Reading the Detectives discussion
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What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread
There are 23 separate editions of The Scarab Murder Case on GR! None of them are mine, so I have just added it but it isn't letting me add the dustjacket pic for some reason, which is really frustrating me. Any ideas?? It let me add other details like number of pages in Add New Edition but there was no button to upload a dustjacket and now it's just displaying a standard image. Grrrr.
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Annabel wrote: "There are 23 separate editions of The Scarab Murder Case on GR! None of them are mine, so I have just added it but it isn't letting me add the dustjacket pic for some reason, which is really frustr..."send me a copy of the dj and I can add it, I can do it quicker than explain it, but when you enter a new edition in future, on the upper right there is a section to add the cover, button = "browse" and looks for pix on your computer, then you check open box your pictures window, it puts the file addy onto the page and you click "upload cover" or upload picture, not sure which it says.
I'm a GR librarian and so I can go into the Book Data page after somebody sets it up, and add the pix myself, clean up some of the data, etc. easy for me to do it if you send me the picture.
found a copy on ABE for 1945 Tower edition, is that yours? I'm adding that cover, take a look and see if it is, if not, can you send pix? thanks. it's easy for me to change if need.
i am working way through Georges Simenon
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Abbey wrote: "thanks! Im fairly UN-savvy when it comes to techno-stuff, so "no hurry, no worries!" whenever, would be lovely. I use old covers for screensavers and always enjoy seeing a new-to-me one. anyway, ..."
I have an interesting Vance book.....it is called the "movie edition" which was published in 1931 shortly after "The Benson Murder Case" film was released by Paramount Pictures starring William Powell. It is one of those books that has no dust jacket...instead the cover is a picture and in this case it is a picture of Powell as Vance.
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William Powell makes the Vance character much more likeable than his persona in the books.A little bit of trivia.....the first Vance film, "The Canary Murder Case' was made as a silent and had to quickly be transformed into a talkie. They had to bring back the actors to dub in their voices, and Louise Brooks, who played the Canary, had already left for Germany and her greatest fame (Pandora's Box, Diary of a Lost Girl) and she refused to return for the dubbing. So the voice is not hers and whoever picked the voice actor really goofed up since the strong Brooklyn accent does not go with either the character or Louise Brooks. Luckily, she didn't have a lot of dialogue!!!!
Jill wrote: "the "movie edition" which was published in 1931 shortly after "The Benson Murder Case" film "Hi Jill, long time! etc since we last "spoke"!
Those Movie Editions are wonderful, aren't they? Most of 'em were called "photo play" editions because they had the pix from the films. I've got a 1932 Photo Play edition of "Miss Pinkerton" (Mary Roberts Rinehart series, hugely popular then) starring Joan Blondell! That was before she got so fat, in the 60s and 70s she was still acting but had totally lost her looks. In the 30s she was still prime chorus-girl-or-best-friend material and worked in a lot of early talkies with Powell, etc. It was their form of "cross-platform advertising" (grin). Photo Play was a big, big Film magazine, EVERYbody read it.
This morning I finished the second of the Mr. and Mrs. North books,
Murder Out of Turn by Richard and Frances Lockridge.
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I'd love to see Miss Pinkerton - I'm a fan of the Warner films from the early 1930s pre-Code era and have seen quite a few starring Joan Blondell, but not that one as yet.
Hardly any of them have been released on DVD in the UK and they can't be streamed here either, but I have bought some on import from either the US or France. I can't justify buying any more at the moment though, as I have lots of films I haven't watched yet, to go with all the books I haven't read yet!
Judy wrote: "Abbey wrote: "I'd love to see Miss Pinkerton - I'm a fan of the Warner films from the early 1930s pre-Code era and have seen quite a few starring Joan Blondell, ..."I love old films in general - have you seen the Red Skelton Whistling in... set - three of them, such good fun. I loved quite a few of the Joan Blondell films I saw but haven't seen Miss Pinkerton yet either. Loads of William Powell too but haven't seen any of his Philo Vance ones so far.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zktd7
I'm interested to see that there is an interview with Ferdinand von Schirach , because I've just got his thriller The Collini Case out of the library, for the German book in my European challenge.
It will be a little while until I get to that one, though, as I'm just reading Roseanna, the first in the wonderful Swedish Martin Beck series. I started out of order by reading the second book which was the first one my local library had on its shelves, so am now backtracking.
