I enjoyed most of Weekend At Thrackley very much, although I did think it tailed off rather toward the end.
Published in 1935, this is a variant on the classic country house mystery. It has all the most appealing elements of the genre: an engaging protagonist in Jim Henderson, a variety of well drawn and sometimes amusing characters, a very bad baddie and some romantic interest. The plot is decent and unusual (if scarcely credible in places) and kept things moving nicely, but it is Alan Melville’s style which gave me the most enjoyment here. It is very readable, often wryly amusing and, in the dialogue especially, sometimes very funny. The banter between Jim and his old school friend has a Wodehousian feel to it and it is a huge compliment to Melville that it doesn’t feel like an inferior imitation of the Great Man.
Things did peter out a bit in the last quarter of the book, with some rather over-convenient wrappings-up, but it was still a very engaging read which I can recommend.
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