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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

A couple of weeks ago I went on a boat trip on the River Orwell in Ipswich and listened to a talk by author and comedian Robin Ince. My daughter suggested it, and we had a great afternoon.

Since then, I've been slowly reading his book Bibliomaniac: An Obsessive's Tour Of The Bookshops Of Britain, which is about a tour of independent and second-hand bookshops after lockdown - lots of fascinating nuggets in there.

Maigret actually seems to travel around quite a lot, doesn't he, despite the fact that we always think of him in Paris? It would be interesting to see what proportion of his books are actually set there!

I definitely agree that the mink coats seem very dated - I'm guessing Mrs P must have put them into storage long before the latest book!

Hope you enjoy it, Carol! And hope you had a good time in Fiji, looking at your current user name :)

I've started our next group read, Murder in Blue by Clifford Witting, and am enjoying it so far. (For anyone in the UK who doesn't mind getting ebooks from other sources, the ebook is currently £2.59 from https://www.hive.co.uk/ which is a bit less than the Amazon price but has to be read on a non-Kindle app.)

Susan in NC wrote: "Thanks for this title, I always go to the GR page to read reviews to see if i might enjoy. This brings me to a pet peeve - low star rating, 3.38 (odd number, by the way…), is an instant turnoff; then I read some of the reviews - come smack up against someone giving a low rating because of racism and classism. ..."

Hi Susan, I hadn't seen this review, but to be honest I can see their point with this particular book, Enter Sir John, which is something of a mixed bag, as it does feature some very disturbing attitudes, going beyond what you'd find in the typical GA book. The actual mystery plot also isn't very good IMO, and it's too obvious who the killer is.

But the writing style is great, a bit like Sayers (I'm wondering if some aspects of this book influenced Strong Poison), and Sir John himself is an appealing character. There are also some other well-drawn characters. So, yes, I have mixed feelings overall about this one, and will probably continue to go round in circles about it.

I'm reading Enter Sir John by Clemence Dane and Helen de Guerry Simpson, a mystery from 1928 which has just been published on Kindle. Good so far - it has a theatrical setting, which I usually enjoy.

I've heard this book recommended on the Shedunnit podcast, and also wanted to read it because I've got Ask A Policeman lined up to read, and noticed Sir John Saumarez was one of the detectives featured.

I quite enjoyed this but thought it seemed a bit too similar to one or two of the others. I've not been too thrilled with him letting some other villains off, but this time the killer isn't going to be around for much longer anyway.

I agree with you about novellas, Sandy - in many ways the perfect length for a mystery.

I liked the Swallows and Amazons books and The Borrowers as a child as well - I can see myself exploring more childhood favourites. I'm hooked on Chalet School nostalgia now!

Good news! It's now been officially announced that Dean Street Press is going to carry on. They sent an email out today and have also posted about it on social media. This was the email sent out by Victoria Eade, sister of DSP's founder Rupert Heath:


After a period of reflection and reorganization following the sad loss of Rupert Heath, we are thrilled to share some exciting news. Dean Street Press has now officially transitioned into Dean Street Press Limited!

This transition marks a significant milestone for Dean Street Press. With 465 titles already in print, we are incredibly proud to continue our legacy of uncovering and revitalizing good books. While we cherish our past, we are equally enthusiastic about embracing the future with optimism.

Here’s to a bright future with continued growth, creativity and collaboration. I look forward to leading Dean Street Press Limited to further success!

All best wishes

Victoria Eade

Their first new title following their relaunch will be a Furrowed Middlebrow book, Miss Granby's Secret by Eleanor Farjeon, info here:
https://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.c...

Hopefully more crime books soon as well :)

I listen to the Shedunnit podcast, which is mainly about classic crime fiction but has just had an episode about the Chalet School books. That reminded me how much I loved them as a kid, and I've just reread one of the earliest books in the series, The Head Girl of the Chalet School, published in the 1920s and set in the Austrian Tirol.

I really enjoyed it and was surprised by how much I remembered, though it is probably nearly 50 years since I last read it! Who else rereads their childhood favourites?

I've started this now and the atmosphere is certainly very summery. I think it will be a quick, compelling read, as Maigret books always seem to be!

I've just finished this and quite liked it but I found I remembered a lot from our previous read as I got into the book, including the villain's identity, which made it slightly less enjoyable second time around.

Looking forward, confusingly it appears that the second book is actually The Turkish Gambit, even though the paperback edition I read has a sample chapter of Murder on the Leviathan: A Novel by Boris Akunin at the end, claiming that it's the next one. I had a search around and it seems the confusion was caused by the English translations being published in the wrong order.

Definitely more of a far-fetched thriller than a mystery - I'm wondering if this changes in the later books.

I looked up the author's Wikipedia page, just wondering how many books there were, what he was doing now, etc. I see that he has been very critical of Putin, who has banned publishers from publishing his books and has also put his name on a wanted list. Wikipedia says he is now living in London.

Sorry to hear you didn't like it, Rosina. I'm about a third of the way through and am enjoying it but the prose does feel rather translated. I like the character of Fandorin.

I've started rereading this and am enjoying it so far. Not very far in as yet. I'm not sure why I never carried on with this series - I think I meant to, but didn't get hold of the second book and it then slipped my mind.

What did anyone think about Bradecote's attraction to Sister Edeva? I thought this was well done and I certainly wasn't expecting it. There was a strong feeling of so many repressed emotions among the monks and nuns in this book.

I was slightly dismayed by Bradecote's dismissive thoughts about how "stupid" his wife is, though, and I'm hoping she appears in future books and proves him wrong.

Thanks Sandy! The omnibus is also £4.99 in the UK, The Bradecote & Catchpoll series: Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5: Servant of Death, Ordeal by Fire, Marked to Die, Hostage to Fortune, Vale of Tears

Thanks Sandy, I was pleased to find the omnibus edition! I found this a compelling read once I worked out who all the characters were, and agree it didn't feel all that similar to Cadfael.

I've also just been watching the new series based on the first Shardlake book which is set in a monastery, so it's monasteries all round for me at the moment. :)