Book Review: The Red House Mystery

The Red House Mystery

• Written by: A.A. Milne

• Published by: Pushkin Vertigo

• Originally published: 1922

• Publication date: September 3, 2024

• Mystery type: Golden Age mystery

Before he wrote the Winnie the Pooh stories, A.A. Milne wrote a cozy whodunnit called The Red House Mystery.

Milne wrote the book for his father, who loved detective fiction. It was immediately successful, but Milne never wrote another mystery novel.

The Red House Mystery unfolds at a lively party in a quintessential English country house in the 1920s. The detective at the heart of the story is Tony Gillingham, an everyman amateur sleuth. He is assisted by his affable pal, Bill Beverly.

The book contains two mysteries: a death and a disappearance. Tony and Bill work together to solve them both. They fondly refer to each other as Holmes and Watson. 

The Red House Mystery is engaging and more accessible than some of the Golden Age mysteries from this era. It is a locked room mystery, which makes it even a little harder to solve than the norm. The plot is well-crafted and wrapped up very neatly in the end with a detailed explanation that explains the who, why, and how of it all.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Red House Mystery and wish that A.A. Milne had written more detective fiction. He was quite good at it.

Disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of The Red House Mystery from Net Galley and Pushkin Vertigo. All opinions are my own. Cozy Crime Reads earns a nominal commission on qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate.