Mrs. Jeffries Takes the Cake

‘“Has something happened on the case? Are you going to make an arrest?” She [Mrs. Jeffries] certainly hoped that wasn't true.‘

Honestly, I am just about shut of this mad idea I had that I would still like cozy mysteries. The thing is, I remember how much I enjoyed them, and I am trying to recapture that feeling. Of course, there's a lot of things I used to like that I don't anymore. Like making mud pies.

Honestly, the mystery isn't bad, really. It's just that the sleuths let it down. (And, sometimes, the writing.) The servants (and Luty) see this as a fun competition. If they don't get to solve it, they get upset. Basically, all of them want to be the sole person who solves the case - or discovers the ‘it clue' - and treats it like a game. There's also a bit of a men vs. women thing going on that I very much do not approve of.

And, really, the whole basis for this is that Witherspoon - a police detective - is incompetent and needs his servant's help - without him ever knowing. For me, who values honesty pretty much above everything, it seems very...unpleasant.

And there's this thing I deal with a lot in mysteries where the sleuth always has this idea that they either have to chase or that dances right back out of their mind. I hate this. This book has that in spades.

Finally, the ‘trigger' for Mrs. J to figure it out... Look, the author probably had a certain amount of pages to hit, otherwise, the solution could have been discovered a good 80 pages sooner. (This is an example of something else I hate in mysteries: the solution being revealed when someone makes an unconnected remark to the sleuth and ‘oh, of course'.)