No Man's Street

No man's street by Beverley Nichols

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was the first of five mystery novels by the author, who was much more at home writing books about gardening.

The book was a study of contrasts. I adored the language:
"a little man of some sixty summers, with a round face, a high forehead, and a gentle mouth -- a little man whose eyes blinked at the world through thick-lensed, horn-rimmed glasses."

or:
"Bates, an enormous young policeman, of shining and rubicund aspect ..." Can't you just picture that policeman?!

But then there's a bit too much French thrown in for my tastes (I don't speak it or read it); it was quite the done thing at the time the book was written (1954), but seems artificial and rather silly today.

And the plot. Oh woe, the plot! It became convoluted and unhappy, and the revealed mechanism of murder forced and unbelievable.

Not my happiest of books, but I do so like the language!