What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread Showing 1,501-1,550 of 4,475

[Sandy]

Jill wrote: "I found a real goody at a yard sale. The World's Great Detectives ~ An Anthology by S.S. Van Dine the author of the Philo Vance series. The publishing date is 1931,..."

That is a great find and unexpected. Enjoy your discoveries and let us know which authors we should seek out in kindle deals.

[Judy]

Very interested to hear about the Van Dine - I recently picked up a set of his Philo Vance novels on Kindle, but haven't started reading yet. I'll also be interested to hear which writers in that collection you recommend, Jill.

[Lady Clementina]

Judy wrote: "Very interested to hear about the Van Dine - I recently picked up a set of his Philo Vance novels on Kindle, but haven't started reading yet. I'll also be interested to hear which writers in that c..."
I have some Philo Vance on my TBR are well.

[Jill]

Included in this anthology are some well known early Golden Age writers such as R. Austin Freeman. Arthur Morrison, H.C. Bailey,and Anna Katharine Green. And then there are those with whom I'm not familiar.....Ernest Bramah, J.S, Fletcher and Bennett Copplestone and others. Some of the stories are translated from other languages and that may be why they are not familiar to the English speaking public.

Based on this book, I might recommend the Arséne Lupin stories by Maurice LeBlanc and anything by Eden Philpotts and H.C. Bailey. Strangely enough, VanDine does not include any of his Philo Vance tales which at one time were wildly popular but are now an acquired taste. I have read several of them and would recommend "The Kennel Murder Case" and "The Canary Murder Case". But be warned, they take patience since Vance is a character that takes some getting used to.

[Annabel]

I've read one of the Philo Vance books, which I think involved an Egyptian curio. As per the advice above, I found it took a bit of getting used to and the plot was rather hard to follow. (I mainly bought it because it had a beautiful original dustjacket.) I was amazed to discover that Van Dine had been so hugely successful in his day, as I had never heard of him.

Also now halfway through The DA Breaks An Egg, by Erle Stanley Gardner. (Egg-breaking an important task for detectives - the Oxfam where I found it also had Inspector Ghote Breaks An Egg.) I am enjoying it - it feels like a Raymond Chandler in tone, although I should probably not describe it as hard-boiled! Some of the police procedural behaviour is a bit startling though - sheriff, district attorney etc searching crime scenes before the forensic police team arrive and allowing a friendly journalist to join them at the crime scene, sit in on interrogations and arrange exclusive interviews with the suspects.

[Marcus]

This procedure - the one with you described - is a little bit unrealistic. I think it compromises the story. I'll certainly dislike it.

[Jill]

It seems to be the style in most Golden Age mysteries......everybody gets involved in the crime scene, trampling all over the clues and interviewing suspects, etc. Can you imagine that happening in modern times?

[Sandy]

I wonder if the casual treatment of the crime scene is done for literary reasons or if procedures of the time ere that lax. The confusion can make a more interesting story.

[Gary]

Jill wrote: "It seems to be the style in most Golden Age mysteries......everybody gets involved in the crime scene, trampling all over the clues and interviewing suspects, etc. Can you imagine that happening in..."

It is certainly true in Murder Out of Turn by Frances Lockridge. Mr. And Mrs. North are involved along with acting homicide Captain Bill Weigand in investigating the murders at the cabin resort they are staying at while on vacation. The state police detective and Weigand have to interview the suspects somewhere and where better than the North's cabin which they are sharing with their friend Weigand?

Ellery Queen is always tagging along with his dad Inspector Richard Queen. On the tv show the helpful reporter or the grandstanding radio personality always seemed to insert themselves into the investigation usually annoying Richard and Ellery.

Perry Mason and Paul Drake and at times Della Street always seemed to get a look at the crime scene before Lt. Tragg and Assistant DA Hamilton Berger arrived.

[Judy]

I'm reading our group read for next month, Trent's Last Case, and casual treatment of the crime scene is a feature here too!

[Susan]

Well, I suppose forensics were not really a focus of the investigation as they are now. People were looking for 'clues' rather than 'evidence.' The focus now seems to be equally on both solving the case and on a case standing up in Court once the crime has been solved.

[Jill]

I think you are right, Susan. There wasn't much forensic science, if any, in the GA mysteries, so everybody got into the act since DNA, etc. was unheard of then. It makes for interesting reading since it is all the use of the "little grey cells" instead of science that solves the case. Sherlock Holmes wouldn't be half as much fun if they could just get a DNA sample and the case is solved!!

