Book Review: “The Case Of The Canterfell Codicil” by PJ Fitzsimmons

Disclaimer: This book was distributed to me by Voracious Readers Only for free, in exchange for an honest review.

I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m reviewing “The Case Of The Canterfell Codicil” by PJ Fitzsimmons! It’s been a while since I reviewed a mystery novel, so I figured this would be interesting to pick up, read and review.

Here’s a summary so we know what it’s about:

“In The Case of the Canterfell Codicil, Wodehousian gadabout and clubman Anty Boisjoly takes on his first case when his old Oxford chum and coxswain is facing the gallows, accused of the murder of his wealthy uncle. Not one but two locked-room mysteries later, Boisjoly’s pitting his wits and witticisms against a subversive butler, a senile footman, a single-minded detective-inspector, an irascible goat, and the eccentric conventions of the pastoral Sussex countryside to untangle a multi-layered mystery of secret bequests, ancient writs, love triangles, revenge, and a teasing twist in the final paragraph.”

Plot Development: 1.5 out of 5 stars

I’m going to be honest: This wasn’t the most intriguing plot. The mystery wasn’t overly predictable. In fact, the locked-room aspect made it really interesting to read overall. However, the pacing of the plot was incredibly slow, and this negatively impacted my enjoyment of the book. I also thought that there wasn’t much substance to the book other than its main plot. Not every book has sideplots, which is fine, but the main plot and mystery alone felt lacking. I felt like there could be more depth, twists, or something shocking to make it more interesting. Nothing in this book felt shocking and/or convincing enough for me to care about other than the main character trying to solve the mystery.

Character Development: 2 out of 5 stars

Boisjoly was interesting to read, mainly while he investigated the main mystery. I also enjoyed reading how he unraveled clues that other characters didn’t see before. Unfortunately, he was the only character that was interesting to read. I didn’t feel invested in reading any of the other characters, and a lot of them came off lacking personality. Each character had good motives, when suspected of the murder. However, the book didn’t convince me to care about any of that.

Overall, I’m rating this book 1.5 out of 5 stars!

Had the characters been more developed and/or had more interesting personalities than just the roles they occupied at the murder site, I think this book would be a lot more enjoyable. I do think the book had a good concept (locked-room mysteries alone are fun concepts), but it just failed in its execution.

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