Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull

Excellent Intentions by Richard Hull ISBN-13: 9781464209758 Paperback Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Released: Oct. 2, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Great Barwick's least popular man is murdered on a train. Twelve jurors sit in court. Four suspects are identified - but which of them is on trial? This novel has all the makings of a classic murder mystery, but with a twist: as Attorney-General Anstruther Blayton leads the court through prosecution and defence, Inspector Fenby carries out his investigation. All this occurs while the identity of the figure in the dock is kept tantalisingly out of reach. Excellent Intentions is a classic crime novel laced with irreverent wit, first published in 1938.


My Review:
Excellent Intentions is a mystery set in England and originally published in 1938. The novel started at the opening of a trial and then had flashback descriptions of events as seen by various witnesses and the detective. The reader isn't told who is on trial until the end, but everyone is sure that the accused is guilty.

This is a clue-based puzzle mystery. There were only four main suspects, and I quickly narrowed it down to two based on the same reasoning that the characters followed later in the story. The evidence seemed to point toward one character, so I reasoned out a scenario for that character. But that seemed too obvious, so I came up with a scenario that worked for the other one. We don't learn the final evidence that determines whodunit until after the characters have essentially revealed who the accused is.

There was no sex. There was only a couple uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting 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.