Joyfully Retired

Written and illustrated by Hannah Berry

Macmillan Publishing, 2009

My Rating: A

Britten and Brulightly is a mystery set in rainy London. The title refers to a partnership of two private investigators. Britten prefers the term “researcher.” Brulightly is the partner who is never seen by the reader although we do hear him talking. Britten is the one we see and hear on every page.

The partners are hired by Charlotte Maughton to investigate the death of her fiance. The police have ruled it a suicide but Charlotte doesn’t buy that. Charlotte knows he was a good and honorable man and one who was excited about their upcoming wedding. She is convinced he would not kill himself.

Britten, along with Brulightly, set out to gather the facts surrounding the dead man’s life. As in all good mysteries, this takes them down various paths. Although the story may sound simple, it is anything but. This is a complex mystery which leads to all sorts of hidden secrets.

The written words make a good story but the pictures make it a spectacular experience. My eyes weren’t only on the words. I was “reading” the pictures as well. The drawings were so perfect for this story as you can see in the sample above. (I apologize for the less than lady-like language.)

The author/illustrator, Hannah Berry, is a true artist. Every page, every picture made me feel the mood of the story. I don’t know enough about art to understand the specific techniques used here but to me it looked like ink drawings that were then water-colored over with color to set the mood. And the mood was like the old-time detective stories, a la Raymond Chandler.

This is my second graphic novel. My nephew Bob thought I would enjoy it since I love mysteries. And, Bob was right. I did enjoy it. I still had trouble occasionally reading the small, cursive writing, but that’s probably me and my inexperience with graphic novels. I also had trouble with the lighting. The pages are slick and any light over the book gave a glow that was difficult to see through. Sitting with the sun at my back was the final solution.

It was slow reading but I was totally absorbed in this book. I strongly recommend this one to you if a.) you like detective novels, and b.) you want to try a graphic novel. Sample pages from the novel are available from the publisher.

Check your public library to see if this book is available. Britten and Brulightly is also available at Amazon.