The Case of the Canterfell Codicil

The Anty Boisjoly Mysteries, Book 1

By: PJ Fitzsimmons

Narrated by: Tim Bruce

There’s a literary niche for all tastes including those who think that either Agatha Christie wasn’t funny enough or that PG Wodehouse didn’t feature anywhere near as many baffling murders as he could have. The Case of the Canterfell Codicil is a classic, cozy, locked-room mystery written in the style of an homage to PG Wodehouse. The result, for those familiar with Wodehouse or Jerome K Jerome and Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers, is either an inexcusable offence to several beloved canons, or a hilarious, fast-paced, manor house murder mystery.

In The Case of the Canterfell Codicil, Wodehousian gadabout and clubman Anty Boisjoly takes on his first case when his old Oxford chum and coxswain is facing the gallows, accused of the murder of his wealthy uncle. Not one but two locked-room mysteries later, Boisjoly’s pitting his wits and witticisms against a subversive butler, a senile footman, a single-minded detective inspector, an irascible goat, and the eccentric conventions of the pastoral Sussex countryside to untangle a multilayered mystery of secret bequests, ancient writs, love triangles, revenge, and a teasing twist in the final paragraph.

©2020 by PJ Fitzsimmons (P)2022 by Blackstone Publishing

Delightful as a whiff of Shalimar

Utterly delectable fanciful English word smithing at tea euhm cocktail o‘clock! Blimey, where has that goat ran off to now again?

Great fun and engaging mystery

As suggested by the publisher’s description, this was Woodhousian in tone with the complexity of Christie at her best. The dialogue is snappy and witty in that dry manner made famous by Oscar Wilde. I’ll definitely be reading/listening to the rest of the series.

Quite funny and the mystery is plenty mysterious

The writing is witty and mystery is quite novel. I loved listening to it. Solve a puzzle and have a lot of laughs, what's not to like!

A lovely read! It is funny and smart!!!

I didn’t expect anything special from this book and so very happy to have been mistaken!
It is smart, it is funny, it is the cat’s pajamas!

Fun!

The description of Wodehouse meets Christie is perfect. Nothing like light-hearted murder. Truly love Beaujolais, and the narration was fantastic.