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

Judy’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

I tried an Ian Pears book in the past and was a bit daunted - is this one difficult to follow?

The result is a tie - so we will read both the winning books, which received 11 votes each.

We'll read Murder of a Lady in May and The Daughter of Time in June, so there will be no poll next month. Thanks to all who nominated and voted!

Full results:
The Daughter of Time (Inspector Alan Grant, #5) 11 votes, 34.4%
Murder of a Lady (Dr. Hailey #12) 11 votes, 34.4%
Gaudy Night (Lord Peter Wimsey, #10) 4 votes, 12.5%
The Pale Horse (Ariadne Oliver, #5) 3 votes, 9.4%
Murder In The Basement (Roger Sheringham Cases, #8) 3 votes, 9.4%

I got the second one as a paperback a while ago and enjoyed it, but gave it away after I finished it. I wonder why that one isn't on Kindle.
Jill, thanks for looking up the previous reads - sounds as if we have read nearly all of them.

I've started this one and am enjoying it so far - I really like Cyril Hare. I've read the three Inspector Mallett books and would recommend them.

I really enjoyed this one and would say it is one of my favourite Loracs so far. I really liked the whole treasure hunt setting and I also enjoyed seeing more of Macdonald's personality.

I rather liked Peter Vernon although I was very pleased that pacifist ring idea of his turned out to be a red herring, as I'm not a fan of gangs, secret societies etc in detective stories! it sounds as if he possibly features in some of the earlier Macdonald books that haven't been reprinted yet - maybe helping Macdonald in the same sort of way that journalist Nigel Bathgate helps Alleyn in some of the early Marsh books?

Roman Clodia wrote: "I actually loved the start and the puzzles: I even decoded the first message! ..."

Ooh what was the right answer, RC? I loved the start too, and as a fan of codewords tried to decode the message, but I must have got something wrong as I made it "On knowledge needed seek no end os desk"!

I'm 70% in now and really enjoying this book - the treasure hunt set-up was fun and I'm not sure if I've come across it in any other GA books!

Thanks, Sandy, for the explanation of "Losh" - I was at a loss over that one!

Just saw that Scott at the Furrowed Middlebrow blog has posted a nice tribute to Rupert Heath and he confirms in this there will be no more Furrowed Middlebrow reprints to come from DSP, but those already in print (96 titles) will remain available.
https://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.c...

Thanks for mentioning Moonstone, Tania. It's slightly confusing as there seem to be two different publishers with that name, but this is the one which publishes classic detective fiction:
https://moonstonepress.co.uk/

They don't seem to have a large number of books, but what they have looks interesting and I think they are all on Kindle as well.

Still a draw at the moment, between The Daughter of Time and Murder of a Lady! A few more days to go before the poll ends though.

I've started this now - I wanted to wait until I finished Inquest to avoid getting my house parties mixed up! Enjoying it so far - nice to see Macdonald off duty.

I really love both Dickens and Trollope, but Dickens is my favourite. I love his humour and his amazingly vivid imagination which as you say translates so well to film/TV, and as a fan of 19th-century writing I also enjoy the wordiness! However, I don't think I can be bothered to watch the latest TV Great Expectations, which I saw a trailer for today. There have been so many!

I think Trollope is also a wonderful writer in a more realistic vein. I must reread some of his novels - I've been meaning to read The Pallisers books again but, as with all of us, there is so much I want to read and don't manage to get to! I'd also like to see more of his books adapted for TV (it's been a long time since any were done) but don't think that's very likely as there are so many period dramas already.

I have finished this now and agree with everyone's comments that it started off really well but then got a bit bogged down and the plot seemed to go astray - we didn't really get an inquest at the house party and the business dealings were tedious. I would also have liked to see more of the bullying aunt and annoying nephew and his girlfriend.

I do agree with you, Sandy, that the trial results were a good twist at the end, and I was also reminded of Verdict of Twelve.

A very close and exciting poll this month - we have two books currently tied in the lead, and another two tied in second place! If you haven't voted yet, or might want to change your vote, please take a look.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Tania wrote: "Sadly it seems that's it for Dean Street Press. His sister said the titles will remain available until the copyrights run out. ."

That's sad to hear - of course they have already published a wonderful collection of books, but sad to think there won't be more coming out. Let's hope all those which are out of copyright will stay in print as his legacy.

Sandy, it's also very sad to hear about Christopher Fowler. I've only read one of his books - must read some more of them soon.

More sad news, I'm afraid, after the sad loss of Sid.

Rupert Heath, founder of Dean Street Press which has republished so many Golden Age books, has died aged only 54. His wife, Amanda, died of cancer in January and he has now died from a heart attack just a few weeks later. I didn't know Rupert but when I contacted DSP about a printing problem in one of their early books, he replied personally and his dedication to publishing certainly came across.

Curtis Evans has written a nice tribute on his blog:
https://thepassingtramp.blogspot.com/...

I thought A Chelsea Concerto was very powerful, Susan - will be interested to hear what you think.

I wasn't sure whether I liked the narrator's voice early on, but have warmed to him now (around two thirds of the way through.)

I'm nearly halfway through now and am enjoying the mystery, although at times it feels a little dry for a country house setting. I suspect everyone at the moment!