Good old Uncle Willie - rich, truculent and seemingly propped up by his fierce willpower alone - has come to stay with the Redpaths for the holidays. It is just their luck for him to be found dead the morning after Christmas day, dressed in his Santa Claus costume, seemingly poisoned by his favourite chocolates. Or was there something sinister in the mince pies? If so, was it the ones stashed in his room or those sent to him mysteriously by post? More importantly, since his will was recently redrafted, who stands to gain by this unseasonable crime?
First published in 1944, Murder After Christmas is a lively riot of murder, mince pies and misdirection, cleverly playing with beloved murder mystery tropes to create something pacey, light-hearted, and admirably suited for the holiday season.
My Thoughts
Sir Willoughby Keene-Cotton (Uncle Willie) comes to spend Christmas at Four Corners at the invitation of Frank Redpath and his wife, Rhoda, also stepdaughter to Uncle Willie. Also making up the house party are Paulina Redpath, John Redpath (Frank and Rhoda's adult son) and his fiance/wife Margery Dore, an actress.
Uncle Willie is nearly 90 years old, filthy rich and stays alive just to spite everybody. The Redpaths think that having Uncle Willie to stay will improve their chances of getting some of his money and are willing to put up with his eccentricity even though his Christmas visit may turn into an indefinite one as the hotel where he normally resides has been commandeered by the government.
Uncle Willie turns out to be a difficult but amusing guest: contrary, secretive and forgetful. The family joke about murdering him – but not until after Christmas - so as not to spoil their Christmas party, which attracts a number of people claiming to have some connection to, or just wanting to meet, Uncle Willie, leaving gifts specifically marked not to be opened until Christmas.
This is a bit of a madcap read. None of the characters are likeable, although I did like Uncle Willie. The humour often missed the mark with me, taking on the aspect of silliness. The murder suspects are many. One of them confesses at the drop of a hat, repeatedly, and is not taken seriously and the phrase bread upon the waters became annoying, but … for all its silliness there was something compelling about this novel. I wanted to know who stood to gain from Uncle Willie's death which seemed to be everybody and nobody!
By the end my brain was in a whirl but I'm glad I persevered. There was no way I could have worked out who the murderer was and I'm surprised the detective finally worked it all out after the family hampered his investigation the way they did. In hindsight, there were a few clues and it all fell into place when a family secret was revealed.
Even though this story was set during the austere years of World War II, there were lots of traditional Christmas elements to give this a festive feel: snowmen, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, mince pies and numerous boxes of chocolates that mysteriously disappeared.
There was a great mystery embedded in this book, it just took some effort to reveal it. As to who got Uncle Willie's money in the end? Well, the answer to that question made all the machinations of the family a farce, which I suppose this novel was meant to be. While I didn't really enjoy this one, I will pick up another Rupert Latimer novel sometime which I hope will be more to my taste.
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