I really enjoyed this book. While still a nonfiction account, White Mischief is a book that can be enjoyed by fiction lovers as well.The plot in this book is really fantastic. Set in Kenya, in an area of decadence and wealth, Lord Errol coldly is murdered. The community is shocked and torn apart by the murder of the wealthy man. The first part of the book introduces all of the characters and gives the reader a picture of the people that they are, or appear to be. The second part of the book focuses on the trial and determining who the killer was. Because of the two-part style of this book, the story really flows. The first part does a fantastic job of setting the stage for the second part of the book, making this an easy to follow and understand read.The writing in White Mischief is engaging. The author, while writing a nonfiction account, still manages to breathe life and magic into the characters. As I was reading, I almost felt as if I were reading a fiction story- the writing was that smooth. The author also does a fantastic job of giving the reader enough information about the backgrounds of all of the characters that the trial was easy to follow and understand. I definitely appreciated the first part of the book once the trial began as I felt I had enough information to judge the characters opinions and ideas myself.I would definitely recommend this book to any lover of true crime, or those that are interested in books set in colonial Africa. I would also recommend this book to anyone who is looking for an introductory nonfiction book, as this book read almost like fiction.I received this book for review purposes via NetGalley.
This book started of as a newspaper article for the Sunday Times by 2 respected journalists, james fox and Cyril Connelly, they found the case of the murder of The Earl of Erroll fascinating and the still a wide public interest. The problem was of course many of the main characters involved were dead and the infomation had gone with them. This was an amazing piece of detective work by the 2 men and they did not leave any stone unturned and interviewed many of the characters left who all seemed to have fallen bad times. The most fascinating was the interview with Lady Diana, james Fox also travelled to Kenya in the late 70's early 80's to interview people before the book and film came out. I think people of that time were not really bothered who killed Joss hay as he was a womanizer and broke up several marriages, i am sure they knew who the killer was but made a pact never to tell.james Fox is sure it was the original culprit Jock Broughton who was tried but aquitted. He did confess apparantley to 2 people after the trial, one 15 year old girl and the other a jockey aquintance ??.This book does throw up more questions than answers and i believe many people know more but wanted to write their own books or wanted a lot of money for their story. The more you read about this case the more confusing it appears, Some authors have Diana as the killer and others Alice de Janze, joss's on -off lover, and yet another the British intelligence because of his war work. They are all credible and no on has any concrete evidence to prove or disprove any of them. So the mystery will continue to haunt us for ever !!
Do You like book White Mischief (1998)?
James Fox is a wonderful writer and is able to tell a fascinating tale of sex, drugs, and murder in colonial Africa during the 1940's. He can pique your interest in the story of a bunch of titled , boorish, Brits who traveled to Kenya to party. They truly had no redeeming value. However, there is some voyeuristic pleasure in studying the lives of these wealthy and highly educated, hedonists who were pampering and pleasuring themselves with sex and drugs while a Wold War was raging in Europe and 6 million human beings were being exterminated for social cleansing. I would suggest that upon reading this book that you pick up Wildflower about another woman and her husband who go to Kenya about a generation later. The dichotomy of the two mind sets is stunning.
—Carolyn
Almost like two books. Section one sets the stage describing the Happy Valley scene - basically the "leisure class" behaving (very) badly, in pretty much every way imaginable, during the inter-War period and into the early 1940s in Kenya - up to and including the murder of the Earl of Erroll. This section is based on the public record. The second section covers the author's investigation into the murder, which is still considered one of the infamous cold cases in British/colonial history, decades after the event. This was perhaps not quite as effective as the first half, in part because it frequently jumps and digresses, not always in a (to me) logical manner, while also introducing some new characters. Nonetheless, many of the interviews were quite interesting. All told, an interesting "true crime" novel, with a certain amount of guilty pleasure thrown in, thanks to the soap opera antics of the pretty much the entire cast of characters.3.5 stars for the book. An additional, personal, 1/2 star for the location. I have visited most of the locations in the book - albeit with a rather different cast of characters. Reading the (location) names again and looking at the map brought back a lot of memories - and makes me want to rush out and book a return flight.
—Laura
Author's like Isak Dinesen and Beryl Markham paint life in colonial British East Africa an a fairly positive way; emphasizing the struggles to 'tame' a wild land and find comfort far from their homelands. WHITE MISCHIEF reveals a dark side of the high living colonial elite whose hedonistic ways flew in face of the still very Victorian conventions of their sovereign country; Britain. The incredible detail might be tiresome for some, but the result is a sharp portrait of the characters involved in this true murder mystery.
—Matthew
