I won't be reading this. I've tried multiple times and haven't gotten into it. Thank you though for the opportunity. If I read it in the future I will come back and change this review.

A delightfully traditional locked room murder mystery. I first read this years ago and revisiting it, I am reminded of the many subtleties of the story and enjoyed the gentle humour. The characters are believable as is the plot with no great leaps of incredulity as I have found in some modern interpretations of the genre. Anthony Gillingham and his ‘Watson’ reason out the minutiae of the mystery almost by trial and error, their leaps of understanding coming from logical clues and prompts, the solution is sensible, carefully worked out and, although not surprising is very satisfying with the final details fitting into place right at the end of the story. It has earned and thoroughly deserves its reputation as a classic.

A.A. Milne is best known as the creator of Winnie the Pooh and co. But did you know he also dabbled in detective stories? This is a great locked room whodunnit on a par with Conan Doyle and Christie stories. I get the impression from the introduction in my copy that Milne would have liked to write more mysteries and I wish he did too!

I love the stories set in the Hundred Acre Wood, so I was interested to read this. It reminded me a lot of Agatha Christie books, which I also love.
This has all the trademarks of a good cozy. Set in a country house, there is a limited number of characters and a lot of dialogue. It's quite fun and enjoyable.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This is a classic murder mystery that is written by the creator of Winnie the Pooh. Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I often find classic mysteries a bit boring and this one I just had a hard time connecting with the language and the story.

I hope others love this one.

This edition was great! I actually didn't enjoy the story itself but given that it is a century old that seems less relevant now- I would definitely look out for more editions of older mysteries from this publisher.

Two things i didn't know before reading 'The Red House Mystery, one that A.A.Milne had written anything other than Winnie the Pooh, and two that the first A stands for Alan! Which for some reason makes me smile.

The Red House Mystery was written in 1922 and I can see why it is considered a 'classic example of the golden age whodunit' I thoroughly enjoyed this book on a whole, even starting with the authors note at the beginning of the novel.

It is a locked room mystery in that the story focuses on characters staying at The Red House and it is not long before a murder happens.

Anthony, an outsider visiting his friend Bill who is staying at the house, finds himself involved in the murder, and fancying himself as a detective, starts to piece together the mystery of why and how it happened and through conversations we solve the puzzle with them, which is neatly tied up at the end with a confession.

I devoured it and am slighlty saddened to see this was A.A.Milnes only crime novel as would definitely read more, he had a talent for it!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers Pushkin Vertigo for my eARC.

An example of its genre and time - a country house murder stuffed to the rafters with suspects, shady and dubious morals, and general Englishness. I think some of us will come to the book purely for the novelty of A.A. Milne writing something outside of Winnie the Pooh, but I think Golden Age mystery fans won't be too disappointed in the novel on its merits. That being said, I tried to read this without comparing it to the masters of the artform and there were only one or two times that I said "well, that's not good" to myself. It's not Christie, but who is? I suggest for a poolside companion or plane trip - you'll be intrigued for sure and it's a breezy novel.

I had no idea that A.A. Milne wrote anything other than the Winnie the Pooh books, but it turns out he wrote some mysteries as well. The Red House Mystery was solid. Nothing particularly spectacular, but I'm not mad that I read it.

This story shows off some of the common tropes of a Golden Age mystery: an estate, a murder committed in a locked room, a library, secret passages, return of a black ship to the fold. The mystery isn't hard to figure out, but what was enjoyable enough all the same and while it seems a little dated now it probably wasn't when it was written. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you are a fan of the Golden Age closed-room mystery, you will enjoy Milne's classic mystery, the only one he wrote. He also peppers it with some sly irony, which I quite enjoyed. But it suffers, like all Golden Age mysteries, closed-room for the most part (with the possible exception of Sayers) from a lack of characterization. It is the mystery as puzzle and this is satisfying to many a reader, but not so much this one.

A fantastic golden age mystery!
A classic who dunnit it takes place in a wealthy bachelor’s country side residence . Gunshots are heard and a death follows and the wealthy bachelor is missing all the ingredients for an enjoyable read!
An amateur sleuthing duo Gillingham and Beverley begin to look into what has happened , their sleuthing is comical at times .
A great golden age read !
The only criticism I have is why didn’t Milne write a series of Gillingham and Beverley’s sleuthing ?
Thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press.

The Red House by AA Milne was a delight to read.

This was his only published foray into murder mystery writing and centres on a locked room murder mystery.

It was great fun reading it and also disappointing in that he wrote just this book.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Pushkin Press, for making this e-ARC available to me in exchange for a fair and an honest review.

Mark Ablett announces at breakfast to his house guests that his ne’er do well brother Roger, who has been in Australia for fifteen years, will be unfortunately arriving later that day while Mark's guests are at a club playing golf.

Meanwhile, Anthony Gillingham, who has been travelling, decides to meet up with a friend of his, Bill, who is staying at the Red House. Anthony arrives in the adjoining village, and decides to stroll over.

