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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Re my question about covers, I've just found a page which shows the dust jackets of the early editions. You need to scroll down to see them. There is a plot summary at the top but that was hidden below a spoiler warning when I looked.

The first UK edition was the one at the very top of the thread, with a bear and a mask, but I prefer the first UK reprint with a woman (Tuppence?) holding a gun. The early US editions all featured a man playing chess.
https://www.nocloo.com/secret-adversa...#!

I've started rereading this one and am enjoying it - I agree that it's a fun light adventure. The way Tommy and Tuppence talk to each other is sometimes a bit like Wodehouse characters, with all the "old bean" etc!

I could do with a list of characters in this book - there are a lot of them and several subplots going on. I need to read more quickly so I can keep track of everyone.
Actually I've just noticed that the Wikipedia page for this book has a list of characters, so that may come in useful although I'm always wary of spoilers on Wikipedia.
And I actually just spotted a possible spoiler, so I won't go back unless I'm totally confused...

I found Hemingway a bit too pleased with himself at times, is it just me?

Ha, I thought it was a mysterious expression I hadn't heard of, but autocorrect is always on the lookout to "correct" us!

Abigail wrote: "I love the brio of Innes’s language and the vivid eccentricity of his minor characters. One thing that bothered me a little was the divergence in tone between the sections of the story that focused on Sir John (lighthearted, amusing) and the sections that focused on Judith (suspenseful, almost melodramatic). I sensed a latent sexism behind that divergence—the female character seen by the author as a vulnerable potential victim, the male character as a confident doer...."

This hadn't struck me but yes, I can see what you mean about the changing tone in different sections, although actually John Appleby could well have ended up as a victim as things turn out.

I rather liked the sections with Judith travelling along with the police and trying to find him, because it was so tense and exciting, even though I can see that it is very far-fetched for them to take her. It slightly reminds me of Esther travelling with the detective Mr Bucket in Bleak House, the sort of nightmare atmosphere that builds up.

Abigail wrote: "This book also makes reference to Hamlet, Revenge! one of Innes’s early mysteries. I think it’s also set at Scamnum Court. The name rang a gellband at first..."

Oh yes, good catch, I thought it sounded familiar but wasn't sure where it came from. (I've never heard of "rang a gellband", guessing it is another way of saying "rang a bell" though!)

Sorry to be slow in announcing the result again, but we have a winner. It's Murder by Matchlight by E.C.R. Lorac, which will be our September group read.

Full results:
Murder by Matchlight (Robert MacDonald, #26) 8 votes, 44.4%

Gaudy Night (Lord Peter Wimsey, #12) 5 votes, 27.8%

The Polo Ground Mystery 5 votes, 27.8%

As we've had some fun with covers over in the Georgette Heyer thread, has anyone got any good covers for Tommy and Tuppence's first appearance? I've seen a couple of pretty bad/generic ones on Amazon.

I didn't suspect the right person for a long time, because his type of humour was so similar to the style of romantic heroes in some of the other books - but then I realised that he hadn't fallen in love with anyone, so he might be suspicious after all!

That outfit, or lack of outfit, is very much a 60s cover!

Susan in NC wrote: "I don’t think my paperback cover is much better: "

Maybe a bit better but still rather anonymous - it would be great to see covers with more character.

I've just started this one and am enjoying it so far. Susan, I've previously listened to Derek Jacobi reading one and loved his narration. I know those versions are abridged but I think they are still great to listen to.

Does anyone else think that a lot of the covers of the Georgette Heyer mysteries are terrible? The edition I read has the cover shown at the top of this thread, with a lot of pink, and a random woman wearing loads of make-up, who I think may be looking into a mirror. Nothing to do with the story. If publishers came up with some better covers, more people might discover this series! Sorry, rant over.

Jill wrote: "... and then the notion that a police commissioner would surge ahead in pursuit of a criminal, let alone a whole gang of them without back up, I found ridiculous ..."

I do agree this is very far-fetched. This kind of thing often seems to happen in novels like this, and I was enjoying the characters and atmosphere, so I just let myself be carried along with it, but I can see your point.

I hadn't realised Midgeholme was a place name, thank you, Rosina! I don't think there is an Alston in this, although there are a lot of characters - I thought I might have to make a list, but then one of the detectives helpfully recapped on who everyone is.

That's intriguing about it referring to a non-Appleby book, thank you, Rosina. Would you recommend From London Far? I see it has quite a few enthusiastic reviews. Elements of the plot sound vaguely similar to something else I've read, but I'm not sure what!

Can you believe we're already up to the 18th Maigret book, and yet we're still quite early in the series?

Who's going to be reading this one? I haven't started it yet but am sure it will be a compelling read, as usual.

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

Not many left in this much-loved series. Who is reading this one? I've borrowed it from the library but haven't started yet.

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

Looking forward to reading the Tommy and Tuppence books together - I've only read the first couple, so it will be good to finally read the rest!

Who is reading this one? I haven't reread it as yet, but plan to do so.
The spoiler thread is linked below:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...