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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Yes, a three-way tie in the vote at the moment, as Susan said! Please follow the link to vote if you haven't done yet:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Sorry you missed the nominations, Jan, they are usually open for about a week at the start of the month if that's any help

I'm also wondering, does anyone have thoughts about the advantages of contemporary books set in the GA period? We've talked about the weaknesses quite a bit, but can they sometimes take a view from looking back that wasn't apparent at the time? For instance, some country house mysteries written now are more aware of how that lifestyle was about to vanish, and there must be lots of other examples.

The poll for our August read is now open.

Please choose the book you most want to read:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Sarah wrote: "Carolien wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Agreed! When I get an Amazon delivery, I usually get an email from the company asking me to rate the service, but only if the delivery came through Amazon itself, NOT..."

Haha, these commenters remind me of myself when I was a child - I bought a copy of one of Enid Blyton's Secret Seven books in paperback, and it snapped down the middle of the spine when I was halfway through. I decided that the Secret Seven series was rubbish and made sure never to read any more of them! Luckily I had no opportunity to write reviews mixing up the printing quality with the content back in those days ;)

I've started reading our next Shardlake book, Heartstone by C.J. Sansom, and am enjoying it so far - great to be back with these characters.

Thanks for all the nominations, everyone! Sandy, I've just checked and The Cape Cod Mystery is £2.36 on Kindle in the UK.

Nominations so far:

Jill: The Port of London Murders by Josephine Bell

Susan: Murder on Paradise Island by Robin Forsythe

Sandy: The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

Any more nominations? This is the last call, I'll be putting the poll up tomorrow!

Now that we're nearly halfway through the year, I'm just wondering what everyone's favourites are so far in the challenge? My favourite so far has been A Fete Worse Than Death by Dolores Gordon-Smith, which I first read years ago. I like Jack, her hero!

I also quite liked Murder at the Grand Hotel by Isabella Bassett, which has stuck in my mind more than I thought it would, and The Frangipani Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu.

Just as a reminder, the books in the challenge are:
Jan: Stealing the Crown: T P Fielden
Feb: A Fete Worse Than Death: Dolores Gordon-Smith
March: Murder at the Grand Hotel: Isabella Bassett
April: Murder at the Spring Ball: A 1920s Mystery: Benedict Brown
May: The Frangipani Tree Mystery (Crown Colony Book 1) by Ovidia Yu
June: The Case of the Canterfell Codicil: PJ Fitzsimmons
July: Burying the Crown: T P Fielden
August: Mad About the Boy?: Dolores Gordon-Smith
September: A Body at a Boarding School: A 1920s Mystery: Benedict Brown
October: Death in the Garden: Isabella Bassett
November: The Betel Nut Tree Mystery (Crown Colony Book 2) by Ovidia Yu
December: The Case of the Ghost of Christmas Morning: PJ Fitzsimmons

Glad to hear you enjoyed this one, Susan in NC.I didn't really like it at all and it is my least favourite in the challenge so far - with most of the other authors, I've found the books entertaining even if there were bits I didn't like, but I found this one quite boring.

I thought most of the characters too similar to each other and found it hard to care about the plot. I thought the bit in the ending where Anty gets the confession was clever, but the rest of it was just dull. I did find it perfect bedtime reading though, as I usually felt sleepy after a few pages!

Craftyhj wrote: "My review of this one was "Quite fun but a few too many anachronisms for me". .."

HJ, I agree - I also thought there were too many anachronisms, errors in language, etc. I also got irritated with the writer constantly spelling "Mister" like that - why not write "Mr" like every other author? It's so distracting. (Well, it distracted me, anyway.) I suppose at least we didn't get "Missus" as well! Maybe I'll try the audiobook for the second in this series and see if I get on better that way.

I also think, as Susan in NC mentioned earlier, the author made a bit of a mistake in comparing himself with Wodehouse, since his writing style can't compare with the master. He seems to be trying too hard for my taste, with a lot of bizarre descriptions and heavy-handed humour that slow the story down too much. For instance, I noticed there was a two-page description of who ate what for breakfast at one point!

Yes, the ending was a bit convoluted (I'm already forgetting the ins and outs of it!) and I agree it's a shame he gives up his bookshop, Sandy. But I really enjoyed the writing style and the characters, as you say.

I'm about halfway through now and must admit this one isn't doing a lot for me. I don't actively dislike it, but am just finding it a bit boring. I feel Clara Benson gets the Wooster vibe a bit better and find Freddy much funnier than Anty, although I know not everyone likes those books. As you say, Sandy, humour is very personal.

Good point about there not being many servants in this book, Susan - then again, maybe they have all been laid off as part of the household's economies!

It's time to nominate for our August 2024 group read (posting this slightly early as I'm going out early tomorrow). Please only nominate books written and published in the Golden Age period, or a little earlier or later - if in doubt whether a title is eligible, please ask. As usual, just one nomination per group member, and only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month.

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 renominate.

Good to hear you enjoyed it, Susan. I'll look for more by this writer too, as it was an enjoyable read. I think this author gets the mix of humour and mystery just right.

I find the problem for me is that, if I leave a book too long, I often forget who everyone is and what has happened and have to start again! But that wasn't an issue for me with this one. :)

Susan in NC wrote: "Seemed very Wodehouse, but I always feel it’s so easy to miss the mark when copying a master!..."

That's true, as seen with all the sequels to classics by other authors, although I am sometimes tempted to try those and have found a few I've liked over the years.

I have come across people called Anthony who are known as "Ant" and indeed there is a famous Ant on British TV, but I haven't met an "Anty" as yet!

Carol, oh no, sorry to hear about the illness, but glad you loved Fiji all the same. It always looks so beautiful in photos, TV shows etc... anyway, I hope you and your sisters are feeling better now.

Yes, the year is racing by! Thanks for the introduction and opening this up, Susan.

I'm currently reading this - not too sure what I think as yet, as I have quite a long way still to go, but there's a lot of humour.

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

Good idea, Susan. Thanks for the introduction. I've read this one and really enjoyed it too - the first book I've read by this author.

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

P.S. I'm now reading our forthcoming challenge book, The Case of the Canterfell Codicil. Very light and humorous so far.

I have finished reading Ask a Policeman by The Detection Club which was quite a fun read, with Anthony Berkeley writing the Wimsey chapter and Sayers writing the Roger Sheringham chapter.

There is also an essay by Agatha Christie about detective fiction at the start - in no way related but the publisher has put it in so they can put her name on the cover! But anyway it's very entertaining - according to the introduction by Martin Edwards, she wrote it for a Russian magazine and knew her Detection Club colleagues wouldn't see it, so she could be frank.

She is generally enthusiastic about the other writers she mentions, but complains about Wimsey's romance with a "tiresome young woman called Harriet" and criticises some writers' plots.