
Author A. A. Milne is best known to the world as the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh. Yet Milne was versatile, having written dozens of plays, humorous articles, books and – The Red House Mystery. In which…<br /><br />Mark Ablett is the massively narcissistic owner of The Red House, a beautiful English country mansion. The estate is managed mostly by Mark’s side-kick and younger cousin, Cayley. As a wealthy artiste, Mark has chosen his handful of guests both to pander to his self-image and to allow him near-total control of virtually all aspects of his luxurious country house “show,” as it were.<br /><br />In the novel’s first eight hours, Milne presents a literary tour-de-force: first, the unexpected arrival (after 15 years’ absence) of Robert, Mark’s n'ere-do-well brother from Australia; second, Robert’s murder; and third, Mark’s own disappearance. Enter Antony Gillingham, our brilliant but modest gentleman sleuth. He arrives on a passing visit to his young friend Bill, one of Mark’