Golden Age of Detective Fiction

#20booksofsummer23 is a reading challenge started by 746 Books where participants attempt to read 10, 15, or 20 books off of their TBR and review them between June 1 – September 1, 2023. I am trying to read and review 6-7 books that I picked per month. You can see my complete reading list here

Join Detective Inspector Meredith and Acting Detective Sergeant Freddy Strang on the French Riviera as they catch a crafty ring of counterfeit money makers flooding the area with phony bills. The crew is headed by notorious counterfeiter- Tommy “Chalky” Cabot. On the lonely French roads, Detective Inspector Meredith, as Acting Sergeant Freddy Strang, runs across Bill Dillon, a decommissioned WWII soldier, on his way to Villa Paloma.

Villa Paloma, a lavish mansion on the coast, is owned by Nesta Hedderwick, a lonely wealthy woman who loves to patron young men in return for attention. She is joined at her mansion by the impossibly good-looking Tony Shenton, whose mysterious early morning drives to go “fishing” are immediately suspect since he never returns to Villa Paloma with any fish. He is showered with money by Nesta Hedderwick, but his attention is wholly on the flamboyant minx, Kitty, who he invited to stay at the house since she is an old friend.

Housed in the attic of Villa Paloma is con-man Paul Latour, who is posing as a struggling painter, but who really is buying paintings off of a little person and giving him a pittance of Nesta Hedderwicks allowance that she bestows on Paul Latour.

Among all the phonies at Villa Paloma is Nesta Hedderwick’s niece, the lovely Dilys, who is just trying to eke out the summer in her aunt’s good graces and have an excellent time on the Riviera. She meets Acting Detective Sergeant Freddy Strang at a little art gallery, and they hit it off- the only problem is that Freddy Strang is undercover. The only alias he can think of under pressure is “John Smith,” she is immediately on her guard again. This love affair provides a lot of humor and levity in Death on the Riviera.

A lot of tension and hurt is just beneath the surface at Villa Paloma and all of it comes to a head with the unexpected arrival of Bill Dillon. Is he just another one of Nesta hangers on, o plant from Chalky Cabot’s gang, or are his motives even more sinister.

Death on the Riviera was a joy to read, and about two-thirds of the way through the book, I realized that no deaths had occurred. Instead, John Bude creates a puzzle; every time one mystery is solved, another puzzle opens up. What’s really genius about these puzzles is that none of them are solved in the same manner, and they build on top of each other- so what you learn from one puzzle will help you solve the next puzzle. Until you are left with the granddaddy of all mysteries.

The murder is complicated, and like solving a Rubik’s cube, it takes many reworkings until all of the pieces slots in place. I came up with several solutions, many voiced by Detective Inspector Meredith, but the ultimate solution was just out of reach for me. I liked that it was a complex puzzle that cemented John Bude’s work as a must-read. I look forward to reading The Cornish Coast Murder later in the summer for #20forsummer23.

Besides being a master mystery creator, John Bude’s Detective Inspector Meredith is an absolute delight. He enjoys his time on the French Riviera; he ribs Acting Detective Sergeant Freddy Strang on his bumbling love affair with Dilys but often lets him have a free afternoon or evening to pursue Dilys. Detective Inspector Meredith gets along with and respects his French compatriots, especially Inspector Blampignon, and is often hatching plans for the two police forces to work together. Detective Inspector Meredith is genuinely funny and takes his galivanting around the French Riviera in stride. He is constantly busting some shady scams but is still unable to figure out where Chalky Cabot is and stays upbeat throughout the entire mystery. There are no morose brooding or long, dull discourses on how complex the case is in Mystery in the Channel by Freeman Crofts Wills. The hunt is on, and Meredith is leading the charge even in its most maddening moments.

If finding Chalky Cabot, the death of Bill Dillon, and the rounding up of two criminal gangs aren’t enough to keep you occupied, there is not one. Still, the two love stories in Death on the Riviera use hidden identities to drastically different ends. One for laughs and eventually true love and another to ignite a love triangle that turns deadly.

The theme of hidden identities and undiscovered motives pushes the story along briskly, with nearly all of the characters creating subterfuge- even Meredith and Strang. This will help you solve where Chalky Cabot is and who is murdered. If there’s one weak spot in the book, it’s the solution to where Chalky Cabot has been the whole book, but I think that’s just because I’m not sure the reader has enough clues to solve that until it’s revealed by Meredith.

I loved every second of Death on the Riviera and highly recommend it.

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