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Four Days' Wonder
A teenage girl who is fascinated with murder mysteries finds her estranged aunt dead. She is excited to have a mystery of her own to solve but also mourning an aunt she knew little about.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1933
6 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
A.A. Milne
1,844 books3,688 followersAlan Alexander Milne (pronounced /ˈmɪln/) was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
A. A. Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H. G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor.
Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on February 14, 1919.
After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour. During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff."
He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted".
He was 74 years old when he passed away in 1956.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 23, 2022
Jenny is innocently visiting her childhood home and is shocked to find the body of her Aunt Jane lying inside the door. She panics and runs away, setting off a confusing train of events involving many people and many complicated deceptions. This is a very funny and charming mystery. Jenny is a delightful heroine, I particularly liked her endearing habit of holding conversations with ‘Hussar’ (Jenny’s father who died in WW1 when she was a baby), and who has been her companion in imagination, (or perhaps in reality, who knows?) since childhood. Jenny’s resourceful friend Nancy is great fun too. This was a joy to read.
June 11, 2023
Four Days Wonder is a cozy murder mystery and a coming of age story.
I was sceptic how this middle aged (at the time) author is going to represent Jenny, our 18 years old main heroine. For the most part he did good. I like Jenny and I like Derek but their love story not so much. I guess I am looking into it from a different perspective but a 30 years old man and an 18 years old girl who still has a imagionary friend and is many times considered to be very naive does not sit well.
There are many quirky, funny, some not too smart characters. Friendship between Jenny and Nancy is great. I find the murder mystery part good until the end when it was just ridiculous.
I was sceptic how this middle aged (at the time) author is going to represent Jenny, our 18 years old main heroine. For the most part he did good. I like Jenny and I like Derek but their love story not so much. I guess I am looking into it from a different perspective but a 30 years old man and an 18 years old girl who still has a imagionary friend and is many times considered to be very naive does not sit well.
There are many quirky, funny, some not too smart characters. Friendship between Jenny and Nancy is great. I find the murder mystery part good until the end when it was just ridiculous.
November 9, 2025
This book reads like a cross between Nancy Drew and North anger Abbey, as written by Pooh. I really enjoyed it, but ultimately it felt too long. that may be a function of my reading mood right now, and not the book itself. So if you're interested and can get your hands on it, give it a try. It was silly fun.
"It was not surprising, then, that Aunt Jane should have been cut short like this; nor was it surprising that Jenny should drift upstairs and find a body in the drawing-room. Jenny was a well-read girl, and knew that people were continually drifting upstairs and finding bodies in drawing-rooms." lol
"It was not surprising, then, that Aunt Jane should have been cut short like this; nor was it surprising that Jenny should drift upstairs and find a body in the drawing-room. Jenny was a well-read girl, and knew that people were continually drifting upstairs and finding bodies in drawing-rooms." lol
August 20, 2022
We start right off in the first sentence with a corpse. Jenny Windell, who has been away from the family home for a while, decides to return to Auburn Lodge in a fit of nostalgia. She wants to see the old place and, despite its having been rented out to stranger, she hopes to see all the familiar things in their familiar setting. Since her Aunt Jane, one of those notorious flapper actresses, has been estranged from the family for over eight years, she doesn't expect to find her lying dead in the drawing room, but Jenny isn't really all that shocked either.
It was not surprising, then, that Aunt Jane should have been cut short like this; nor was it surprising that Jenny should drift upstairs and find a body in the drawing-room. Jenny was a well-read girl, and knew that people were continually drifting upstairs and finding bodies in the drawing room. (p. 11)
Then Jenny does all the things that one should not do after having discovered a corpse. She absent-mindedly picks up the heavy doorstop covered with blood, wipes it with her hankie, places the castle-shaped item on the piano, hears the current tenants coming in and so drops her hankie (conveniently marked "Jenny"), hides in the deep window, and then--when it's obvious the police are on their way--slips out of the window (leaving a dainty little footprint), and runs away. She then decides that she simply must "get right away" to the country. She will go on a hiking tour. But...she must have funds and extra clothes and she simply can't go home because the police may be hot on her trail right now. So, she contacts her best girl pal and arranges for clothes and to have Nancy pawn her diamond studded watch (conveniently marked with a "J" for Jenny). Nancy is secretary to the famous author Archibald Fenton and, not knowing the ins and outs of pawnbrokers herself, asks him to pawn the watch for her. And so begins a a madcap adventure with several name changes and mistaken identities, a police force who, on the skimpiest of clues, are in search of a short, stout, left-handed culprit of sedentary habits--as well as the missing Jenny.
