The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne

06 – Outside or Inside?

The Red House Mystery is a novel by A. A. Milne about the mysterious death of Robert Ablett inside the house of his brother, Mark Ablett while there was a party taking place. It’s a whodunit novel with a simple story that's skilfully told. Milne is best known for his works about Winnie the Pooh, but before he became famous for telling stories about this teddy bear, he also garnered praise for “The Red House Mystery.” The novel was set during a house party in the mansion home of Mark Ablett known as the “red house.” Mark had many guests in the party including a widow and his daughter, an actress and a young man named Bill. While the party was going on, Mark’s long-lost brother Robert arrived in the house and shortly after was found dead. Then suddenly the guests noticed that Mark had disappeared. Anthony Gillingham, a very interesting man who just went to the house to call on his friend Bill acted as the “investigator” to the crime. The two “detectives,” Antony and Bill went on to “investigate” the crime and find out who committed it. It will be up to the readers to categorize who among them is Watson and who is Holmes. Milne did an excellent work of telling the story in a very light and entertaining way. Readers will like this book not because of originality or a complicated plot that’s found in other mystery novels. They’ll enjoy reading it because of the interesting characters and the humour contained in the story. This is a good read for people who are looking for a mystery novel that’s a light hearted enjoyable book to read.

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The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne