Book Reviews

Review: The Armchair Detectives

I have to be honest. I started this book and then had to move to a different book before I could come back and finish it (and I'm glad I did come back). Let me explain...

The Armchair Detectives by Matt Dunn tells the story of Martin Maxwell, an 84-year-old retired government operative. Or is he? Because his daughter Dionne is going to be traveling for a while soon after his hip replacement, he decides to check into a local seaside care home called Twilight Lodge for a month. As luck would have it, one of his former workmates is now living in the room next to Martin. But Albie insists that he's never met Martin before. Both Dionne and the head nurse are of the opinion that Martin has mild to moderate dementia. Or does he?

By the time Martin has been at Twilight Lodge for a week and a half, three residents have passed away. While death is common in a nursing home like this, he thinks that they are murders. Unfortunately, it's this belief that, when he shares it with his police officer daughter, leads to her thinking that he's imagining things. It takes Albie and Martin gathering information and collecting evidence to finally convince her.

The relationships in The Armchair Detectives are my favorite parts of this book. Whether Martin and Albie did or did not know each other before isn't as important as the friendship and companionship that they provide each other.

In addition, Dionne and Martin's relationship matures. Whether he was a spy or he was a hotel inspector, he was gone for much of her life. Once she starts to realize that her dad may be on to something, they begin to respect and learn more about each other.

The one thing that I would have liked from The Armchair Detectives was more descriptions and narration (especially in the early chapters). It seemed sparse compared to other books I've been reading lately. Interestingly, the book I went to read before coming back to this one was The Killer Question, which has no narration. That worked out well for this book when I came back to it.

Because it says right on the cover that this is the first book in The Armchair Detective Mysteries series, there are more books planned. Because of the chemistry between Martin and Albie, plus Martin and Dionne, I will definitely keep my eye out for the next book in the series.