Group Read with Kevvie! discussion

Share your thoughts on the first four chapters of The Great Mistake in this thread.

Good morning! I am through the first four chapters!! So far, we are being introduced to the cast of characters but don’t yet have details on what happened! Very entertaining so far! This book was written in 1940 but has a more modern feel to it in the writing.. though I don’t know anyone who has large dinner parties or a pool house/play room! 😍😍😍

Looking forward to reading the next section!!!

Only four chapters in and the mystery is already starting! Who was the peeping tom? Who was the trespasser at the Farm? What was in the blue envelope? What could have possibly happened in town to make Maud so ill?

One of my favorite things about Rinehart is how her mysteries build. They start out with small, seemingly insignificant things like the above, and gradually the stakes are raised. I'm already fascinated by Maud's character, and intrigued by the dynamic between Beverly and the Hill.

Sandy, I agree. Despite the book being 80 years old it doesn't feel dated.

Excited to see what happens next, and to hear y'all's thoughts so far!

The first four chapters have completely drawn me in! I agree that it definitely feels far more modern in style and tone. I wasn’t expecting a first-person perspective but I like Pat’s voice and am enjoying meeting Maud through her eyes and the tantalising hints she keeps dropping about the tragedy to come! What has happened to Maud to make such a huge change in her? Money has been mentioned as an issue and what was in that letter? I have to say I am LOVING the glamour and the era - the super wealthy are always fascinating. I found Lydia’s warning to Pat about not letting them ruin her and that “Too much money can be pretty devastating” really intriguing and seems to be a touch of foreshadowing! Looking forward to reading on!

Jac, I'm so happy you're enjoying it so far! So far all the Rinehart mysteries I've read have been first-person. It goes hand-in-hand with all the foreshadowing which is Rinehart's signature "had-I-but-known" style of mystery writing. Glad you're receptive to it!

I just finished the first 4 chapters and I am intrigued!
What was in the envelope Tony took? Did he already know about whatever it was?
Why is Maud feeling ill?
I am also loving the opulence of the time, and it doesn't feel dated to me.
Kevvie, when you wrote 80 years ago, I kind of shocked me. This story does not feel that long ago.
I am also enjoying the story from Pat's perspective.

Leane, glad you like it so far! Great questions. Tony does seem to have an idea what the letter is, otherwise why would he act so strangely about it? Looking forward to your thoughts on the next section!

I got through all four chapters I'm going into the 5th chapter but my thought is, I will the back to the very beginning and read the whole thing over again because I honestly thought mod was Pat or Patricia and they have a very different the author has a very different way of writing and I had to check again when this book was published it was published in 1940 so the the way that it's being written and the format and everything else it's like right now I give the book A2 star rating it might get better if I can if I can get through the first four chapters again but for the meantime I'm giving it to cuz I got lost a great deal in translation.

Kellie, I'm sorry to hear you're not enjoying it so far. Are you going to continue with it?

Just finished chapter 4. So far so good - I'm intrigued :) I like the way she's piling hints and introducing characters.

Yay Leo I'm glad you're enjoying it!

This is a great start to the mystery! There are interesting characters, questions to answer, suspicious happenings and a great POV. Maid is a fascinating woman to read about so I’m interested to see why she is feeling ill and how this progresses.

Just finished the first four chapters and I'm intrigued. I was drawn into the story immediately. I can't help comparing it to The Window at the White Cat (1910) that I read a couple weeks ago. There are 30 years between the books which could account for it, but this book feels very different. I like Pat and that we get the story from her perspective. I love the hints about the tragedy that will happen. Very interesting.

I am also very intrigued by the title and the comments about a "great mistake" made in chapter 1. "...lonely against that panoply of wealth, kind and totally unarmed against the world. Perhaps that was why she made her great mistake. For make it she did, with terrible results. Someone has said that murder is the great mistake, the one irrevocable error any individual can make. We were to have murder, of course. But behind our crimes there lay that curious helplessness of Maud Wainwright and her inability to see evil in any individual, man or woman."

Dang, that's such a beautiful passage! I love the the question of "what is the great mistake?" is a constant, looming in the back of my mind while reading it. Once we know the great mistake, it will all come together...

Kevvie wrote: "Dang, that's such a beautiful passage! I love the the question of "what is the great mistake?" is a constant, looming in the back of my mind while reading it. Once we know the great mistake, it wil..."

I am also intrigued by that little word "our" in "our crimes."

I definitely have a different take of Pat and Maud, I really thought they were the same person. It did help a lot to reread.
I think Tony is mean regarding the letter.. No need to bite off Pat's head. I sure hope Maud is gonna be ok. 😉🤨 Its hard, I kind of curious how she got to be so filthy rich!