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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Jan C wrote: "I've only read her Sara/Sally Keate stories, some of which were made into movies...."

Thanks, Jan, I may try those as I really liked Postmark Murder, so would like to read more by Mignon G. Eberhart. It is a bit slow to get going but then builds up the tension - it's set in Chicago around Christmas in the 1950s and has a strong post-war feel to it, with the plot involving displaced people from Poland.

I'm now reading Fire in the Thatch by E.C.R. Lorac, set in Devon towards the end of WW2, and enjoying that so far as well.

Agreed, Chris, I found it quite fun despite the crazy plot.

ChrisGA wrote: "It wasn't surprising that "Cousin Zoe"did such an excellent job of acting in the stage presentation. She managed to wrap Roger around her little finger in her portrayal of poor ,endangered damsel..."

Very true, Chris, great points there! I had to laugh when the retired judge turns up at the end and discusses how stupid Roger's actions were and how he actually thought he might be the killer! I had given this 2 stars because of the outrageous plot and the sheer number of coincidences, but am going to change to 3 as it was entertaining despite everything.

I'm reading Postmark Murder by Mignon G. Eberhart - the first book by her that I've tried. I'm finding it a compelling read so far, although there was a lot of back story to take in over the first few pages.

I enjoyed Roger Sheringham and the Vane Mystery too, Carissa - Berkeley is such an entertaining writer! Unfortunately editions of his books seem to appear and then disappear again, as with Christianna Brand.

Sad to hear about all the devastation caused by Helene. Best wishes to Jan, Susan and all those in the areas affected.

I thought she was a child at first too, Sandy, and got slightly confused - I had to re-read that bit.

Ah, thanks for the reminder about Poppy saving Caroline in the first book, Sandy.

Yes, some of the attitudes seem much earlier than in books published just a few years later, I agree, Susan.

On a completely different subject, I started off reading an ebook of the DSP edition that I borrowed from my library, but the text was rather faint and spindly so I was struggling. I then bought one of the ebooks which contains several books by Haynes and found the font much easier to read (I went for one from e-art now as I think I've bought something from them in the past, but there are several different ones).

Sandy wrote: "And I can see Caroline's friends in with access to inside information will always be important. A bit like Mrs. Pargeter's husband's associates but less amusing. ..."

Great comparison, Sandy, thanks for that!

Re your other comments, I was also surprised to see the golden platypus turning up again. I belatedly realised I was mistaken first time around, as I'd thought it was a small gold statue of a platypus rather than an actual animal!

I enjoyed Poppy's personality in the first book but don't remember how much she did in the mystery. I'm finding the will they/won't they relationship with James a bit annoying, wonder how many books it goes on for before something happens.

I quite enjoyed this but was disappointed that we see so little of Poppy, Caroline's friend, who was a stand-out character in the previous book.

Also a bit of a pain when Caroline keeps confronting different characters and then discovering they are not the culprit after all!

I'm about halfway through now and am also finding it rather old-fashioned and melodramatic compared to other mysteries from the same era, but it's very readable anyway.

I've already posted this in the White Swan general chat thread, but thought I'd post it in the deals thread as well:

Apparently it's Historical Mystery Day today and various books are available free for a couple of days - they have to be downloaded via Bookfunnel from the special website (although it could be worth checking to see if any are free on other sites).
https://books.bookfunnel.com/hmdfreeb...

Thank you for posting the introduction and setting up the threads, Susan. I'm only a few pages into this book but must say it has an intriguing start.

Who is reading this one? The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thank you for the introductions and opening up our new threads, Susan.

I've read this one and rather enjoyed it - it's very light and frothy but I must have been in the mood for that! Who else is reading it?

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

Apparently it's Historical Mystery Day today and various books are available free for a couple of days - they have to be downloaded via Bookfunnel from the special website (although it could be worth checking to see if any are free on other sites).
https://books.bookfunnel.com/hmdfreeb...

I thought it was rather over the top, as you say, Pamela, but I quite enjoyed it all the same. Chris, I'll admit I found the violence at the school a bit slapstick and didn't take it all that seriously, but if the headmaster had really hit them with the cricket bat then it would have been a different story.

I've started our next challenge title, Death in the Garden by Isabella Bassett - very light so far, like the first in the series.

Great, thank you Susan :)

Sandy wrote: "This may be my favorite Maigret yet (though I might have said that before). ..."

I agree, Sandy, I thought this one was great. It's very interesting to see Maigret as an outsider, without his normal support structures, feeling unsure about his own abilities at times.

I thought the telephone trick seemed amazingly modern - the idea of keeping a phone line open and following what's going on doesn't seem like something from that era at all but it's definitely tense, as you say.

I was interested to see that Maigret feels relieved to get back to the Loire and his new life at the end - we know he will end up back in Paris to carry on for another 50 books, but clearly it will be a bit of a wrench for him, and for Mme Maigret of course.