Oh, I loved this book. And seeing now that the cover was illustrated by Edward Gorey (I read it on my Kindle), I love it even more.
Thus Was Adonis Murdered is the first book in a mystery series that revolves around a group of young barristers and their older mentor-type person, Hilary Tamar, who narrates the books. In this one, one of the barristers, Julia, driven to near-poverty by Inland Revenue (England’s version of the IRS, I assume), decides she might as well splurge on a trip to Venice (since either way she’ll never be out of debt). There she meets a charming young fella, but is dismayed to learn he actually works for Inland Revenue! Quelle horreur. She manages to overcome her disgust, they have a little romance, and then he’s found dead, with her copy of the Tax Finance Act found next to him, making her the prime suspect.
Hilary, the narrator, naturally solves the mystery long before anyone else does. Of course, the rest of the barristers are young and foolish and don’t listen to him. There’s not a lot of character development, or deep thoughts on the nature of death such as you might find in another mystery. In between solving the mystery, the characters spend most of their time eating lunch and stealing sherry from each other’s offices. It’s delightful.
The book is dry, witty, a bit silly, and very funny. Caudwell’s writing style reminded me of P.G. Wodehouse. It’s an entertaining, quick, fluffy little read. I’m excited to read the rest of the series (sadly, only three more books).
