The Man Who Loved Lions by Ethel Lina White is a very strange story that takes place over the course of one evening. I was intrigued by the various plot points – a Gothic country house with a private zoo, a long planned reunion, and wartime blackouts. These, along with a varied mix of characters drew me in to the unusual story.

It is 1941 and our heroine, Ann has come to the country house of Ganges to reunite with a group of university acquaintances. Her main reason for coming is to meet up with Stephen, the man she has thought about for the last seven years. But the host of the reunion is a dark and twisted soul who seems to have other plans for the evening, and Ann is certain that someone is going to be murdered before the night is through. Unfortunately the story was a little too jumbled and convoluted to make much sense, but at the same time, I had to continue to read as I wanted to see how everything was going to pan out.

The Man Who Loved Lions is certainly an unusual story. We have characters tripping around in the dark avoiding the lions, tigers, bears and crocodiles while they exchange threats and warnings. The story was obviously leading the reader toward a murder but it took until the last 5 percent of book for a death to actually occur. As for Stephen, he didn’t show up until the last sentence. ( )