This was a very strange book indeed. C and I read it at bedtime after I found it in a charity shop. It was 99p and had a glow in the dark cover, with a picture that reminded me of Jan Pienkowski, so obviously I had to buy it. I didn't actually look inside the book before I handed over my 99 English pence, which was perhaps an error of judgement.
C liked it, and I can kind of see why. It was quite humourous in places; the characters were fun in a pantomime-esque way and there was enough mystery to keep the reader interested. However, it was an American book set in an English country house probably some time in the early 20th century. It annoyed me because there were massive anachronisms in the way the characters spoke and the vocabulary used to describe items in the house and the landscape. This didn't really bother C, in fact I am certain he didn't notice. I did feel the need to translate some of it on the hoof, so was quite glad, for that reason, that I was reading, rather than him having read the book himself.
It's certainly not one I will be giving shelf-space to, so will be returning to the charity shop from whence it came. It's not a bad read, but make sure you don't pay more than 99p for it!
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