Mystery in White: A Christmas Crime Story (British Library Crime Classics)

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All too soon they realize the blinding storm has obliterated any possibility of finding the station. Hopelessly lost, they’re reunited when they all take refuge in Valley House, a dwelling where the kettle is boiling and the table hospitably set for tea even though the place is deserted.

Here, the blizzard rages and the house stands empty but appears set for guests with a boiling kettle on the stove, fires ablaze in multiple hearths and tea set out.

The whole set up is quite wildly improbable and the amateur detective (a psychic expert) is perhaps a little too insightful, but all the disparate people and elements of the plot make for a darn good story.

The denouement was a bit unsatisfying and if not for the fabulous setting and set up and a steady dose of humour throughout (Lydia, really saved it), I'd have maintained a more negative view of the whole.

The character holding the mystery element of the story together relied a bit too much on info dumping in chunks and no puzzle fan will be impressed with the statement: ‘I am groping my way through sensations as well as known or deduced facts,’ nor ‘When you find the atmosphere facts resolve themselves inside it.