As Jenny (now known as Gloria Harris and soon to be Naomi Fenton) is wandering from haystack to haystack in the country, she comes across the handsome young Derek Fenton (brother to Archibald). It isn't long before he has been acquainted with her mysterious past and has whole-heartedly thrown his lot in with hers. But they, Nancy, and the police will soon converge upon Archibald's country cottage (conveniently located in the same area as Jenny's last haystack) for a surprising ending to Jenny's mysterious adventures.
I've seen this billed as a mystery comedy and a comedic thriller. I'd say it's a romantic, comedic, mystery parody with a thrillerish slant. Four Days' Wonder is Milne's Red House Mystery with a heavy dose of Wodehouse thrown in. And it's perfectly delightful except for one spoilerish item:
Other than my one quibble, I loved the story. The adventure was fun, the characters lively, and the action was fast-moving. I was able to read it in a day and enjoy every minute. There are several turns of phrase and stylistic points that are immediately recognizable as having come from the pen of Pooh's creator--not that the story is childish or juvenile. It was nice to have such a fun mystery parody from a beloved children's author. It was easy to imagine this as a B-movie...and an internet search reveals that such a one was made in 1936. I just might need to see if I can track it down to watch. Great fun as long as you aren't set on a fairly clued murder mystery.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
It was not surprising, then, that Aunt Jane should have been cut short like this; nor was it surprising that Jenny should drift upstairs and find a body in the drawing-room. Jenny was a well-read girl, and knew that people were continually drifting upstairs and finding bodies in the drawing room. (p. 11)
Then Jenny does all the things that one should not do after having discovered a corpse. She absent-mindedly picks up the heavy doorstop covered with blood, wipes it with her hankie, places the castle-shaped item on the piano, hears the current tenants coming in and so drops her hankie (conveniently marked "Jenny"), hides in the deep window, and then--when it's obvious the police are on their way--slips out of the window (leaving a dainty little footprint), and runs away. She then decides that she simply must "get right away" to the country. She will go on a hiking tour. But...she must have funds and extra clothes and she simply can't go home because the police may be hot on her trail right now. So, she contacts her best girl pal and arranges for clothes and to have Nancy pawn her diamond studded watch (conveniently marked with a "J" for Jenny). Nancy is secretary to the famous author Archibald Fenton and, not knowing the ins and outs of pawnbrokers herself, asks him to pawn the watch for her. And so begins a a madcap adventure with several name changes and mistaken identities, a police force who, on the skimpiest of clues, are in search of a short, stout, left-handed culprit of sedentary habits--as well as the missing Jenny.
As Jenny (now known as Gloria Harris and soon to be Naomi Fenton) is wandering from haystack to haystack in the country, she comes across the handsome young Derek Fenton (brother to Archibald). It isn't long before he has been acquainted with her mysterious past and has whole-heartedly thrown his lot in with hers. But they, Nancy, and the police will soon converge upon Archibald's country cottage (conveniently located in the same area as Jenny's last haystack) for a surprising ending to Jenny's mysterious adventures.