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No, I haven't seen any Red Skelton, will keep an eye out for them. I have also seen a lot with William Powell, including the Thin Man films which I like a lot, though the earliest ones are better than the later ones.
Judy wrote: "Lady Clementina wrote: "I love old films in general - have you seen the Red Skelton Whistling in... set - three of them, such good fun... "No, I haven't seen any Red Skelton, will keep an eye out..."
The Thin Man ones are favourites with me. I also liked the non-mystery ones like Libelled Lady, and the Emperor's Candlesticks (movie version was much more fun than the book in a way)
The Red Skelton films are fun....he is a radio detective called the Fox and then gets involved in real mysteries. Since we have some old movie and William Powell fans here, let me recommend "Star of Midnight", a non-series detective film with Powell and co-starring Ginger Rogers. It is a lot like the Thin Man films......lots of fast dialogue, cocktails,cigarettes, fancy apartments, and murder. It is one of my favorite unknown films!!
Jill wrote: "The Red Skelton films are fun....he is a radio detective called the Fox and then gets involved in real mysteries. Since we have some old movie and William Powell fans here, let me recommend "Star..."
Must look that up- haven't seen that one. Another detective film I enjoyed was with Errol Flynn where he is a secret story writer/detective- I think it was called Footsteps in the Dark.
Abbey wrote: "found a copy on ABE for 1945 Tower edition, is that yours? I'm adding that cover, take a look and see if it is, if not, can you send pix? thanks. it's easy for me to change if need."That's exactly it - thank you so much for finding it and adding it. It's fascinating that there are so many editions (and so many lovely ones) but I suppose it is indicative of Van Dine's status when he was first writing.
Taking a lot of interest in book editions can definitely lead to acquiring increased numbers of books very rapidly, which in my case leads to increased discussion with family about whether we have 'too many'.
Anyway, thanks again for solving that technical puzzle, I'm thrilled to get 'my edition' of the Scarab Murder Case into the Good Reads pantheon. I think enabling readers to capture dustjacket details really shows a good understanding on the part of the GR website designers about how readers feel about books. (If only we could also record notes on the feel of the paper, the smell of it, etc... I love 1920s detective stories which are printed on paper that's so thick and soft, it almost feels like cloth.)
ohhh, yes, the *tactile* business!!! There is just, just "something!" about the smell and feel of older books that is just so lovely!!I've been a book collector since age 12 when my Mum gave me as a birthday pressie my Dad's copy of Complete Sherlock Holmes, bound in red morrocco leather (grin) what's called the Christopher Moreley edition, he wrote an extensive intro for it.
Contains ALL the Holmes books and stories and is, obviously, massive, but they used a crackle-y onion skin paper to keep the weight down and teensy print too. I thought it was the most beautiful thing!!! Still have it on the shelves, yep. Not only has my downsizing not caught up to it, it likely never will. Too many good memories reading it, touching it, etc. And yep. BASKERVILLE is my fave too, with VALLEY OF FEAR second (that's the Mormon one, well, what Doyle *thought* was, anyway...).
What a great book to have, Abbey.....it sounds beautiful and has great memories. I am also a "tactile" book lover even though some of those really long tomes must weigh five pounds!!! The look of books, especially the old ones, is comforting.........men can have their "man caves" but give me a room with floor to ceiling book shelves filled with those gems and I am a happy camper. My late husband turned our den into a library and my shelves are overflowing. It is my little piece of heaven!
Five pounds, heck, have you ever held a copy of FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM??? I swear, that thing is TEN pounds! and, yes, I have (cough) actually used it as a doorstop...! (grin)
Kind of like the OED!!!! My late brother had one and bought a library stand to hold it.
Jill wrote: "Kind of like the OED!!!! My late brother had one and bought a library stand to hold it."And now it's on line, and library membership gives you free access from your phone ...
Finished The Shape of Water
by Andrea Camillerihttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Started reading 1st To Die
by James Patterson
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I'm reading Closed Casket: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah. It's an easy and fun read, but I'm coming to the conclusion that other authors reimagining the classic GA crimes are not for me. I think I'd like it better if it wasn't a Poirot.
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Just starting The Impossible Dead by Ian Rankin. The second of the Malcolm Fox books. I liked the first one although I was apprehensive about the new character after the long run of Rhebus, but he has certainly lived up to the mark.
