Reviews

The Poisoned Chocolates Case by Anthony Berkeley

Only show reviews with written explanations

bhrfletcher's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

First mystery read by Berkeley and it was certainly untraditional, as billed in the intro. But for all its untraditionalness, it was a fascinating read as each chapter almost felt like its own detective story. The conceit of so many different solutions from (mostly) the same evidence as each new chapter unfolded some potential extra detail was well done but the satisfying nature of a final conclusion at the end of the novel was a little undermined.

dknippling's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

A box of poisoned chocolates kills a woman. But was she even the intended victim? The police are out of leads and turn the case over to a local group of mystery writers and armchair detectives.

A clever book, the Rashomon of golden-age mysteries. The book is basically a roast of the Detection Club, an actual group of writers that included Agatha Christie, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy Sayers, Anthony Berkley (the author), and lots more. The funny thing is that this book came first, then the club; I could be completely off. But neverthrleless a delight.

If the short story "An Avenging Chance" is included in your edition--DON'T READ IT FIRST. That is all.

jessicasshelfies's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This is like an instruction in how to write a crime novel - one case and several solutions, each one as plausible as the other. I really liked how each character was described, the way they talked and solved the case was so typical for each and every one.
I didn’t like the end though, so it won’t get five stars from me.

christinaoh's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Fun Golden Age (1920s) read from the founder of the Detection Club, in which six members of a criminologists circle use inductive and deductive reasoning to arrive at six suspects with six motives for murdering through poisoned chocolates.

harba's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny informative lighthearted mysterious relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I didn’t like the extra endings, the author’s original ending was in my opinion the best one. The other two were either confusing or half-heartedly executed.

BUT other than that, I loved this book. It was really a great take on detective fiction and how they try to fit the data to the suspect and not vice versa.