ANDREW GARVE

HOME

TO

ROOST

PENGUIN BOOKS (1978)

CONDITION:  VERY GOOD paperback, with minor shelfwear, no markings, pages mildly tanned with age.

’tis one thing to commit a murder, another to confess to it, as mystery writer Walter Haines finds out.

Commentaries on line:

Walter Haines will tell you that he has everything he could want. He's a mystery writer who has had substantial success and is now fairly well off. He has married a beautiful lady. They settle down to a nice married life in a snug little house with a secluded garden where they can enjoy each other's company. It's all lovely in the garden, in fact. Until Max Ryland, a self-assured and charismatic actor, comes along and steals his beloved wife, Laura, from him. If that wasn't bad enough, Ryland subsequently dumps Laura and creates a situation where it seems impossible for her to return to her husband.

So Walter has good reason to hate Max Ryland. 

Perhaps Garve's best, certainly his most unusual.

Short, but quite an enjoyable puzzle mystery.

Thoroughly good fun

Garve is as ingenious as ever, and perhaps more thoughtful, and as personal as he was ever likely to be. Slowish start but worth it.