The Best Man

 

The Best Man / Grace Livingston Hill
Bantam, 1981, c1914.
176 p.

Another vintage mystery! This one from the first World War, when things were just beginning. I used to read Grace Livingston Hill's books when I was young, and some of them were quite fun. So I picked this up when I saw it in a thrift store - the premise looked promising. 

Cyril Gordon is a young intelligence agent, tasked with infiltrating a dinner party held by a group of traitorous crooks, and substituting a letter needed as proof. He gets the letter, and almost gets away, but is found out at the last minute, as he's leaving the house. He jumps into a cab (an actual horse drawn one) and flees, but is followed by others in a "horse drawn carriage chase" scene. He sees a crowd ahead and thinks he could disappear into it, so jumps out, right into a group anxiously awaiting the start of a wedding. Cyril is mistaken for the best man and rushed into the church. In his confusion and with his attention being on his pursuers, he doesn't realize until the service is just about over that he's actually the bridegroom. 

This is the setup and it was a delight. Fast action, funny, heart pounding and with the touch of saccharine romanticization of women that is a hallmark of Grace Livingston Hill. Great start! 

Cyril then takes his new bride to the train station for their honeymoon, to get away from the dogged pursuers -- he'll explain on the way. But there's more dashing around and escaping and the like, and Cyril never really gets a chance. He can't really explain to Celia without revealing his mission so misses a few obvious opportunities. Celia, meanwhile, is fascinated by him; she thought she was marrying George, someone her family hadn't seen in 10 years, who had blackmailed her into agreeing to marry him. She is confused and trying to reconcile those letters with this man, the whole time. 

This is also an "insta love" story -- within 36 hours, this accidental marriage turns into true love. The ending is a delight also. There is one scene when everything is becoming clear that has the best comic turn I've seen in a while. 

I loved this one. Fun, full of action, humour and plot. Cyril is a true gentleman, and that is important to the storyline. This felt quite different from the typical Grace Livingston Hill to me, as there is no real mention of Christianity in it except for oblique ones (some of hers can be preachy). And the pace and some of the content felt modern; it was almost jarring at times to realize the period details. As a light mystery with romance added, this was far more engaging and amusing than the previous wartime mystery romance I just finished, Murder While You Work. It was leavened with wit, lovely characters and a more fleshed out plot. What a fun find!