Craftyhj’s Comments (group member since Dec 08, 2022)

Craftyhj’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I'm about 60% through An English Murder by Cyril Hare.

I am loving it - it is so sharp and doesn't pull any punches as it explores the dwindling upper classes in post-war Britain.

Susan wrote: "Good to hear. We are buddy reading Hare's Pettigrew series. There are not many, but you will find the discussion threads in the buddy reads thread if you are interested.

These are titles if you w..."

Interesting - maybe I shall see if I can catch up.

I havre just finished these stories this morning. Like other readers I worked my way through reading just a couple at a time.

I do love a good short story and some of these are indeed good. My favourite was Miss Burnside's Dilemma.

A standard school exam text here in the UK in the 1980s was a book called Twentieth-Century Short Stories. Although the stories in it are longer than in this Hare collection it first awoke my interest in short stories.

This was my first encounter with Cyril Hare but I will definitely read him again.

I've never read any other books in this series - will that be a problem or are they standalone?

I always apply the "live next door" principle. I would definitely prefer to live next door to Marple than Poirot. I would be much more confident that she would feed the cat and put out the bins when I was on holiday!

An eclectic mix Abigail. 100+ years on and I'm not sure any of us can understand WW1. Both of my grandfathers fought in it throughout but neither of them ever spoke about it. That seemed to be a common coping mechanism.

Abigail wrote: "Nice to see you in this group, Crafty!

This book is next on my list."

😀 you can't beat a Marple

My first book in the group completed. I have loved GAC books since I was a teenager and Christie remains the true Queen of Crime.

Marple is my favourite Christie detective so this was an excellent start to the year.

Mansfield Park for me. I always like to start the year with an Austen.