Mystery in White

By: J. Jefferson Farjeon

Narrated by: Patience Tomlinson

"The horror on the train, great though it may turn out to be, will not compare with the horror that exists here, in this house."

On Christmas Eve, heavy snowfall brings a train to a halt near the village of Hemmersby. Several passengers take shelter in a deserted country house, where the fire has been lit and the table laid for tea - but no one is at home. Trapped together for Christmas, the passengers are seeking to unravel the secrets of the empty house when a murderer strikes in their midst.

©2014 Estate of J. Jefferson Farjeon (P)2015 Soundings

Lovely deductions.

If you're one who enjoys the classic English mysteries like Agatha Christy's or Dorothy Sayers' tales, you will enjoy this. It's a well told weaving together of clues and personalities. I personally prefer "gentle" murders rather than"gritty" ones. The narrator was wonderful and carried me along most agreeably.

Good old time mystery

Engrossing mystery without sex, gore or much violence. Performance was well done. I will certainly read other books by this author.

Brilliant!

Any additional comments?

This book is part of the British Library " Crime Classics" series these books were uncovered at the library and were so good they decided to republish them They are by Authors writing in the 20s and 30s who were famous at the time but have been long forgotten and out of print .So bearing in mind that this story is set in the 20s after the 1st world war and therefore some of the language and vocabulary might seem old fashioned , the story is so clever and well written and keeps you guessing. Of course it has a snow bound train, an abandoned house and a random bunch of strangers stranded together , intrigued? well I urge you to listen to this book if you enjoy Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers , I hope Audible will get more of J Jefferson Fargeon's books .

Perfect British mystery cozy for a midwinter listen!

I loved the setting, the variety of characters and the creepy supernatural veil, tho totally reasonable! Highly recommend or fans of 1930s British mysteries!

And Then There Were None In Reverse

In a story where the characters are snowed into a house, you would expect the bodies to start to pile up and the number of characters go down. The reverse is true here. The number of characters actually grows through the end of the story. It is an interesting listen, especially knowing it is one of a number of forgotten British mystery classics republished by the British Library. The story is a bit mystery, a bit thriller, a bit gothic, with locked rooms, disappearing clues, and deep snow banks. I considered giving the book five stars, for how well it fits its genre, but didn't because I felt the author failed to describe the characters and their settings sufficiently at times. When our main characters leave the stalled train for a cross country hike, we don't get a description of what they were wearing, if they were dressed for a blizzard, and if the women were wearing heels and skirts, all of which would have made a difference as they struggle across fields through blinding snow. I never felt the cold, the snow, or the trudge. This lack of description occurs at other points. But the story is fun and has lots of twists and turns. It is worth a listen if you like 20s and 30s British crime novels.

Good weekend read.

Not a bad listen for a Sunday afternoon. Reminds me of Agatha Christie, Uk in the 1920s.

Pacing issue here

First 2/3 of the book is a very slow setup, where almost nothing really seems to happen. Then, the storyline comes together as a giant avalanche snowball at once! Excellent narration.

Delightful!

I'm glad I got the Synch version. I started listening, but got confused by the characters on the train. Then I started reading on my Kindle. About chapter ten I went back to Audible. Patience captured my imagination with her acting the parts.
I was amazed that this mystery transcended so many decades! It didn't seem to be dated at all! Kudos!

Had Me Right Up Until the End

It’s always hard to review a mystery. If you go much beyond “loved it”, “liked it” or “hated it”, you’re apt to start giving things away and spoiling the fun for everyone else. And it’s even harder when you're trying to put your finger on precisely where the book disappointed you.

Overall, I enjoyed the situation and the characters. Up until the end, I enjoyed the story, too. I have a bias for mysteries of a more reverend vintage (heavy on dialogue and deductions, light on car chases, gunplay and bedroom scenes) and in that respect Mystery in White does not disappoint. However, while I found myself saying “Ah-ha” many times in the course of the story, the final resolution dragged out so long that that ultimate, satisfying “AH-HA” never happened. Or, at least not for me.

Moreover, psychical research plays a role throughout, and I was more than willing to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story. Problem is, our amateur sleuth (and SPR member) uses cold logic to untangle most of this mystery, then goes all psychical at the end, using it to tie up some loose threads in what was (again, for me) an unconvincing way.

As remarked by other reviewers, Patience Tomlinson has a wonderful voice and a perfect delivery, but her male voices (and there are a lot of them in this story) tend to get a bit mixed.

A different kind of mystery

This book was more of a “ what happened?” than a “who done it?” mystery. I thought it would be a bit of a” And Then There Were None,” but as another reviewer noted, the group grew in number. The characters were interesting, and even the “elderly bore” had some character development. I enjoyed the chorus girl’s diary entries, especially. The narrator did an excellent job with the various voices. I will look for more books by this author and for more audiobooks with this narrator.