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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Thanks for the Lorac article link, Sandy!

Our latest poll is now up - please vote for your top choice to read in July.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Thanks Keith, The Wyndham Case a bit out of era but, as you say, very much in the GA tradition. We've occasionally had 1980s books in the poll, so let's stretch it on this occasion and include one from the 1990s.

I seem to be able to look up US availability at the moment by putting in a US zip code when looking at amazon.com and I see The Wyndham Case is currently $0.99 on Kindle - it says it is a "limited time deal" though.

Nominations so far:

Rosina:A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

Jill: So Pretty a Problem by Francis Duncan

Judy Death in White Pyjamas by John Bude

Last call for nominations - I'd like to put the poll up tomorrow.

I'll nominate a book I've had waiting on my shelf for a while, Death in White Pyjamas by John Bude. It's available on its own or with another Bude novel in a British Library book, Death in White Pyjamas / Death Knows No Calendar.

A theatre-owner, a 'slightly sinister' producer, a burgeoning playwright and a cast of ego-driven actors have gathered at a country home to read through the promising script for Pigs in Porcelain. Before the production ever reaches the stage, one of their number is found murdered in the grounds wearing what mysteriously seems to be somebody else's white pyjamas. Enter Inspector Harting and Sergeant Dane to unravel this curious plot.

Rosina wrote: "I enjoyed it as a book, but felt it fell short as a 'mystery'. Far too many coincidences, and I still don't know the motive for the murder!..."

I agree! After all the painstaking investigation, the revelation of the killer seems to come in a rush at the end and there is no more explanation of why she did it. I also agree with your questions, Rosina - I'd forgotten about Marbury going to the House of Commons lobby.

I did wonder if Jane Baylis was going to turn out to be a man in disguise, given her 6ft height and deep voice.

While I found this an enjoyable read and liked the humour, I agree with you that there were far too many coincidences, so I found it a bit disappointing as a mystery.

Murder on the Celtic is going to be a buddy read in June, so we can discuss it then, Jill and Jackie. Good to hear you enjoyed it, Jackie.

Susan in NC wrote: "That’s how it felt to me - rules have changed so much for police and journalists, it felt like a fairy tale, or alternative history! Entertaining start, then dragged on, I felt. ..."

It feels a bit like Sherlock Holmes to me (I've just seen a note somewhere that the authors were almost exact contemporaries). So I'm guessing perhaps Fletcher wasn't too bothered about making it exactly realistic, as I don't think Conan Doyle tended to bother about that!

I'm about a third in and have been enjoying it so far, but there seem to have been an outrageous number of coincidences already.

I've finished this now. I enjoyed it overall and am looking forward to reading others in the series - really liked Su Lin and the portrayal of life in 1930s Singapore.

I felt the story gets a bit bogged down in the middle though and thought the identity of the villains was too obvious. I was also irritated that one of the villains gets away with it.

Thank you for the nominations so far, two great choices. I have read A Shilling for Candles but don't remember the plot in any detail, just that I enjoyed it. I've read and enjoyed the other Mordecai Tremaine books that are in print but not So Pretty a Problem as yet.

P.S. Just noticed the author's website, which looks interesting:
https://www.ovidiayu.com/

I'm getting towards the end and agree the different setting and culture are part of the attraction. We've said a lot about the advantages of books written in the Golden Age compared to historical novels set in that era, but one of the advantages of the newer books is that they often take different viewpoints, such as Su Lin's narrative in this book.

Has anyone tried the other series by Ovidia Yu, the Aunty Lee series? I believe those books are set in the present day.

Craftyhj wrote: "I loved the Major and his fondness for advert jingles. ..."

This had me wondering if Crispin also found himself getting jingles on the brain, which, as a composer, I'm guessing he would not have appreciated!

Can you believe it's already time to nominate for our July 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.

Thanks for the introduction and opening up this discussion, Susan. I'm also currently reading this and am about a third of the way through - enjoying it so far. It's certainly a very different setting from the other books we have read so far for this challenge.

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

Many thanks for setting up the threads and opening them, Susan. I read this one a few years ago and remember enjoying it - I'll be rereading shortly and hope I don't remember much from last time!

I like Fletcher's writing style. He is slightly earlier than most of our GA authors so has a bit of a Victorian flavour to his work.

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

Very sad news. Thank you for the obituary link, Susan. There's a lot in there that I didn't know about Sansom - such a great author. I hope the Shardlake series is really good and encourages many more people to read his books.

I also thought it was like a children's/YA book although I quite enjoyed it all the same. Great description of it sometimes stalling and sometimes speeding up, Jill.

Hope you enjoy it, Ellen. The novella that's included in there is great (I read it in one of the Bodies from the Library collections.) Sorry, just realised I was misleading in my previous post by mentioning the paperback, which won't be out until August next year - Amazon is listing it for pre-order .

Lady Clementina wrote: "I recently finished The Cheltenham Square Murder and The Luck Runs Out both of which I enjoyed--the second a little more than the first. This was my first time reading..."

Good to hear, Lady C! You're very welcome to join in the current buddy read discussion of The Luck Runs Out. I like MacLeod's humour too. :)