The Murder Who Wasn't Monday

[evelyn_b]

Useless placeholder season is in full swing! Last week was a complete wash, except that I finished The Gentle Axe and got Enter Sir John in the mail. Enter Sir John is a theatrical murder mystery from 1928 that I've been meaning to read for a while; now that I finally have it in my house, I haven't managed to get around to it. The Gentle Axe was a thoughtful Dostoevsky remix with a surprisingly light touch - I don't mean that it was funny either in the way Crime and Punishment is funny or in its own way, because it isn't very. But it doesn't sweat and strain, and it doesn't drop research blocks in your path every few hundred feet. Porfiry Petrovich is a little subdued by comparison with the original - and so is every other character, including Saint Petersburg - but not trying to imitate Dostoevsky was probably a good bet on the whole.

This week may or may not be a complete wash. It remains to be seen.