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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Sandy wrote: "My only observation is that we have had much more likely elderly murders."

Yes, I agree, although I thought we couldn't really tell what she was like, as Chrissy was so convinced she was incapable of doing anything! I didn't guess it was her, did anyone else?

I'll add one more book to the mix: This Delicate Murder: A Golden Age Mystery by Henrietta Clandon aka Vernon Loder (real name John George Hazlette Vahey), first published in 1936 and reissued by Dean Street Press.

The narrator of This Delicate Murder is Penny Mercer, murder-mystery author. She and novelist-husband Vincent are invited by Lionel Fonders to a shooting-party at Chustable Manor, where the other guests are mostly fellow-writers of various types. But Penny and Vincent become embroiled in a vexing murder case when their host is fatally shot in the field. Fonders was not generally beloved, but it is Vincent himself who becomes the chief suspect in his host’s unnatural death.

In his attempt to clear himself, he enlists the help of clever attorney and amateur sleuth William Power to find the fiend who put paid to Fonders. With so many jealous authors at hand, the field of suspicion is wide. Can you keep pace with Power?

Thank you for the nominations so far. We have:

Susan in NC: The Belfry Murder by Moray Dalton

Jill: The Blind Side by Patricia Wentworth

Jan C: Murder in Blue by Clifford Witting

Any more? I'd like to put the poll up tomorrow so this is your last chance :)

No discussion in the spoiler thread for this book yet - just posting the link to it in case anyone wants to discuss the ending!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

We haven't had any spoilers in this thread, so no worries so far, but just thought I'd post the link to the spoiler thread - probably better to continue any discussions of later plot points over there to be on the safe side. :)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's time to nominate for our June 2024 group read! 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.

Susan in NC wrote: "I agree about the children’s book feel, good point! I also wonder if it was wise making the elder half of the detective duo so old - kind of limits the series right off. I remember reading Christie..."

I think that's true but the grandfather seems to be in pretty good health and ready for adventures. It's Chrissy who thinks he is ancient, and Chrissy is a teenager, so I suppose that's not all that surprising! On the note at the end, I found that touching too, but didn't really see it as trying to sway readers since it was at the end.

I've started reading The Mystery of the Sorrowful Maiden by Kate Saunders, which I'm enjoying a lot - I love this series. It was so sad that the author died last year.

I quite enjoyed this and liked Chrissy but thought it felt like a children's book - at times I was reminded of the Adrian Mole books.

I really liked this one but was also confused about the names! Thanks for opening up the threads, Susan.

Susan in NC wrote: "Agh! Please take and share photos if you’re able, or at least report back on your thoughts!"

Will do, Susan! :)

A new exhibition about 20th-century crime fiction has just opened in Cambridge - it's running until August, so I hope to get along there at some stage. Organisers say booking is essential.
https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/murderbythe...

This news report has a bit more info - Agatha Christie's typewriter, dictaphone and the manuscript of the last Poirot novel, Curtain, will be on display:
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/u...

I'm about a third of the way through our next challenge book, Murder at the Spring Ball by Benedict Brown, and have also started forthcoming buddy read The Glimpses of the Moon by Edmund Crispin, sadly the last Gervase Fen novel.

It was a close vote this month, but the winner is The Middle Temple Murder by J.S. Fletcher, which will be our May group read.

Full results:
The Middle Temple Murder 9 votes, 39.1%
The Port of London Murders 7 votes, 30.4%
Unexpected Night (Henry Gamadge, #1) 7 votes, 30.4%

Thanks to all who nominated and voted!

The next Edmund Crispin book we have coming up as a buddy read is his last Fen novel, The Glimpses of the Moon.

Beware of the Trains is a collection of short stories, we hadn't planned to do that one as far as I'm aware?

I quite enjoyed this but didn't think the plot hung together as well as some of the others in the series. Nice to see Crosby becoming a bit better as a detective, anyway, and to see the Sloans' baby arriving (a boy after all)!

I thought the "other" doctor, Esplin, was a likely culprit, but glad he wasn't.

There's some interesting discussion of the more overtly political attitudes in this book in the introduction to the edition I read, by Arne Dahl.

I agree the victim and his associates are not at all sympathetic, but I noticed that we don't see anyone who is emotionally attached to the victim. He has a trophy wife who isn't interested in him and I don't think any other family members appeared in the story. This possibly makes it a bit too easy to dismiss him, since he never really comes across as a person, just as a personification of nasty business practices.

But I think it all feels realistic nonetheless, because of the very realistic rivalries between the various police officers. The heat is also brilliantly conveyed - reading the book almost made me feel sweaty!

I think I had read somewhere that Beck does get divorced, so I wasn't surprised. It comes as something of a relief after all the bleak portrayals of his married life in the previous books, and at times he does seem happier than usual in this book, for instance at his dinner party at the start - plus he actually has a fling! I'm wondering if that will lead to anything more.

I know what you mean about the police marital relationships in general, though. Even Mansson, whose semi-detached relationship seemed quite happy in an earlier book, is now fed up with his wife and more interested in his long-distance lover.

I've started this one and am enjoying it so far. I'm sure it will be a quick and compelling read, as with others in this series.

I've watched the Bruno Cremer version - it's very different from the book, partly because the series was set in the 1950s, but there are also major changes to the plot. I'll hope the Davies version is nearer to the novel.