I've seen this billed as a mystery comedy and a comedic thriller. I'd say it's a romantic, comedic, mystery parody with a thrillerish slant. Four Days' Wonder is Milne's Red House Mystery with a heavy dose of Wodehouse thrown in. And it's perfectly delightful except for one spoilerish item:
Other than my one quibble, I loved the story. The adventure was fun, the characters lively, and the action was fast-moving. I was able to read it in a day and enjoy every minute. There are several turns of phrase and stylistic points that are immediately recognizable as having come from the pen of Pooh's creator--not that the story is childish or juvenile. It was nice to have such a fun mystery parody from a beloved children's author. It was easy to imagine this as a B-movie...and an internet search reveals that such a one was made in 1936. I just might need to see if I can track it down to watch. Great fun as long as you aren't set on a fairly clued murder mystery.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block. Please request permission before reposting. Thanks.
August 10, 2025
Jenny Windell is surprised to find the body of her Aunt Jane lying dead at theri old home, Auburn Lodge. Aunt Jane was an actress and not very respectable, and Jenny has not seen her for many years. This unexpected discovery starts her off on an unusual adventure which sees her roaming the Kent countryside and sleeping in a haystack. Jenny is an orphan whose father died in WW1, when she was an infant, and he has been Jenny’s imaginary companion in her adventures ever since, known to her as Hussar. Hussar is of course very helpful to Jenny in her present adventure, but she finds some useful human companions too.
This is a very funny and absurd mystery, with Jenny a very endearing heroine and some delightful supporting characters. Great fun.
This is a very funny and absurd mystery, with Jenny a very endearing heroine and some delightful supporting characters. Great fun.
March 22, 2016
It is a really unique novel of a distinctive style. I appreciated the uniquness, but it was really not my cup of tea.
Well, it more or less has a plot... but when you look closely, it doesn't. Or, I mean, it seems like it has a plot (a murder mystory) more or less for giving a chance to the author to write really oddball humour. There were one or two jokes that I was laughing at, but the majority of the book was just too much for me. The sense of humour just was not my style. I felt it was forced and crowded, and the characters were papermaché, and just dumb in order to be funny... like they were not real people even. It did not help that I read it in a Hungarian translation of a really famous Hungarian writer who is famous for his sense of humour, and I felt he deliberately twisted it even more from the original...
Well, it more or less has a plot... but when you look closely, it doesn't. Or, I mean, it seems like it has a plot (a murder mystory) more or less for giving a chance to the author to write really oddball humour. There were one or two jokes that I was laughing at, but the majority of the book was just too much for me. The sense of humour just was not my style. I felt it was forced and crowded, and the characters were papermaché, and just dumb in order to be funny... like they were not real people even. It did not help that I read it in a Hungarian translation of a really famous Hungarian writer who is famous for his sense of humour, and I felt he deliberately twisted it even more from the original...
September 18, 2013
mystery a la PG Wodehouse. very funny!
December 14, 2020
Well, this was a rum little book. Eighteen-year-old orphan Jenny Windell makes a surprise return to her family's old home, now leased to strangers, where she finds her estranged aunt dead. Jenny promptly does everything someone who finds a body shouldn't do, including wiping clean the potential murder weapon, leaving her monogrammed handkerchief in the room, and hiding when the current occupants return. Knowing this makes her look guilty, Jenny goes on the run, with the help of her best friend Nancy. Fortunately Jenny and Nancy remember their childhood games of being spies, and are more than capable of coming up with multiple disguises, fake identities and ciphers to go on the run until the crisis is over. The first half of the book is a riot as the girls outwit the police, the press and everyone else they come across, but it loses pace as some wild coincidences bring the adventure to an end with several hanging threads.
July 9, 2024
A.A. Milne wrote only one mystery, The Red House Mystery, and it was terrific. This is probably the closest he came to writing another mystery, but it's really a comedy of errors. A young girl who has read too many mysteries stumbles across the body of her aunt. Unfortunately her knowledge kicks in too late, before that she has already started tidying up the evidence. Then she realises and she runs.
Overall it was more amusing than funny, and I wish that the resolution was a bit bigger. But overall I'm glad I read it.
Overall it was more amusing than funny, and I wish that the resolution was a bit bigger. But overall I'm glad I read it.
June 3, 2020
Copyright 1933
Written by the Creator of Winnie the Pooh, who honestly would have preferred to be known as an author of other works.
