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| The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull |
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟(4 stars)
Publisher: The British Library
This was a great story! Edward and his Aunt Mildred Powell are two of the most disagreeable and quarrelsome relatives I've ever read trapped together. It almost becomes too much but there's ample opportunity to laugh along the way in this macabre tale of pettiness.
Edward narrates most of this but he's not the only unreliable narrator (Aunt Mildred) so while I could see points for both to have just annoyance, they both took this to levels that of course ensured this would end badly. Quite often I wished Edward would just leave or Mildred would just send him off but this was a battle royale of wills and control that just wasn't an option. It goes on just long enough not to be tiresome but you need a high tolerance for the absurd. The house staff and various town residents play minor parts in this War of the Powells but none shine in comparison. There's a great twist at the end that worked terrifically and I would definitely read another by Hull.
A great addition to the British Library Crime Classics reissues.
Favourite quote:
"My aunt has been in a strange mood, and I never have known a woman who is so capable of conveying a sense of disquiet without saying anything."
Recommended.
Summary: Edward Powell lives with his Aunt Mildred in the Welsh town of Llwll.
His aunt thinks Llwll an idyllic place to live, but Edward loathes the countryside – and thinks the company even worse. In fact, Edward has decided to murder his aunt.
A darkly humorous depiction of fraught family ties, The Murder of My Aunt was first published in 1934.
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