I've just started The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards, which is about the Detection Club. It has some good reviews on here and seems quite interesting so far. I am hoping it will touch on non-DC authors of the time too, like Patricia Wentworth. I know so little about her.
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My current mystery reads are
Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes by fellow Michigander Janel Gradowski and
Tagged for Death by Sherry Harris.
Judy wrote: "I really enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder..."oh, goody. I downloaded it on Kindle a couple of days ago, looking forward to it!!
currently reading "The Mad Tea Party" long story (or short novella, 45 pages small type) from ADVENTURES OF ELLERY QUEEN, 1934
and likely to finish up rereading Ngaio Marsh ARTISTS IN CRIME, 1937 this weekend.
Keep reading those Golden Age mysteries, Abbey!!!!
Gary wrote: "My current mystery reads are Doughnuts & Deadly Schemes by fellow Michigander Janel Gradowski and [bookcover:Tagged ..."Tagged for Death is on my TBR so would like to hear what you think of it.
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by a relative of Jane Austen. Very much a Golden Age mystery, but gets a bit lost, plot wise.
Am just starting this book and it is rather odd. I saw it at a book sale and the cover was extremely eye-catching. The protagonist is a world famous magician who somehow gets caught up in the mystery surrounding the death of President Warren G. Harding. It is certainly different but I am not far along enough to decide about it.
Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David GoldI have read several book in the Great Merlini series in which the detective is a magician and they were fun reads.
by Clayton Rawson
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I mentioned earlier that I am reading The Golden Age of Murder, which is about the Golden Age writers and in particular those in the Detection Club. Just to say that this book is giving me such a long list of classics I had never heard of to add to my TBR pile!Having read all of Christie, Sayer, Heyer, Wentworth, and some of Allingham, Marsh etc, I thought of myself as an expert on the Golden Age but am only now realising that I had only scratched the surface. Trent's Last Case (I know it's a group read at present so I am staying well away from that thread until I can find a copy), The Poisoned Chocolates Case, Malice Aforethought...
When it comes to short stories, I am less embarrassed as I read a few anthologies of detective stories when I was young which, I now discover, unsurprisingly selected the best ones. The Tea Leaf, for example, which I think is one of the most ingenious locked room mysteries I've come across. But I certainly have a lot of catching up to do on novels.
Annabel wrote: "I mentioned earlier that I am reading The Golden Age of Murder, which is about the Golden Age writers and in particular those in the Detection Club. Just to say that this book is giving me such a long list..."ohhh, yeah, Mis A, y'know, THAT way lies madness!!! (grin)
and if you'd like a, um, "deeper" (g) view, check out my Fems Project Shelves at My Books: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
my feeble attempt to (eventually...) read fem authors who I believe wrote in styles similar to Christie (she used many, many!) and were originally published around the same time as she was, and to also try and read them sequentially (sigggh). Started out only being for books/authors who wrote/pub'd 1920s, 1930s, but "somehow"... has grown exponentially.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED...
btw, if anybody would be interested in such things, my bookshelves are rather large (grin) so if you'd like a quick(ish) list of names of particular fems Christie-style authors (remember, that's totaly, only per my personal opinion) let me know, can set up one and send in a bit, my own lists are a mite "complicated" (grin) ...suspect that ain't a surprise to anyone here!but, as A is finding out, there's a TON of GA authors "out there"! that many, if not most of us haven't heard of! I'd also recommend btw, the current books by Sarah Weinman, not sure spelling, each reprints several great mysteries from 1940s, 1950s, of now-forgotten female authors who were, at the time, very famous and loved. She also writes extremely interesting and beautiful introductions, histories, etc, for these authors and suggests others.
The Golden Age of Murder seems interesting Annabel. I will read it (that's is a promise!). Wanna be someday an expert in GA books like the ones we have here in the group.
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I found just the same when I read this, Annabel - it gave me loads of names of authors to try. I've tried a few of them but still have many more to go. The Poisoned Chocolates Case is fun - I haven't read Malice Aforethought yet.
If you read on Kindle, Trent's Last Case is cheaper under the alternative title The Woman in Black (nothing to do with Susan Hill's book) at Amazon and there is also a free edition under that title at Gutenberg.
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Reading the Detectives
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The Scarab Murder Case