Golden Age (1) : 2835 Mayfair

My favourite literature these days are detective and mystery novels from the first half of the twentieth century (mostly between the two world wars), known as "Golden Age of Detective" fiction. Stereotypically they are thought to always involve mysteries in country houses investigated by keen amateurs. As we will see there was a lot more to these stories that that...

We'll start with 2835 Mayfair, also known as the Mayfair Mystery, and to be honest it does not sit that comfortably in the genre. It was written by Frank Collins Richardson before the First World War. Later reissued as part of the Collins Detective Club.

Although an enjoyable and witty read as the book progresses you are not sure what kind of story it is, is it a crime novel or something else? It is something else but you arn't really sure what that something is until the ending.

The story actually is pretty preposterous and only a skilled author could get away with it, luckily this is the case here. The characters are well drawn and you do care about them in the end which is always a hallmark of a good story. The best thing about it though is the reproduction Collins Detective Club cover.