Can the man who created Winnie the Pooh write a murder mystery? Raymond Chandler said no, but what does he know, am I right?
A long-estranged brother is coming to visit Mr. Ablett at his manor, the Red House. According to all his guests and his cousin/assistant, Mr. Ablett was not pleased about this. So he must be quite pleased when his brother is shot in the head not long after arriving, although he might not enjoy it happening in his office. Pity he seems to have disappeared so no one can ask him.
Milne uses a wealthy dilettante as his detective. The guy, Antony Gillingham, just happens to show up wanting to visit a friend who is staying at Red House and walks into a murder mystery. He drafts his friend as his Watson - as in he specifically asks the friend to play Watson and ask obvious questions so he can look brilliant - and they set to work. Milne does include a cop, but does not have him or Antony interact much beyond the inspector taking Antony's statement. So, no adversarial relationship between the professional and the amateur, if that's something you feel strongly about one way or the other.
Chandler's specific complaint was the solution felt contrived and that what was presented as a problem of logic and deduction is that the solution isn't possible. I'm not clear on exactly what aspect isn't possible, but the ending does feel contrived. The whole thing has been about the brother being dead, and who did it, and where's Mr. Ablett. Then at the very end it's shifted entirely and the innocuous comment that tips off Antony seems terribly random.
That aside, Milne's writing is light and breezy. Antony and especially his friend seem to be having a lot of fun. There's no tension or danger to either, beyond someone figuring out what they're doing. The people they question mostly find the whole thing fascinating to gossip about. It's almost a lark, which is an odd way to describe a murder mystery, but there it is.
'"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!"'
2 comments:
I've just submitted for publication an rpg pastiche of Winnie the Pooh. I wish I'd known about this while I was writing it; some of these elements would have been fun additions!
I'm trying to picture Winnie the Pooh as an rpg, but I think I'm too hung up on the idea of creatures fighting instead of exploring the Hundred-Acre Woods.
Post a Comment