edward hates his rural life, and blames his misery on his aunt and her actions. The entire book is of him plotting her demise in (supposedly) ingenious ways. There is so much sly humour in the pages that I actually thought once again (as I did with the last book I read of the author) that the author must have been chuckling to himself as he penned parts of it! The people are not role models by any stretch of the imagination. I did not necessarily like any of them, although I sympathized with a few of them (Not that there are many people in the story, the ‘people’ are but a skeleton crew of a handful of recurring faces). If you are looking for a different read, this is definitely it! It was republished (originally 1934) in April.

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