[Susan]

Yes, let's call all the suspects in the library and take a blood test ;)

[Jill]

:>)

[Abbey]

Annabel wrote: "I've read one of the Philo Vance books, which I think involved an Egyptian curio. As per the advice above, I found it took a bit of getting used to and the plot was rather hard to follow. (I mainly bought it because it had a beautiful original dustjacket.) I was amazed to discover that Van Dine had been so hugely successful in his day, as I had never heard of him."

Ohm'GAWD!!!!! You have an orig DJ, please please may I have a pix of it?!!

yep, Vance is *definitely* "an acquired taste" (grin) and most modern readers hate the style, plus compared with many of his contemporaries he was considered BOring! even then, but was extremely popular. The Vance character is a direct steal from Holmes but even more "rarefied" in tastes and pedantic but thatsorta thang was very very popular mid-1920s.

btw, if you "sorta" enjoy it, try his BISHOP MURDER CASE, the characters and setting are magnificent and the plot is simply stunning! Plus if you have an original or very early edition the inside pix are wonderful for letting you see how NYC looked then. But if the convoluted plot and slow pace of the Egyptian one annoyed or frustrated you too much, then don't go near this one, it's even more twisted. And dark, dark, RICHly dark...!

[Annabel]

I will take a picture of the dust jacket and post it. (Now hoping I have not over-promised - can't remember exactly what edition it was...)

[Annabel]

It's 1945 so not the first edition, sorry. I've taken a picture of the cover anyway and will post it up when I get near a laptop - my phone won't let me do it.

[Abbey]

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, the true first edition of that book from ~1930, likely has a very plain cover, his publisher "went forensic" for the ccovers, well, what *passed* for forensic at the time, i.e., Important Looking Folders, maybe a weapon or two, usually quite um, clean... you know, what they thought the lay public might attribute as "official Police Stuff"! of the period. (grin)

I have very early editions of all his books, but no covers, in the 1990s when I purch'd them that sort were cheap. Usually first year but later eds, so I get the inside pix, which are wonderful!

[Abbey]

original 1929 edition GR pix cover:
The Scarab Murder Case

[Annabel]

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.

[Susan]

Have just started The Incredible Crime by a relative of Jane Austen. Added interest!

[Sandy]

I have The Case of the Dotty Dowager from the library - not a book, nor author, I had ever heard of but I seem unable to leave a library without a physical book no matter how many I own or have on my kindle. Not a serious problem but it doesn't help with my TBR. And I just bought four kindle books.

[Abbey]

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.

[Abbey]

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.

[Flemming]

i am working way through Georges Simenon

[Judy]

Flemming, are you enjoying them? I read the first Simenon book, Pietr the Latvian, and liked it a lot but haven't got round to reading more in the series yet.

[Jill]

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.

[Judy]

I keep meaning to watch that film - I love early talkies from this era. But perhaps I should read the book first. I'd love to see the dust jacket, Jill.

[Jill]

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!!!!

[Abbey]

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.

[Gary]

This morning I finished the second of the Mr. and Mrs. North books, Murder Out of Turn by Richard and Frances Lockridge.

[Judy]

Abbey wrote: "I've got a 1932 Photo Play edition of "Miss Pinkerton" (Mary Roberts Rinehart series, hugely popular then) starring Joan Blondell!"

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!

[Lady Clementina]

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.

[Judy]

I've just come across a page on the BBC Radio 4 site where there are archive interviews with various crime writers:

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.

[Judy]

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 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.

[Lady Clementina]

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)

[Jill]

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!!

[Lady Clementina]

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.

[Annabel]

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.)

[Abbey]

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...).

[Jill]

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!

[Abbey]

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)

[Jill]

Kind of like the OED!!!! My late brother had one and bought a library stand to hold it.

[Rosina]

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 ...

[Marwan]

Finished The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Started reading 1st To Die by James Patterson

[Susan]

I started a review copy of The Pool House which I like so far.

[Judy]

I've just started reading German legal thriller The Collini Case by Ferdinand von Schirach. Looks as if it will be a compelling read.

[Judy]

I'm trying to get back into audio books and have just started listening to the first in the Constable Evans series set in North Wales, Evans Above by Rhys Bowen. Enjoying it so far.

[Pamela]

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.

[Susan]

I tend to agree, Pamela. The Peter Wimsey ones were a mixed bunch for me. Tackling Poirot so unsympathetically didn't work for me at all. I only read the first one, but I wouldn't read another.