I can’t tell if this novel is meant to be as humorous as it is, but I laughed quite a bit. Our young heroine is as naive and sheltered as a properly brought up well-to-do young lady from a respectable family would be expected. It is her best friend who quite makes this book what it is.
Acetalyne Pitt indeed.
Written by the Creator of Winnie the Pooh, who honestly would have preferred to be known as an author of other works.
I can’t tell if this novel is meant to be as humorous as it is, but I laughed quite a bit. Our young heroine is as naive and sheltered as a properly brought up well-to-do young lady from a respectable family would be expected. It is her best friend who quite makes this book what it is.
Acetalyne Pitt indeed.
December 1, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
July 4, 2020
This is only the second Milne book I've read (the other being THE RED HOUSE MYSTERY, and that was years ago), and I found it to be charming (if one can say that about a story that is centered around a death) and thoroughly delightful. The characters are interesting and often likable, including the members of the police force who completely bungle the solving of the case.
June 30, 2024
That was rather enjoyable. There was the occasional bit of swearing, but not enough to ruin the rest of the book. For the most part it was light and humorous and quite a fun read. For a while I was wondering if it might be worth five stars for entertainment value, but it didn't quite make it – or not this time. It's amusing and engaging and yet not particularly gripping and I had to kind of force myself at times to press on with it when my mind was distracted and wanted to be elsewhere. It took me nineteen days to finish it but in reality I read about 290 of its 320 pages in the final 48 hours. It's a good book for when you are relaxed and have plenty of time on your hands to while away. I will probably enjoy reading it again one day.
September 1, 2019
I should like to give this 3.5 stars. It's an amusing gentle comical read.
March 8, 2020
Not my cup of tea. Would rather stick to Winnie the Pooh.
November 5, 2021
A very lovely and genuinely funny novel. Full of 1933 charm. Loved it :D
January 4, 2023
A fun fast little read.
August 26, 2023
Frothy, silly bit of pre-WW2 whimsy. Amusing in places, but definitely not when it descends into verbal farce, a form of humour I find exasperating rather than, well, humourous.
July 29, 2024
Is it a mystery? It could have been, if anyone else had written it. Now, it just keeps you four days wondering.
November 14, 2025
Cute book written by A A Milne enjoyed the story.
September 23, 2023
"Four Days' Wonder" by A.A. Milne is a delightful escape into the world of whimsy and imagination. This enchanting novel takes readers on a four-day adventure filled with unexpected twists and endearing characters. Milne's masterful storytelling and witty prose keep you engaged from start to finish. The charming blend of mystery and humor creates a captivating narrative that leaves you eager to uncover the next surprise. While some may find the plot a tad predictable, it's the charming characters and Milne's unique narrative style that make this book a timeless classic. "Four Days' Wonder" is a heartwarming and enjoyable read for all ages.
April 9, 2025
Accidentally suspected in a suspicious death, a young woman flees to adventures in the countryside. This book is slightly silly and very entertaining. It is full of Milne's trademark wit.
Mrs. Watterson sighed and said nothing. She had been married for fifty years, and knew that men would always go on being children. This accounted for War and Politics and Sport, and so many things.
It was naturally a disappointment to Archibald to learn that he was a free man again; but he agreed, gracefully enough, that he could not insist on being charged with a murder at which he had not been present, and which, in fact, had not been committed. [(he wanted to be arrested for a bit to get publicity for his new book)]
Mrs. Watterson sighed and said nothing. She had been married for fifty years, and knew that men would always go on being children. This accounted for War and Politics and Sport, and so many things.
It was naturally a disappointment to Archibald to learn that he was a free man again; but he agreed, gracefully enough, that he could not insist on being charged with a murder at which he had not been present, and which, in fact, had not been committed. [(he wanted to be arrested for a bit to get publicity for his new book)]
October 3, 2012
This is such a fun read. It takes some time to figure out what is going on some times due to the vernacular of that time period but it just makes the reading that much more interesting.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews