That Yew Tree's Shade by Cyril Hare

Book Review
Rating 2 out of 10

Well I finnished "That Yew Tree's Shade" by Cyril Hare (US title: Death Walks the Woods) Apparently this author is one of the classics in the crime/mystery genre. The novel is centered about the investigator Francis Pettigrew. Well I must admit that I was not too caught by this book. To me it's greatest charm was the naïvity and innoscence of it's setting in rural England in the first part of the 20th. century. Things we would normally expect from a crime/mystery book like suspence, thrill, fear, I didn't encounter much of in this book. Honestly the invesitigator Francis Pettigrew seemed a little stupid and laid back to me, certainly no Sherlock Holmes! Also the plot of the murderer was in no way impressive! It's interesting where in the lifecycle of a genre the classics become born. Well this is one of the founders of the English crime novel, but it seemed quite dull to me.