Roger Ablett has arrived a short while earlier, and goes into Mark's office with him, according to Matthew Caley, the brothers’ younger cousin and Mark's unofficial solicitor, and executive assistant. Moments later, Caley hears a shot, and tries the office door, but finding it locked, begins banging on it, which is when Anthony arrives on the scene. Quickly, he suggests they try entering from a window, and Caley and he run around the house and enter, finding Roger shot in the head, and Mark missing.

Police are called, and Caley invites Anthony to stay at the Red House till the inquest, and Anthony recruits Bill to help figure out what is going on, as Anthony, who is highly observant and perceptive, feels something is off with the situation, beyond Roger's sudden death.

A.A. Milne's “Red House Mystery” has a fairly simple set up with some of the common tropes of a Golden Age mystery: an estate, a murder committed in a locked room, a library, secret passages, return of a dodgy sibling…. The murder happens very early on, and the bulk of the story follows Anthony, who decides that he's never been a detective before (he has a series of different kinds of jobs in his past) so he'll set his mind to the problem. His sidekick Bill is up for the adventure of the investigation, isn't as intelligent or observant as Anthony, but he's no dullard, thankfully. The mystery isn't particularly hard to figure out, but what really is more interesting are the many conversations between Anthony and Bill as Anthony proposes then rejects ideas and plans of action, as they piece together what really happened in Mark's office.

Though not hard to figure out, I still enjoyed this story.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Pushkin Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

"I say, what fun! I love secret passages. Good Lord, and this afternoon I was playing golf just like an ordinary merchant! What a life! Secret passages!"

I remember reading the comic strips of Winnie-the-Pooh that were published in our local newspaper as a child but beyond that I had very little knowledge about the writer who created the characters.

According to the blurb of the reissue copy of The Red House Mystery by Pushkin Press, The Red House Mystery marked A.A. Milne’s first and final venture into the detective genre, despite the book’s immediate success on its publication in 1922.

After reading the book I really wish A.A. Milne had written more detective books because you can feel while reading that he enjoyed writing this one. The Red House Mystery was fun and the characters of Antony Gillingham and William (Bill) Beverley were a lot more fun! Bill Beverley was the perfect 'Watson' to Tony Gillingham's 'Sherlock Holmes' and I would have loved to read more of this interesting amateur detective duo adventures. At the end of the book, even Antony tells Bill, who is going away to spend time with the Barringtons:
"Yes. Well, if any of 'em should happen to be murdered, you might send for me. I'm just getting into the swing of it."

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Pushkin Press/Pushkin Vertigo for the e-Arc of the book. This edition of the book published on September 3, 2024.

Classic crime at its very best! To be read and reread.

If you are a fan of Golden Age English crime novels, or interested in the development of the crime novel as a literary form, or you just enjoy a good ol' cosy mystery à la Agatha Christie, you will undoubtedly enjoy The Red House Mystery.

It has it all; the country house, the witty dialogue, the tight plotting, superb writing, ... Oh it's a proper treat!

I'm extremely grateful to NetGalley for bringing to my attention and giving me access to A.A. Milne's one and only crime novel, which I had never come across before.

Review:
✨First published in 1922, this edition by Pushkin Press was released this year, more than 100 years after its first release.
✨This book has been in my TBR for some years, and I am glad this book’s ARC is available on NetGalley.
✨Overall, it is an interesting read except for the beginning. But that’s normal.
✨I like crime, investigation, and motives in this story. But the best part of this book is Gillingham and Beverly themselves.
✨I like these two characters, they are serious in their investigation but still have some humour like openly acting like Watson and Holmes.
✨In my opinion, the writing is also quite interesting because the author directly said that it takes the reader into certain scenes. It is like tv shows when the narrator tells viewers about what happened in the scene.
✨Plus, the writing and the plot is quite easy to understand, but still makes you think about what has actually happened. Half-truths are dangerous.
✨Now, I know why this is a classic whodunit mystery.
✨Thank you to Pushkin Press and NetGalley for this ARC! This review was voluntarily written by me.

I filled in a gap in my crime-fiction history knowledge by reading this, the only mystery novel by the author of (among many other things) Winnie the Pooh. It's a locked room-type mystery and it's hard to tell at this distance - and having read so many similar plots - how revolutionary this might have seen at the time. That said, it's a really good example of the genre, with the long lost brother of the host of a house party found shot through the head shortly after arriving from Australia. I figured out part of the solution, but not the hows and whys of it - and enjoyed reading how it had all been done. Worth reading if you're a fan of classic mysteries.

