I have very mixed reactions about this mystery of Dann McDorman. On the one hand, I feel like he was being just way too clever with his admittedly unique approach to story telling. On the other, I was impressed with all the knowledge/ reseach that must have gone into the numerous references to the genre and its creators. The ending was not satisfying to me and I won't spoil it by telling you why. On the other hand, reviews are positive--although I sometimes think reviewer praise follows on novelty--so decide for yourself.
Publishers Weekly's review begins, "McDorman’s wily debut breaks the fourth wall immediately, in a sign of the authorial shenanigans to come: 'This murder mystery, like all murder mysteries, begins with the evocation of what the reader understands to be its atmosphere,' goes the opening line." And it concludes, "As the story unfolds, the omniscient narrator intrudes to offer up tangents on subjects including murder mystery genre rules ('The key is a sense of fair play—a reader must not feel cheated') and Agatha Christie’s famous 1926 disappearance. While these peregrinations may not appeal to mystery fans who prefer a more direct route from crime to solution, McDorman ensures they never come at the expense of satisfying twists or shocks. For readers willing to try something a little different, this is quite the diversion."
Similarly, Booklist's review is also laudatory: "McDorman enters the crime fiction arena as a former newspaper reporter and an Emmy-nominated TV news producer steeped in the traditions and history of the mystery genre. He presents a classic closed circle mystery set at a private hunt club with a "manicured killing ground" in upstate New York, an enclave owned by a complexly entangled coterie of wealthy and dysfunctional families. Adam McAnnis fits the bill for a just-scraping-by private eye, circa 1976; he's a philosophical, weed-smoking, PTSD-harried Vietnam vet skeptical about everyone and everything. McDorman simultaneously revels in and comments on the many-faceted plot as the narrator directly addresses the reader with the assumption that she is equally knowledgeable and ardent about mysteries, decanting intriguing insights into the genre and its luminaries, including Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dashiell Hammett, and Jorge Luis Borges. Readers will encounter a quiz, Q & As with the suspects, and a play. McDorman is funny, canny, and nimble in this clever, unusual, and enormously entertaining mix of criticism and suspense, this mystery propelled by witty banter, hidden trauma, messy affairs, and vicious schemes."
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