A couple of months ago I read P.D. James's "Death In Holy Orders", in which an old lady was killed for seeing something she shouldn't have. And here we are again, in "The Killings At Badger's Drift" with an old lady being killed for seeing something they shouldn't have.
These British old ladies...
Luckily for us, "The Killings At Badger's Drift" is a better book than the other one, even if it also suffers of rushing to the resolution with as little police work as possible. Here we don't have our Sherlock's moments of analyzing what we know and what we have read; here we come to those moments of sudden clarity in a way that it is all too forced.
Well, too bad. Because the set up, with Chief Inspector Barnaby being visited by another old lady that tells him her friend has been killed, even if it all pointed out to an accident, is quite good, our 'hero' going all around the place, poking his nose everywhere and discovering everyone in that little, cute town is as dirty, corrupt and pompous as possible. The presentation of the characters is good, the conversations give us just little snippets that can, or not, give you an inkling to whom the killer may be, and some turns along the way help to pull you out of the scent and keep you on your toes till the killer is revealed.
A competent little mystery.
The best: The characters, all so sleazy and selfish; the atmosphere
The worst: it is easy to get a little bit lost with so many little set pieces; the resolution is a little bit lame
Alternatives: I have read so many whodunits that I am at a loss to recommend something that doesn't sound Agatha Christie-ish; so let's say "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and a classic: "The Mystery of the Yellow Room"by Gaston Leroux
6.5/10
(English)
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