Reading the Detectives discussion
Group reads
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April 2022 group read - WINNER
Possibly an early C.S. Forester: Plain Murder (1930)? It's a very long time since I read this, but I remember thinking it was well done. Forester was a superlative storyteller and wrote a lot of good stuff outside the Hornblower books (which I also love, btw). Payment Deferred (1926) is also good, as far as I remember, if people prefer the idea of starting earlier. I'd welcome the opportunity to read either again.
Just a thought.
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It's up to you which one to nominate. Plain Murder is on my TBR (I'm interested in the advertising agency setting), but both sound good.
I'd like to nominate Jumping Jenny (1933) by Anthony Berkeley, after having loved his The Poisoned Chocolates Case.At a costume party with the dubious theme of ‘famous murderers and their victims’, the know-it-all amateur criminologist Roger Sheringham is settled in for an evening of beer, small talk and analysing his companions. One guest in particular has caught his attention for her theatrics, and his theory that she might have several enemies among the partygoers proves true when she is found hanging from the ‘decorative’ gallows on the roof terrace.
Noticing a key detail which could implicate a friend in the crime, Sheringham decides to meddle with the scene and unwittingly casts himself into jeopardy as the uncommonly thorough police investigation circles closer and closer to the truth. Tightly paced and cleverly defying the conventions of the classic detective story, this 1933 novel remains a milestone of the inverted mystery subgenre.
It's published by BLCC but I noticed on Amazon that the Kindle and paperback have different listings, Kindle here: www.amazon.co.uk/Jumping-Jenny-Anthon...
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Is 1962 too late? I found a copy of
on the supermarket second-hand book table ...
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Nominations so far:
Sid: Plain Murder by C.S. Forester
RC: Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley
Rosina: Due to a Death by Mary Kelly
Judy wrote: "Thank you Sid! I've just had a quick look and both Plain Murder and Payment Deferred are on Kindle for £1.99 and £2.20 respectively. Can someone check on US availabi..."Plain Murder is $6.99 on Kindle, couldn’t find it on Project Gutenberg, but did find the ebook on Scribd for those with an account.
Judy wrote: "I'd love to read another Berkeley, RC. I know Jumping Jenny has just been published by BLCC in the UK but am not sure about the US - can anyone check? Hopefully Poison Pen has broug..."I see Jumping Jenny as a paperback for $13.08 on Amazon. Don’t see it offered as an ebook yet.
Due to a Death is $9.99 as a Kindle, $12.88 as a paperback.
Two-Way Murder is $7.99 on Kindle.
I’m not a wiz navigating websites, I just check, Amazon, Scribd (I have a subscription), and my local library, suggest other members in US check their sources, may find a cheaper edition is available!
Here Two-Way Murder is €3.47, and also available on Kindle Unlimited.
Michaela wrote: "Here Two-Way Murder is €3.47, and also available on Kindle Unlimited."I have the paperback, treated myself last summer, I was planning on waiting to read it after nominating it, so thanks Michaela! ;)
As a fan of several mystery series by English writers, I have found if it’s just been published in Britain, it seems to take six months to a year for publication here in the US. I’ve ordered books I don’t want to wait for from Book Depository in England!
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Sandy wrote: "I found the same results as Susan in NC for the US with the addition that Due to a Death is not available until May 3. (Note I remembered to not say 5/3 or is it 3/5?)"Thanks, Sandy, I didn’t even notice the date on that one!
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See, that’s what I mean, I miss the details! I ordered that paperback last summer from Amazon, and have a copy, so I just assumed it was available on Kindle.
I know Judy’s currently reading this, but I believe it should be widely available, as it was published a few years ago. I’m a fan of the anthologies, as they allow you to dip in and out, and sample several writers. I will nominate Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries
:“Never had I been given a tougher problem to solve, and never had I been so utterly at my wits’ end for a solution.”
A signalman is found dead by a railway tunnel. A man identifies his wife as a victim of murder on the underground. Two passengers mysteriously disappear between stations, leaving behind a dead body.
Trains have been a favourite setting of many crime writers, providing the mobile equivalent of the “locked-room” scenario. Their enclosed carriages with a limited number of suspects lend themselves to seemingly impossible crimes. In an era of cancellations and delays, alibis reliant upon a timely train service no longer ring true, yet the railway detective has enjoyed a resurgence of popularity in the twenty-first century.
Both train buffs and crime fans will delight in this selection of fifteen railway-themed mysteries, featuring some of the most popular authors of their day alongside less familiar names. This is a collection to beguile even the most wearisome commuter
$7.99 on Kindle, but published in 2018, so maybe available in libraries.
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I've just found that Plain Murder is available on Gutenberg Canada and Faded Page.
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Is that OK with you both and do you have any other titles to nominate for April?
If only publishers would release books everywhere at once and make our lives easy.
