3 thoughts on “In The Spotlight: Elizabeth Kent’s The House Opposite: a Mystery”
This sounds great, Margot! I love this trope of people observing what’s going on in other apartments and then that leading into a mystery. Thanks for the warning about the racism, classism, etc. – definitely a hazard when reading books from this era. But as you say it does mean that you get a good feel for how things actually were at a given point in time, much more than most historical fiction does really because contemporary writers have to be more cautious not to offend modern sensibilities too much. I’m going to pop off now and download this from Gutenberg – please make this the only one you add to my TBR this week! 😉
I thought the looking-into-another-apartment trope did work here, FictionFan. There was a bit of disbelief needed (e.g. the police are a bit too quick to share things with a civilian, even if he is a doctor). Still, the mystery itself kept my interest. You’re quite right about the -isms. I honestly did find them really grating. But as you say, I look at it with modern eyes. At that time, those beliefs were widely held. So at least it is honest in that sense. When you do get the chance to read it, I hope you’ll like it! And, yes, the fact it’s free did have an appeal…..
Crime Writer Margot Kinberg 
This sounds great, Margot! I love this trope of people observing what’s going on in other apartments and then that leading into a mystery. Thanks for the warning about the racism, classism, etc. – definitely a hazard when reading books from this era. But as you say it does mean that you get a good feel for how things actually were at a given point in time, much more than most historical fiction does really because contemporary writers have to be more cautious not to offend modern sensibilities too much. I’m going to pop off now and download this from Gutenberg – please make this the only one you add to my TBR this week! 😉
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I thought the looking-into-another-apartment trope did work here, FictionFan. There was a bit of disbelief needed (e.g. the police are a bit too quick to share things with a civilian, even if he is a doctor). Still, the mystery itself kept my interest. You’re quite right about the -isms. I honestly did find them really grating. But as you say, I look at it with modern eyes. At that time, those beliefs were widely held. So at least it is honest in that sense. When you do get the chance to read it, I hope you’ll like it! And, yes, the fact it’s free did have an appeal…..
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