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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

A last call for nominations before the poll goes up.

Nominations so far:
Ellen: Death on the Aisle by Frances Lockridge and Richard Lockridge

Susan: The Vase Mystery by Vernon Loder

Judy: Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh

Any more to add?

Thank you, Sonia!

Carol, I see I've tried The Convenient Marriage before and didn't finish it - I have a feeling the heroine annoyed me in that one, but I've since enjoyed a couple of other Georgian romances by her. Hopefully they'll put more of the romances on offer soon, I'll keep an eye out.

This is driving me mad... I'm sure the spills of paper turn up as a key element in another book, as I remembered there would be something written on one of them as soon as they were mentioned and I've never read this book before.

I'm not sure if the other one with spills of paper is by Christie too. If anyone remembers which one, please put it in spoiler tags so we don't spoil that book for anyone!

Doesn't Poirot go for a long walk in one of the early books, and even climb up a drainpipe to get in a window in one of them, or did I make that up?! I think he may get less keen on physical activity as the series goes on!

I googled the smoking and it seems he is said to smoke small Russian cigarettes occasionally in The Mysterious Affair at Styles, but I can't say I remember him smoking them! It doesn't seem to go with his fastidious personality.

I think I'll go for a Ngaio Marsh as it seems a long time since we read any of her books. How about Death and the Dancing Footman, first published in 1941? It's £5.49 on Kindle and a lot of libraries should have it hopefully.



A winter weekend ends in snowbound disaster in a novel which remains a favourite among Marsh readers.

It began as an entertainment: eight people, many of them enemies, gathered for a winter weekend by a host with a love for theatre. They would be the characters in a drama that he would devise...

Susan, thanks for the nomination of The Vase Mystery by Vernon Loder, first published in 1929. I see it's 77p on Kindle in the UK!

At Hallsea, on England’s South Coast, the guests at the Hotel Haut Ton, are drifting leisurely through an uneventful winter season. Quite suddenly they are plunged, one and all, into a baffling murder mystery. Mr Grange, a universally unpopular resident at the seaside hotel, is found dead by his wife in their private rooms.

The corpse is lying in a pool of blood beside the shattered remains of a large ornamental vase which formerly stood on the mantel-shelf. Facts all but prove Grange’s death to have been an accident, but Superintendent Fox has discovered something which suggests foul play…

I'm going to include Death on the Aisle in the poll as it looks as if there is some library availability - fingers crossed for a Kindle price change in the US. Thanks for the nomination, Ellen.

Description: Death on the Aisle by Frances Lockridge and Richard Lockridge

Life is far from quiet for Mr and Mrs North. Despite Mr North's attempts to live a peaceful life, Mrs North's constant efforts as an amateur detective give them more than enough excitement - and not a little danger.

So when the wealthy backer of a play is found dead in the seats of a New York theatre, the Norths aren't far behind, led by Mrs North's customary flair for eccentric murders. Alongside Lieutenant William Weigand of the New York Police Department, they'll employ illogical logic and bizarrely tangential suggestions to draw the curtains on a killer.

Great opportunity for anyone in the UK who hasn't read Georgette Heyer's mysteries!

Death on the Aisle is £3.99 on Kindle in the UK so OK on this side of the Atlantic. Would US libraries have it?

Good point, Susan - I'm guessing Poirot possibly had to do more physical stuff on stage than he would in a book, so that the audience looked at him more?

Hastings does seem like a bit of a caricature in this one and it's odd that he allows the annoying Barbara to order him around and call him her "little pet". I suppose in the play there was no need to worry about him being married, as I don't think his wife is mentioned, but even so...

Hope you enjoy it when you get to it, Carol - I found it enjoyable although not quite up there with novels fully written by Christie!

It's time to nominate for our January 2026 group read - can you believe it? Please nominate books which were either written in the Golden Age, or a little earlier or later, or are set in that period. If in doubt whether a title is eligible, just ask.

Usual rules apply. Only one nomination per group member. Only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month, and authors can't nominate their own books. 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's fine to re-nominate.

Let us know what you think of the original play, Ninie. :) I did wonder if it had ever been adapted for film or TV, but although there was a production in 1931 it is now a lost film.

There was also a German TV adaptation in 1973 - it is on YouTube but without subtitles. I looked at the beginning and it looks very Gothic, with a dark house and a storm, rather like the start of a Dracula film, so I'm wondering if it was screened at Halloween.

Good to hear you enjoyed it so much, Susan_MG. Quite a lot of Lorac's Macdonald series have been reprinted (though sadly out of order!) by British Library and others, so you have some treats in store.

We do have a separate spoiler thread if you can be tempted :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Saba, that's an interesting point about their varying types of book, I hadn't really thought about it because of the emphasis on them being authors.I don't think we've touched on spoilers as yet but do post there if you want to move into spoiler territory! I'm not going over to the spoiler thread as yet since I haven't finished, but will hopefully finish soon and will then head over there.

Has anyone read any Faith Martin? I feel like Amazon does a lot of offers on her books.

P S. Shame this one wasn't included in the Poirot series with David Suchet as it's so dramatic! Maybe a rights issue?

I've read somewhere that Osborne was an actor who starred in the play - not sure if this was in the foreword to the Kindle edition or if I read it somewhere else?

I do think it's well written and the dialogue is very good, presumably straight from the play. So I'm glad to get the chance to read it in this form even though it doesn't quite feel like a full novel.

Yes, I agree there could be more about them being authors - there's quite a lot at the start but a bit less as the book goes on.