Of course, Judy, no problem to withdraw my nomination till it's more widely available - I'll have a think about an alternative.
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Thank you for checking, Sandy. Michaela, really sorry about this as we always seem to have problems with Lorac availability, but sounds as if it would be better to save that one for a bit later in the year too as it is not available in the US. I hope that is OK.
Do you want to go for another Lorac or something else? Murder in Vienna which you tried a couple of times is currently available on Amazon in the UK so hopefully that is the same elsewhere!
Plain Murder is available on Faded Page, the Canadian equivalent of Gutenberg - and often a handy source.https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.ph...
(Everything there is out of copyright in Canada. I can't swear to it all being out of copyright in the UK or USA.)
I am quite happy to hold onto Due to a Death until it becomes a proper contender on both sides of the ocean.So I will go ahead with my first thought for this round.
The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes is available on Kindle Unlimited here and in the US, and not too expensive for non members. It qualifies in time, being written and set during the Second World War and it has two detectives - Appleby and Hudspith. It isn't a classic murder mystery, being concerned with the theft of a Harrogate cabhorse, the abduction of two young women and the theft of a London house, and as Hudspith says ""We're in a sort of hodge-podge of fantasy and harum-scarum adventure that isn't a proper detective story at all. We might be by Michael Innes."
Sandy wrote: "Murder in Vienna is currently $1 in the US so looks promising. I even own it."Murder in Vienna is still unavailable in the UK, through Amazon, although the Kindle version is priced at 99p
Murder In Vienna is one of a dozen Lorac books available free on Faded Page:https://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php...
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It's available to download for 99p - I bought it recently and have just checked and it is still available:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Vienn...
I think there is another edition listed somewhere on the site which isn't available, though, so it is a bit confusing.
Sandy wrote: "Murder in Vienna is currently $1 in the US so looks promising. I even own it."Me, too!
Sid wrote: "Murder In Vienna is one of a dozen Lorac books available free on Faded Page:https://www.fadedpage.com/csearch.php..."
Thanks for this link, Sid, I love Lorac, and her books are being reissued in trickles, unfortunately.
Judy wrote: "Rosina wrote: "Murder in Vienna is still unavailable in the UK, through Amazon, Kindle version is priced at 99p"It's available to download for 99p - I bought it recently and have just checked and..."
The 'other edition' - the non-available one - is the one the Goodread links goes to.
I have purchased the 99p edition while it's available.
I'd like to try again for The Floating Admiral, which I think would fit in nicely with our year's project as it has various members of the detection club writing a chapter each of a mystery novel, and then providing all their solutions at the end.
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Sid: Plain Murder by C.S. Forester
Susan in NC: Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards
Rosina: The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes
Frances: The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club
Michaela: Murder in Vienna by E.C.R. Lorac
They are an excellent list of nominations!
There are so many great nominations already that I won't make the choice any harder by throwing something else into the mix!
I read Jumping Jenny in December as there had been discussion about it not being readily available but we have have some great nominations here. I also won't nominate this time.
Judy wrote: "Thank you Sid! I've just had a quick look and both Plain Murder and Payment Deferred are on Kindle for £1.99 and £2.20 respectively. Can someone check on US availabi..."Payment Deferred is 99cents on kindle.
I will nominate The Rasp by Philip MacDonald from 1924, his first book. An English manor house mystery, of course. I think that's what all first books in those days were. Looks like it is currently $4.99 on US kindle. Is it available elsewhere?
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Nominations update:
Sid: Plain Murder by C.S. Forester
Susan in NC: Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries, edited by Martin Edwards
Rosina: The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes
Frances: The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club
Michaela: Murder in Vienna by E.C.R. Lorac
Jan: The Rasp by Philip MacDonald
Last call for nominations - the poll will go up in the next day or so.
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https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...
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Full results:
Murder in Vienna 9 votes, 37.5%
Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries 5 votes, 20.8%
The Floating Admiral 5 votes, 20.8%
Plain Murder 2 votes, 8.3%
The Rasp (Colonel Gethryn, #1) 2 votes, 8.3%
The Daffodil Affair (Sir John Appleby, #8) 1 vote, 4.2%
Excellent! It wasn't my nomination, but I'm keen to read some Lorac and I have strong family ties to Vienna. I'm looking forward to it.
Yay! I already have this on my Kindle waiting to be read.
Reading the Detectives
Books mentioned in this topic
Murder in Vienna (other topics)Murder in Vienna (other topics)
The Daffodil Affair (other topics)
The Floating Admiral (other topics)
Blood on the Tracks: Railway Mysteries (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
E.C.R. Lorac (other topics)Martin Edwards (other topics)
E.C.R. Lorac (other topics)
C.S. Forester (other topics)
Michael Innes (other topics)
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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. This change is initially being made for the next few months.
As usual, just one nomination per group member, and only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month. Looking forward to seeing all the suggestions.