Percolation

The original first printing of A. A. Milne’s only foray into the Mystery genre was written and published in 1922. I found one on-line, but…..cost prohibitive for me, so, halfheartedly, I settled for a reprint dated 2009, which is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

The Red House Mystery sets the stage with secret passages, uninvited guests, a sinister valet and a puzzling murder. A classic crime caper.

But more than the story itself, I love the way Milne writes:

“Chapter 1
Mrs. Stevens is Frightened

In the drowsy heat of the summer afternoon the Red House was taking its siesta. There was a lazy murmur of bees in the flower-borders, a gentle cooing of pigeons in the tops of the elms. From distant lawns came the whir of a mowing-machine, …….”

Alan Alexander Milne (1882 - 1956)
wrote many plays but is best known for writing Winnie the Pooh.

Alan Alexander ('A.A.') Milne by Howard Coster, 1926

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Paperback edition