Which were your favourite books in the Detection Club Challenge 2022?

[Judy]

Now that our Detection Club Challenge is coming to an end, I'm just wondering which books were people's favourites?

Have you discovered any authors you haven't previously tried who you want to explore further?

As a reminder, here is a list of the books in the challenge. We also had a buddy read of The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards before starting, and our current group read, The Floating Admiral, also ties in with the theme as a "round robin" book written by members of the Detection Club.

Jan: The Hollow Man - John Dickson Carr
Feb: Inspector French's Greatest Case - Freeman Wills Crofts
March: The Three Taps: A Detective Story Without a Moral - Ronald Knox
April: Tragedy at Law - Cyril Hare
May: Whose Body? - Dorothy L. Sayers
June: Murder at Monk's Barn - Cecil Waye
July: The Red Thumb Mark - R. Austin Freeman
August: Malice Aforethought - Francis Iles
September: The Studio Crime - Ianthe Jerrold
October: The Missing Partners - Henry Wade
November: Death in Fancy Dress - Anthony Gilbert
December: Hercule Poirot's Christmas - Agatha Christie

[Susan in NC]

My favorites were probably “Hercules Poirot’s Christmas” because Christie is still my favorite mystery writer, and Cyril Hare continues to impress me - I really appreciate his humor, and how he works his legal knowledge into his mysteries. Never seems like a stretch, always makes sense and seems perfectly plausible. I really like Francis Pettigrew as a reluctant, humble amateur sleuth!

I also loved “Whose Body?” by Sayers because she is probably my second favorite mystery writer, and I’ve always been a bit in love with Peter myself, since I first read his mysteries as a college student as summer reads to relax!

Freeman Wills Crofts is enjoyable to me for his humble, diligent and likable inspector; I know the books can be a bit plodding, with the back and forth travel, etc., but I think it brings home the reality of police work before cell phones and modern technology.

I enjoyed trying other mysteries for various reasons, like they were classics in this or that sub-genre, but looking back at my reviews, I didn’t personally love them and think, boy, give me more of that!

I had to look back at my reviews to refresh my memory, but I did enjoy Edwards’ “Golden Age of Murder”: The breezy, gossipy, but informative style of the book was easy to listen to, but I have to admit I’m not really a “fan girl” of authors I like - I just want to read their work, not dig into their psyches! However, I did find it interesting to hear about the sensational true criminal cases of the era that inspired some of the writers in the Club. I do like Edwards writing style, here and in his introductions to the recently published British Library Crime Classics mysteries I have read. I’d like to try reading his own mystery books to compare!

[Pamela]

I read 10 of these (skipped the Poirot and the Wimsey as I’d read them quite recently) and I enjoyed all of them. My ratings were all 3 or 4 stars.

My favourites were Tragedy at Law (another admirer of Hare here) and Murder at Monk’s Barn where I liked the couple and the lively feel. Malice Aforethought was also well written and quite creepy.

My least favourite was The Studio Crime as the plot seemed a bit muddled and unlikely, and the characters weren’t very memorable, but even this one had enjoyable moments.

A lovely challenge, thanks Mods!

[Susan in NC]

Yes, echoing Pamela’s sentiments, thanks, mods, another great challenge! Next year looks amazing, as well, some old favorites along with some very promising new-to-me authors, thanks for all you do to keep the group humming along!

[Judy]

Good to hear you both enjoyed the challenge, Susan and Pamela, and thank you for your kind words about the mods.

My favourite was Malice Aforethought by Francis Iles aka Anthony Berkeley. I possibly wasn't expecting to enjoy this one as much as I did, as I don't always enjoy inverted mysteries where readers see through the eyes of a killer, but I really enjoyed Berkeley's sarcastic style in this. I agree with Pamela that it was quite creepy. I had already read a few books by Berkeley and hope to read some more.

I also really enjoyed The Missing Partners by Henry Wade, and wanted to read another by him, but didn't like the one I tried, The Duke of York's Steps, which is supposed to be one of his best and mentioned in Martin Edwards' book The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. I will probably still try more by him though.

I also enjoyed the Crofts and Cyril Hare books - they were both authors that I already liked. My least favourite was probably Death in Fancy Dress, as I felt it rather fizzled out.

[Roman Clodia]

I enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder more than I expected to as I find Martin Edwards a bit pedestrian. But even though I've been reading the genre since a child, I don't actually know much about it so that book was enjoyable.

Cyril Hare is a great discovery for me too, and I'm also an Anthony Berkely fan now - it's a shame that his books aren't available globally so that we can't buddy read more of his stuff.

I've realised that I like detective fiction with a light touch that doesn't get bogged down in timetables/alibis/where everyone is to split-second timing. A sense of humour keeps it all bubbling over nicely for me with preferably not too much aristocratic snobbery.

[Jill]

I didn't reread the Sayers or the Christie, I also didn't read the Wade book.
I gave 5 stars to the Cecil Waye and the Austin Freeman as I liked them a lot. I gave 4 stars to 4 of the books. 3 stars to 3 of the others , and 2 stars to to Frances Iles and Anthony Gilbert, which I thought were poor.

[Ellen]

I didn't read The Hollow Man, Malice Aforethought or Hercule Poirot's Christmas. Tragedy at Law was my only 5 star read. Murder at Monk's Barn, The Missing Partners, Whose Body?, The Studio Crime, Inspector French's Greatest Case were all 4 star. The Three Taps, The Red Thumb Mark and Death in Fancy Dress 3 star. Fancy Dress was my least favorite. I re read The Golden Age of Murder and I think it is an interesting and useful book. Tragedy at Law, Whose Body and Studio Crime were also rereads.

[Sandy]

My favorites, at the time, were The Three Taps: A Detective Story Without a Moral, Tragedy at Law and The Red Thumb Mark. Now, all I remember about Red Thumb is the Holmes/Watson vibe.

My least favorites are Murder at Monk's Barn, The Three Coffins (a couple of very improbable methods in those two) and The Missing Partners, where I intensely disliked the heroine.

Christie and Sayers were rereads and, while these are very good, I feel both have written better books

[Jan C]

I enjoyed The Golden Age of Murder by Edwards. I have just been falling behind in my reading. Plus, reading Golden Age also added many books to my TBR. I wasn't that crazy about Monk's Barn - much of it too predictable. Probably why I've delayed getting going on Waye's second book in the series. I did like The Three Taps. I am still re-reading Studio Crime.

Just realized I have (either now or previously) read 8 of the books at least once.

[Carolien]

My favourites were Inspector French's Greatest Case, The Three Taps, Tragedy at Law and Murder at Monk's Barn. It was a lovely challenge, so a big thank you to the Mods for pulling it together!