I've spent most of my life reading and collecting mystery novels. This year I've decided to read through my entire collection again. My preference is for the classic English "Golden Age" puzzle mystery, although there are many from other countries and other genres as well. I've purged the collection at times in the past, and there are some good ones I've never gotten to, so there are gaps in it, and that's fine with me. My object in this exercise is to enjoy them all over again.
In Dead Lion, Simon Crane, a young American literary agent, arrives in England intending to visit his uncle, Cyprian Druse, a noted dramatic critic and literary lion, only to find his uncle recently dead in an apparent accident. Unsavory facets of his uncle's life began to appear, and Simon suspects his uncle may have been murdered, possibly by a woman with whom Simon has fallen love. Sorting out her involvement from the half dozen other potential suspects keeps Simon busy.
Grade: B
Michael Innes was the pseudonym of Oxford don J.I.M. Stewart. It had been many years since I last read any of the seven of his mystery nov...