The Shooting Party

"This was a young writer’s attempt to write a financially successful thriller. The protagonist (and the narrator) is a court official investigating a murder of a young woman. It is a crime of passion, that much is evident, but there are several suspects, one of them is arrested and convicted. In the end, it turns out that the murder was committed by the investigator himself, so the novel might have been Agatha Christie’s inspiration for The Murder of Roger Akroyd . Dame Agatha did the job much better of course. As a mystery author, Chekhov is hopeless: too slow, easily distracted, and more interested in the mystery of soul. The Duel is my favourite. It is so clinically honest about humans, so bitter, so cold – and at the same time so kind, humane, full of understanding and forgiveness that it scratches your heart."