The Red House Mystery (Dover Mystery Classics) - Softcover

A. A. Milne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486401294 ISBN 13: 9780486401294

Publisher: Dover Publications, 2010

Synopsis

The creator of such beloved storybook characters for children as Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore, A. A. Milne was also the author of numerous dramas, essays, and novels for adults — among them, this droll and finely crafted whodunit.
In it, Milne takes readers to the Red House, a comfortable residence in the placid English countryside that is the bachelor home of Mr. Mark Ablett. While visiting this cozy retreat, amateur detective Anthony Gillingham and his chum, Bill Beverley, investigate their genial host's disappearance and its connection with a mysterious shooting. Was the victim, whose body was found after a heated exchange with the host, shot in an act of self-defense? If so, why did the host flee, and if not, what drove him to murder?
Between games of billiards and bowls, the taking of tea, and other genteel pursuits, Gillingham and Beverley explore the possibilities in a light-hearted series of capers involving secret passageways, underwater evidence, and other atmospheric devices.
Sparkling with witty dialogue, deft plotting, and an intriguing cast of characters, this rare gem will charm mystery lovers, Anglophiles, and general readers alike.

About this title

About the Author:

Alan Alexander Milne was born in Hampstead in 1882 and attended an independent school run by his father before studying mathematics at Cambridge. After university he worked as an Assistant Editor at the magazine Punch and established himself as a successful author of both plays and novels, including The Red House Mystery until, with the publication of When We Were Very Young in 1924 and Winnie-the-Pooh in 1926 his career took a very different turn. Milne continued to produce works for adults but occasionally resented the success of his children's stories, which overshadowed much of his other work. In 1952 A. A. Milne suffered a stroke after brain surgery and retired to his country home in Sussex as an invalid. He died there four years later.

From Library Journal:

Though Milne is immediately associated with Winnie-the-Pooh and pals, he nonetheless wrote a number of adult titles, including this 1922 novel in which guests at a country estate become amateur sleuths when a shooting occurs and all evidence points toward their host. This edition contains a new introduction by scholar Douglas Greene.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0486401294
• ISBN 13: 9780486401294
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 156