💎 It all began at the Hunt Ball at Westhampton, where it was rumored that a royal personage would attend. A mysterious man, wanted to be known as Mr. X, arrived, danced, and infatuated by the pretty Sheila Delaney. Then a string of incidents took place.
💎 Private Investigator Anthony Bathurst was hired by the Crown Prince of Clorania to solve a blackmail case. While almost at the same time, Chief Detective-Inspector Bannister - only months before retirement - abruptly ended his holiday over a murder of a girl at a dentist office. One thing that connects the three events is that the parties concerned were all related to more than one of the events. It also means that Bathurst and Bannister must work together to solve both cases.
💎 This is a classic Golden Age mystery, ingeniously crafted by Brian Flynn. At first it seemed like a simple case, a murder by injecting cyanide to a dentist patient while the dentist was locked at another room. But with each revelation, the case got more complicated. First of all, the murdered girl wasn't the girl they supposed at first, but another. On what purpose did the murderer use the false identity? Then there's the bank notes the murdered girl withdrew from the bank, which were missing.
💎 What about the titular Peacock's Eye? You've guessed that it has something to do with some Oriental jewelry, right? That made up the final complication of the case. And the murderer? That's the beautiful plot twist of this book. You'll have several suspects along the way, but I doubt it if you'll ever guessed it correctly. Unlike Christie, who often scattered clues and hints blatantly throughout a book, Flynn put it there so subtly that you mightn't have noticed it at all. On the whole, it's a totally engrossing story with a clever and satisfying twist.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
This looks excellent. I haven't tried Brian Flynn yet but must soon.
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