3.2 Stars
One Liner: Fun but with limitations

Mark Ablett had a spacious estate in the quaint English countryside. He had been hosting some guests when the news of his estranged brother, Robert, arrived. Robert was shipped to Australia and was arriving for a visit after fifteen years. However, things turn bad when Robert is found dead in a locked room and Mark is nowhere to be seen.
Enter Anthony Gillingham, a friend of Bill Beverly (one of the guests) at the crime scene. Anthony does this and that, and decides that he could very well start a new profession and become a detective. Bill is too happy to help him.
Now, it’s up to Anthony and Bill to solve the mystery. Can they do it?
The story comes from an omnipresent third-person narrator (with frequent breaking of the fourth wall).
My Thoughts:

The book starts with a quirky author’s note (added in 1926) and sets the stage for the story. We know what kind of mystery to expect (after all, the author is very particular about it).
Given what Milne is known for, it is no surprise that the narrative is sprinkled with a liberal dose of humor, irony, and chuckle-worthy observations. The narrative style may not work for everyone but once I realized how it would be, I could go with the flow and enjoy it.
I knew what the case was at around 20% or less. For a contemporary cozy mystery lover, it is familiar and tackled by hundreds of books. However, remember that the book was first published in 1922. This will also help in understanding that some of the content (comments) will be outdated. That’s bound to happen, so no big deal.
The book will work well if you don’t think (at all) and read it for the sake of some light chuckles. Start thinking, and you will dislike many elements. Another way to enjoy the book is to consider it a satirical take on mysteries. It is like a farce, be it the characters, the dialogue, or the actions. The repeated references to Sherlocky and Watsony can go either way and will sound funny only when this book is read as a farce.
I can see why this is the only mystery by the author. A smart decision! It was fun while it lasted, though.
I was still willing to rate it high but the method of reveal ruined it for me. Why, oh, why did it have to be that way? I would rather read the amateur detective spell it out in a monologue than this. Sigh!

To summarize, The Red House Mystery is indeed a fun read if you go with the right expectations (as a farcical take on mysteries) and do not look too closely at the details. Read it on a cozy noon with some hot chocolate.
Thank you, NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This novel was originally published in 1922, likely having been written some time the year before (given the vagaries of publishing); as such, the blinding whiteness of the cast of characters, and the relentless straight male lens through which they are viewed, should not be unexpected.

This edition includes an introduction the author wrote for the 1926 edition, in which he explains how his preferences in detective stories shaped the story he himself told. Having now read it in one long, greedy gulp, I am not surprised that even Raymond Chandler, who generally looked down on detective stories that didn't involve wanton violence (don't @ me), had to agree that this novel is a "masterpiece of the art of fooling the reader without cheating him".

The story is told from several points of view, but mainly from the perspective on one Antony Gillingham, a young man of a good breeding who lives a unconventional life: rather than choosing a respectable career and laboring at it year after year, Antony takes up any profession or position that appeal to him, for as long as he finds it interesting or challenging. Once bored, he bows out, and moves on to the next.

Having made the acquaintance of a certain Bill Beverley, a younger-still man about town, during one of his stints at a menial position, Antony decides to look him up at the lovely countryside property where the former has been staying, with a group of other guests, for the past few days.

As luck will have it, Antony walks up to the open house door minutes after a shot has been fired inside, leading to him and the owner's younger cousin, and his general factotum, finding a body in the office.

What follows is an intricately plotted, dialogue-heavy murder mystery where the main characters poke gentle fun at both the best-known genre conventions, and at that quintessentially British private detective, Sherlock Holmes.

While Chandler complained about the lack of gritty realism in the story, I rejoiced in Antony's delight in finding occasion to pit his wits against those of the best fictional consulting detective of his time, metaphorically speaking; even if he too, occasionally, indulged in willfully confusing his loyal sidekick, the earnest Bill, Antony is by far less needlessly cruel to him than Holmes is to Watson.

What I found a lot less delightful was how flat most of the characters are; even our protagonists are mostly a collection of stereotypes, with only the rare moment of real introspection to show who they are beyond the requirements of the plot.

The cast of characters is firmly divided into those who matter--the missing host, his cousin, the house guests, Antony--and those who exist solely 'behind the scenes', as it were, and who come forward only to provide evidence, both at the inevitable inquest and to the reader--the house staff, the gardener, the estate lodgers, even the police inspector. And, insofar as all of them are concerned, the world revolves entirely around England; it is not just that everyone is white, but how insular their worldview is.

As for the few women in the story, they only exist as the most reductive clichés: the gossipy, somewhat hysterical housekeeper; the shifty and lazy housemaid; the slightly-mercenary professional actress; the wide-eyed innocent; the grasping mama; the beautiful love interest. In fact, the last one doesn't even have spoken lines at all!

All the clues to solve the mystery are present in the text, and the author takes pains to show Antony and Bill discussing not only what facts they know, but how they all may tie together to form a coherent explanation that answers the most pressing question: where is Mark Ablett?

I confess that, having guessed part of the solution early on, I was fooled into doubting my instincts by subsequent developments. My main complaint over the mystery itself is that at least one of the underlying factors behind the murder felt too farfetched to fit in with the story as a whole.

And still, I fell into the narrative's world head first, and didn't surface again until I was done reading.

The Red House Mystery gets a 9.00 out of 10.