This is a very entertaining mystery. The plot, which is utterly fantastic, is laid out quite clearly for the reader, an unusual thing in a Gladys Mitchell book. I can’t give many details because of spoilers, but there’s a lot of impersonation and people being not what they seem. Mrs. Bradley becomes involved in a convoluted and pretty weird plan to steal an inheritance.
There’s Mitchell’s trademark humor here, and wry observations on life in general.
Young women in these mysteries are not portrayed as romantic fools running blindly into danger, and having to be rescued by some male or males. Bradley, who spent a lifetime teaching in girls’s schools, clearly believed that women were just as clever, brave, and resourceful as men. I find that refreshing.
Her title choices, however, are completely off the wall. There’s no hangman and no curfew anywhere in this book. ( )