Judy’s Comments (group member since Oct 01, 2015)

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I have removed a self-promotion post from this thread to our self-promotion thread - just a quick reminder that self-promotion is only allowed in the designated section.

Nominations so far:

Susan: Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm by Gil North

Susan in N.C.: Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth

Jan: Murder of Lydia by Joan A. Cowdroy

Judy: Murder Included by Joanna Cannan

Any more? Last call for nominations before the poll goes up.

I'd like to nominate Murder Included by Joanna Cannan, the first in her Detective Price mystery series.


In the UK this is available on Kindle either on its own for £1.99 or as part of the The Complete Detective Price Mysteries Books 1-5 box set, currently 99p on Kindle. I think these Kindle box sets are usually also available in the US, but can one of our US members please kindly check for me? Both versions are also on Kindle Unlimited in the UK.

First published 1950.
In the prospectus for the Aston Park Guest House and stables, murder is not mentioned among the many attractions. But when a sudden death arrives to upset the family and guests, it seems to become a full-time occupation…Impoverished squire Sir Charles d’Estray brings home his second wife, Bunny, from the French Riviera.A free-spirited and determined bohemian, Bunny commits herself to converting Sir Charles’ estate into a paying guesthouse and dragging his family out of their financial woes. Despite the success of the guesthouse, however, the new Lady d’Estray never quite seems to fit in with the old aristocratic family. One of the guests, an elderly cousin of the Estrays, is found in her bed dead one morning..

Just copying over another self-promotion post which was put in the wrong thread.

A.D. wrote:
I released my debut crime novel 'Pigs Get Slaughtered' last year which has received good reviews. Things have gone a little quiet recently, so to encourage fresh interest, I'm offering the download version for free for just three days. Please take a look and if you choose to read it, I'd be very grateful for a review. Happy reading!

https://mybook.to/PigsGetSlaughtered

Thank you for the nomination, Jan, and thanks for checking the UK availability, Susan. :)

Although I really enjoyed this book overall, I found the ending rather hard to swallow. Could there really be two people who are prepared to attack Helen with such violence?

I also found it hard to believe that blood could be washed off the carpet, walls etc to the extent suggested - blood stains are very hard to get out even when it's just a few drops.

I think I've read about the real case somewhere but am not sure where - maybe I just read the introduction twice! Anyway, I've got the Brand non-fiction book on the way to me so will be interested to hear about her take on the case. I'm not always a big fan of true crime in general, but fiction based on a real crime tends to get me fascinated with the original case.

Enjoy, Sandy! I'll be interested to hear what you think of that little lot. I've heard good things about A Case of Mice and Murder.

I've just read a British Library title that was mentioned in the Shedunnit podcast, Family Matters by Anthony Rolls, but I wasn't a big fan - it's a (sort-of) inverted mystery and there was an awful lot seen from the viewpoint of unpleasant characters for my liking. It's also rather slow. He's a witty writer though.

Jan C wrote: "I have a nominee, also BLCC - Murder in the Museum by John Rowland. It must have been on sale or something because I picked it up. Currently in the US it is $14.99.

..."

Thank you Jan - I have just checked and sadly it looks like this is out of print in the UK in paperback and it's also not on Kindle here. Would you like to nominate something else instead? A shame to see some of the BLCC titles going out of print.

Thank you very much, Susan and Susan, that sounds great re the buddy reads!

Thank you, Susan, that sounds great to me if the other Susan is happy:)

Yes, it was just 2 of us commenting for several Maigret reads so we decided to drop them - also I agree with Sandy that there isn't always much to say even though they are very enjoyable reads. I expect I will read more in the future but wanted a break from them.

Thanks everyone! Susan in N.C., I was thinking we would carry on with the Lord Peter series as buddy reads, so we could schedule The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club for mid-September or mid-October if that works for you? Let me know if you'd prefer to put it in the poll though.

Susan the mod, I was going to add Cat and Mouse by Christianna Brand in mid-September but could make that one October if we do Bellona in September. :)

It's time to nominate for our September group read. Please nominate books which were either written in the Golden Age, or a little earlier or later, or are set in that period. If in doubt whether a title is eligible, just ask.

Only one nomination per group member, and only one book by any individual writer, can be nominated per month, and authors can't nominate their own books. If you aren't sure whether we have read something, the group bookshelves may help, or just ask. If it was at least 3 years ago that we read it, it is fine to re-nominate.

Susan wrote: "I noted from the introduction that Christianna Brand (our old friend) wrote a non-fiction account of the crime this novel was based on. Heaven Knows Who. .."

Thank you, Susan, I had forgotten this from the introduction but couldn't resist ordering a copy - I'll be interested to see how the real story compares and what Brand's take on it is.

Sandy wrote: "This was a reread of a book I didn't like the first (or second?) time.

I'm not even sure this works as a series of short stories, though I suppose each fantastical adventure could stand alone. .."

I'm also not sure they would work alone - I was puzzled to read that they had been published as short stories originally, as I don't think most of them have very satisfying solutions.

I did slightly wonder if some of the chapters might be based on stories from before Hastings was married, as it seems odd for Poirot to be teasing a respectable married man about falling for redheaded women!

I was pleased to see Poirot and Hastings back together too. We really get a feel for how important Hastings's friendship is to Poirot at the start of the book, where he is preparing to travel to Argentina to see him again!

Thanks Neer, in that case I'll try to avoid being tempted by the covers of Hindle's books!

Thanks very much for the introduction and opening this one up, Susan.

Who is reading it? I've just read this and really enjoyed it - a very quick, gripping read. I thought it would be 5 stars for me for most of the book, but then knocked a star off for the ending - but I'll save that for the spoiler thread!

Spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks for opening this up, Susan! I've just finished it during a holiday and am keen to discuss it, so great for me.

The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Carissa wrote: "I read A Fatal Crossing about two months ago and was also disappointed. I had problems with the plot and characters."

I read this one a while ago and was also disappointed - I remember the plot and characters as becoming increasingly unbelievable, with a weird backstory. A shame, I was expecting more after seeing lots about the book. Has anyone tried one of the others by Tom Hindle, and if so were they better than this one?