Unnatural Ends by Christopher Huang

 

This novel looks on the surface very like a pretty classic English-country-village murder mystery, but you don't need to look very hard to see that it's a novel with very modern things to say. There are a lot of things about classism and eugenics and a marital situation that'd make Charlotte Perkins Gilman nod in recognition, and probably some interesting subtextual stuff about colonialism (though that's getting deeply granular and might not be entirely intended). Alas, it starts really, really slowly: The novel is well past halfway before the various elements and gears start to mesh and the story starts to move. The resolution is reasonably well-thought-through, and frankly less aggravating than many of the classics of the genre; I was able to put most of the bits together before they were revealed, and at least most of the larger plot, as well. The prose is reasonably solid, with some nifty chuckle-worthy turns of phrase popping up, the characters are mostly reasonably well-distinguished, the villain of the piece is truly abominable. Not great, but never really so bad I seriously thought about stopping.