Thursday, September 28, 2017

The Black Goatee by the Little Sisters

The Black Goatee
Constance and Gwenyth Little
4/5 stars

During the post-war (WWII) housing shortage, Aloysius Graham installs himself and a few others in the unused left wing of his cousins' house--unbeknownst to said cousins.  When he finds a corpse one night, it starts an investigation that includes missing bodies, insurance fraud, disappearing money, and one black goatee.

This is a typical Little sisters screwball comedy with a serious mystery at the heart.  The Little sisters had a great ability to seamlessly change character point-of-view that makes the story flow well.  The mystery was a surprisingly complex one which kept me guessing until the reveal.  The comedy, as always, was laugh-out-loud fun.  As is generally the case when I read one of their novels, I closed the book with a satisfied smile.