Public reader discussion about The "Canary" murder case by S. S. Van Dine.
By nebulatower
Hope it’s fine that I grabbed an article link (it’s a gift thing!). Also kind of wild to see someone that young putting out something like this. I still added it to my list, even though my list already feels too long.
By WildHeron1980
No spoilers, but I’m still thinking about the best mystery/detective novel I’ve read. For me, it’s Agatha Christie’s *Death on the Nile*—that book is all about misdirection, and it seriously keeps you getting the wrong idea. Also, a completely different vibe: Janice Hallett’s *The Appeal*. The whole email/text/internet stuff layout feels like it’s doing one thing, but somehow there’s more going on. I don’t even think the main murder is the only thing being dealt with, and it’s kind of wild how much it hides in plain sight. I’ve read a couple of her others too, and she’s really good at using that format to mess with what you think you’re seeing.
By listensAnchor3742
More people keep tossing around the word “deconstruction.” But she basically created the thing, changed the whole genre, like she invented it. So to me it doesn’t really count as deconstructing. And if the “deconstruction” mystery is the detectives get sent to some murder at Haversham Manor, find out the butler was behind it, then still go along with him because of class loyalty and then they murder the rest of the lord’s family to spark some kind of social revolution—yeah, I don’t know if that’s what it’s actually supposed to mean, but that’s the vibe I’m seeing.