Murder in the Museum by John Rowland

Murder in the Museum by John Rowland ISBN-13: 9781464205798 Paperback: 250 pages Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Released: May 3, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Professor Julius Arnell, a retired academic whose life was devoted to Elizabethan literature, breathes his last in the British Museum Reading Room. Inspector Shelley's suspicions are aroused when he finds a packet of poisoned sugared almonds in the dead man's pocket. A motive becomes clearer when he discovers Arnell was wealthy, and his will is missing.

A friend of Arnell's also recently died in the British Museum Reading Room. Is there connection between these deaths? Henry Fairhurst, a museum visitor who saw the death, adds his detective talents to Inspector Shelley's own. They set about solving one of the most baffling cases Shelley has ever encountered.


My Review:
Murder in the Museum is a mystery novel that was originally published in 1938 and is set in England. We mainly follow Inspector Shelley and his official assistant, but a humorous amateur detective also realized some vital clues which he provides to Shelley. I enjoyed the characters and their pursuit of the answers.

The first two-thirds of the story was a clue-based puzzle mystery which appeared convoluted but was fairly simple underneath due to a limited number of suspects. You can guess at whodunit, but the definitive clue provided everyone with the murderer's name. Then it became a suspenseful chase to save someone's life and catch the murderer.

There was no sex. There was some bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.