In 1920 England, Lord Algernon Sloughshire is found murdered in his country estate, with the aforementioned single spaghetti strand as the apparent murder weapon.  Its up to the bumbling Detective Inspector Ferguson to round-up the usual suspects among Lord Sloughshire's family and guests and ferret-out the killer.

     Credit is due to Herholz for giving us a nice, new take on this popular genre. The author takes the very standard British murder mystery format familiar to all fans of Agatha Christie or episodes of PBS's Mystery Theatre, and infuses it with a well-balanced blend of humor, intriguing plot details and fresh characterization.  The plot steadily builds as suspect-after-suspect is focused upon and found innocent, leading to a well-played and humorous answer to our whodunnit-using-food mystery.

     I was particularly impressed with two elements of the story structure.  First, Herholz demonstrates ability as author-artist to infuse a nice sense of mystery genre humor with a skillfully-produced, wide range of effective character facial expressions.  As I've mentioned in previous reviews, it takes a quality artist to convey plot meaning and dialogue with a mere exasperated glance or a devious narrowing of the eyes, a pattern that's produced throughout this story with effective and often very humorous results.

     Secondly, good British-style mystery needs a certain element of English theatrical farce blended into its humor.  Herholz brings this ingredient to the plot in two ways; first, giving us a funny, two-page introductory biography of the cast of characters, and secondly, making Detective Inspector Ferguson completely unwitting in his bumbling misinterpretation of clues and evidence that practically screams correct answers at him regarding plot mysteries.  I also liked the addition in the third, shorter story of the more sane, logical Assistant Inspector Jenkins to assist and balance-out Ferguson in his sleuthing mishaps.

     So an enthusiastic thumbs-up for our first mystery comic review of the week.

DC's House Of Mystery comic title has a very long and distinguished pedigree.  Originating as a horror series in 1951, DC revamped the title for a storied 1960's Silver Age run, featuring at times The Martian Manhunter and the Dial H For Hero series, before reverting to its horror and suspense heritage.    

The current House Of Mystery is published through DC's Vertigo line.  Issue #10 is the fifth and final part of a five-issue story arc entitled "Love Stories For Dead People."  Its written by Matthew Sturges with pencils by Luca Rossi, inks by Jose Marzan, Jr. and colors by Lee Loughridge.
 
The main character in this series is Bethany "Fig" Keeler, a former college architecture student who is trapped in The House Of Mystery, a creepy Victorian mansion where the action centers in the house bar.  The bar's inhabitants include an array of aliens and past and future humans, who take turns telling their stories and dealing one way or another with the situation of their supernatural imprisonment.
 
Issue #10's plot is a bit difficult to completely comprehend as a stand-alone story within this setting.  The best summary of it is to say that Fig, her Dad and two apparent friends are pursued though The House of Mystery by a demon that is somehow psychically connected with a very messed-up, battered woman who ultimately teams-up with the bar's inhabitants to save the day.
 
I like this current take on the House Of Mystery comic world for two main reasons.  First, the atmosphere of the basic setting has a nice resemblance to the gothic Victorian settings of horror master H.P. Lovecraft's stories, as well as Edgar Allen Poe's classic stories such as "The Fall Of The House Of Usher."  Secondly, writer Sturges has wedded this classic horror theme with a well-known science fiction/fantasy plotting element of bringing together characters from across space and time to tell their personal tales to each other and jointly address the story action.  Two famous science fiction works along this line include L. Sprague DeCamp's "Tales From Gavagan's Bar" and Spider Robinson's "Callihan's Crosstime Saloon."
 
I also liked the offering of a 6-page second story in this issue that follows the 16-page main story.  Entitled "Fig's Adventure In Stuffytown," the production by writers Bethany and Peter Keele with artist Kyle Baker offers a cute children's fantasy tale with an underlying life lesson, starring Fig in her childhood years.
 
So all in all, we have two excellent mystery comics for your recommended reading this week, one in the tradition of whodunnit suspense and one in a more gothic, creepy yet fun reading mode.  King Leonardo plans on reading both and recommends that you do, too!