James Scott Byrnside's Blog, page 11

Lending the Key to the Locked Room

Tokuya Higashigawa’s Lending the Key to the Locked Room is a humorous, rather gentle take on the impossible-crime murder mystery. It doesn’t function well as a whodunnit (thanks to the paucity of suspects), but I feel as if it would be unfair to judge it on that basis. What it does exceedingly well is present… Continue reading Lending the Key to the Locked Room

The Judas Window

Wow! John Dickson Carr’s The Judas Window is a ripping impossible-crime whodunnit filled with bristling suspense and intelligence. It’s the best Carr I’ve read since The Problem of the Green Capsule and my first unquestionable masterpiece of 2021. Believe me, I needed one! The Problem: It’s the kind that’s keeps you reading deep into the… Continue reading The Judas Window

The Plague Court Murders

Because The Plague Court Murders has plenty of enjoyable elements, I’d like to begin with its main flaw, one I consider entirely unnecessary, and one which has recently put me off reading another book. We’re talking about the legend…excuse me…THE LEGEND. It works like this. 80 (or 700) years ago, this curse/murder/impossible event happened. Now,… Continue reading The Plague Court Murders

I’ve just been taking a little break

It’s been a rough month. Besides contracting Covid and (worse) my mother getting it and going into the hospital, the bad-news Gods performed their usual magic last week and took Jinxy from me. In 2002, both of my cats died, leading me to forever give up on pets of any kind. The pain of saying… Continue reading I’ve just been taking a little break

Death in the House of Rain

Some of the best murder mysteries play out like nightmares. There’s a narrative point when all the clues, suspects, and blood turn meaningless. I’m thinking of the multiple confessions in Death of Jezebel or the second beautifully presented murder in Whistle Up the Devil. It’s a challenge to ground a story in reality and then… Continue reading Death in the House of Rain

Review for Vampire

I’ve been very satisfied with my Booksirens review service. It’s effective at gathering a wide array of reader-types to get an honest consensus at a very affordable price. The quality of the reviews varies greatly, but they’re generally good at summarizing the strengths/weaknesses and describing the genre and style. One of my favorite reviews was… Continue reading Review for Vampire

Fear and Trembling (along with a 2020 wrap up)

Brian Flynn’s Fear and Trembling is an entertaining murder mystery with perhaps a bit more of the procedural about it than most of the books I read. Its primary strength is the personality of our Detective Anthony Bathurst who approaches his job with nary a hint of the tortured mentality afflicting so many brilliant sleuths.… Continue reading Fear and Trembling (along with a 2020 wrap up)

For readers who like it rough: Madball (1953)

“…see everything, boys, I mean everything, the sex mystery exposed, red hot, sex in the raw, everything explained, plain down to earth unadorned, right before your very eyes, now it can be told, what papa did to mama, one dime only one dime, come and see for yourselves, the mystery of sex, only for a… Continue reading For readers who like it rough: Madball (1953)

The Honjin Murders

Seishi Yokomizo’s The Honjin Murders is a bloody locked-room whodunnit containing a lot of the typical tricks of our favorite murder mysteries. Like the best of the genre, it carries with it the somber feeling of old wounds causing present-day murder while still being self-aware enough to discuss it’s own genre playfully. (I don’t even… Continue reading The Honjin Murders

Merry Christmas

It may not be the one we were expecting, but here’s hoping yours is joyous nonetheless. I hope you all choose a delightful murder mystery and an equally delightful place to curl up and read it. Mine will be The Honjin Murders which I ordered 57 years ago and has only recently arrived in the… Continue reading Merry Christmas