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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I'm over halfway now and must admit I'm finding it a struggle to listen to - it's so slow and full of rambling dialogue. Wishing I'd gone for a print or ebook version now, although I do love the way Hugh Fraser reads it.

Ninie, I should have said, the reason they'll be public domain in the UK (as I understand it) is that Lorac died in 1958 so 2029 will be 70 years + 1 which is the rule here. But one of her books, Two-Way Murder, was published for the first time in 2021 so it won't apply to that one which will be in copyright until 70 years after that!

Kajehas, thanks for the info about Hoopla having Lorac books - useful to know for all the countries that have it. We don't have it in the UK but we do have a different library ebook platform, Libby (used to be Overdrive).

Murder on the Oxford Road isn't on Kindle in the UK sadly, only in paperback for just under £10 but reviews say the books from that publisher are on grey paper and look like Xeroxes!

A shame Lorac hasn't been taken up by a publisher who is willing to publish all her books. I believe most of them will be public domain in the UK from 2029 but have no idea if that will make a difference!

I really got into this one too, and loved it overall but was slightly disappointed by the ending. Frances, I must agree with you that it's unlikely Cecily would send her daughter to the house under the circumstances. I also thought it was too far-fetched for Edna to be so heavily involved - covering up for her husband is one thing, but for her actually to commit a copycat murder seemed too much.

Sandy, I also thought this felt a bit like a series ending with the sudden resolution of the Edgar/Emma/Ruby love triangle. I felt quite sorry for Ruby in the end - we saw a different side to her character after all the mentions of her being self-absorbed. It was a shame about Max and Mrs M.

I can hardly wait to read the next book despite the issues with the plot.

Enjoy, Sandy! I keep leaving long gaps between Wolfe and Archie books, but they are always great to come back to.

The Great Deceiver by Elly Griffiths, Book 7 in our Brighton Mysteries buddy read series, is currently 99p in the UK (a Black Friday offer apparently - it seems to run all month here! )

Halfway through (I was interrupted by having to finish something for my real-life book club) and I must say I am absolutely loving this. There's just something about the writing that makes it hard to put down. I will have to try Griffiths' other series too.

I do wonder why this one seems to have been forgotten as a play! You'd think Poirot on stage would have an appeal.

Thanks for confirming you don't think we had anything about Stanwood asking Ruth for help, Ninie. Ironic that she started helping him later on...

Yes I was worried that might happen too, Susan - pleased that the author resisted the obvious.

That's true. Susan, and maybe there will be a tribute later.

Writing my previous post, it just struck me that Ruth and Naomi are totally devoted in the Bible. So the names in this novel have an irony to them, as the sisters' relationship is very different from the Biblical one between their namesakes.

I agree the resolution was interesting, but I felt as if it came somewhat out of the blue - I don't think we had been told much about Stanwood's wife dying, or about him asking Ruth for help in the past, had we?

I was also a bit puzzled by the Ruth/Brandon relationship - it sounded as if she was in love with him but wouldn't agree to have sex with him, but I don't think it was explained if she just hated the idea altogether or wanted to wait for marriage. It seemed quite strange that Naomi would get involved with him at all, knowing her sister was in love with him. Even if the love triangle didn't quite ring true, though, I do always really enjoy Lorac's writing.

There's a lot about several characters feeling very tired and being unable to sleep in this book - it's mentioned so much that I'm slightly wondering if the author was having trouble sleeping and couldn't resist writing about it!

Also bit odd that we had two Roberts in this one, Macdonald and one of the Surray family. A good job that Macdonald is always referred to by his surname.

The policewoman is Emma - she seems to be coming in a lot in the early part of this book. I like her too.

I've just started and was thinking the same about this series tending to be in winter, Frances - very appropriate for us at this time of year, but it would be nice to have one about Brighton in summer in the future!

I read the novel Tracks in the Snow by Godfrey Rathbone Benson, first published in 1906, because it's mentioned in The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards, but I found it pretty disappointing. It's more of a thriller than a whodunnit, but it's rather dry and slow for a thriller, and the writer has a very rambling style.

For anyone who didn't see this, Susan_MG mentioned in our River of Darkness discussion the sad news that Rennie Airth died a couple of months ago. I've been looking for an obituary but didn't find one, just brief mentions on a few websites that he died in September, aged 90.

I've read about a third of this now and there have been lots more references to their previous adventures. I'm definitely finding it rather slow and repetitive, but quite enjoying it all the same for the humour and the relationship between Tommy and Tuppence.

I've just finished this and really enjoyed it, even though I totally agree that I also don't like searches for psychotic killers. The writing style was so good that it carried me through. I was pleased that we didn't see things from the killer's viewpoint.

I do also agree that it's odd to see people in the police force still so keen to have Madden helping 11 years on, but I do think he's a great character.

Thanks Sandy, that's interesting re Maigret.