This story is a sequel to Who-dunce-it?
The crime? Burglary. The stolen goods? Nothing—or so the obscenely wealthy Duchess Clearglass claims. The culprit?
Well, that's Rarity's job. Whether she wants it to be or not.
Reading the previous story is not necessary to enjoy this one, but will provide additional context.
Line of the chapter: “Darling, she harvests her crops by kicking them.”
I thought the first story would be a one-off, but thankfully I was wrong. Really enjoyed this one.
Very nice mystery. And very fair play too!
I can't wait to see more adventures of this investigating duo! (It's great to see more of Detective Rarity!)
A delightfully put-together mystery. I had a faint inkling of what was going on, but you surprised me for the most part. Rarity's positive-sum fee was an especially nice touch. Thank you for this.
Oh wow, a sequel! I loved your previous story and am eager to see where this one is going.
So, I'm guessing Rarity's 'other' services are not what we're supposed to think. Unless they are. Heh.
Oh my! And now a murder!
And that envelope intrigues me. Does Rarity now have a criminal mastermind nemesis? One does hope!
Then does that mean AJ's a terrible farmer on top of everything else? Figures.
It was the Duchess. She set the whole thing up as an excuse for Rarity to come visit because she's obsessed with her. And I guess she killed Hobble to draw off suspicion or something?
Guess I was wrong about the culprit.
I WAS right about the side business, though. Or what it wasn't.
So, what sorts of future mysteries lie in wait for the Great Detective Rarity?
Huh. Nice little parlor mystery. But he thought he could kill five ponies and just leave an emptied-out slaughter-house and the authorities wouldn't be on his tail like Bon-Bon and Clyde?
That was exquisite.
I had to create an account for the first time in seven or so years just to say that these Detective Rarity stories are criminally under-read if the counter is to be believed. They are funny as all hell and decent mysteries as well, which is impressive given their short lengths and farcical character. This particular one reads like Doyle if Doyle had been a comedian. Well done, my dude.
Please continue this series, my good sir. I’ll be on the l🔎🔍k out!
I doubt the Duchess did it; if she really wanted Rarity to visit, she could have just sent an invitation. She even had one already written up, in the silver envelope Rarity found.
The exchange of bits is hil-Rarity and I nearly fell out of my chair.
Oh snap. I figured at first it was just the Griffin looking for a good job as a butler, as an odd motive, but ultimately he and the two new guards are the malarkey crew. The exotic booze isn't the greatest of fortunes, but it's certainly something that was worth stealing, and explains why all the bottles were moved to the town in a cart by the staff.
I'm assuming the twist is that something was left behind, but I'm at a loss as to everything else.
Wow, not even close
There are certain needs that need to be filled. Oftentimes literally.”
Rainbow’s eyebrows raised. “Really? I never pegged you for being into that sort of thing.”
I see what you did there.
I was so happy to see some Detective Rarity stories. I don’t think there are too many, and your writing is good. I’m not done with this particular story, but I can suggest one thing that needed editing.
See this? Initially, I thought incorrect quotation format. The word “Certainly” doesn’t need that ending quotation mark. But then I realized that it would be better if these two paragraphs were simply combined. They’re both very short, so adding them together wouldn’t create anything problematically large.
Also, here, too:
I think that last line is Rainbow, though I’m not 100% certain.
Actually, as I read through the chapter more, I think that’s probably the first critique I can give, you break into way too many small paragraphs, and some of them could (or should) be combined.
Anyway, still loving the story, and I want to see where this goes.
Already a fun opening! This looks promising.
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She's a great farmer! She's just no horticulturalist.
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The idea is to be gone and without witnesses. The police would know something happened, they'd know it was the Malarkey Crew, but they'd still have no idea where the Malarkey Crew are. It was his best bet in a desperate situation.