April 2023 group read - Winner!

[Judy]

Oops, sorry to be late - frantic day! But anyway it's time to nominate for our April 2023 group read. :)

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.

As usual, just one nomination per group member, and only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month.

[Jill]

I will nominate The Polo Ground Mystery by Robin Forsythe

Mr Sutton Armadale, the financier, was shot dead on the private polo ground of his palatial home. Before expiring in his gamekeeper’s arms, he muttered the one word “murder”.

Among the suspects are Armadale’s second wife; a drunken, loud-mouthed stranger in the neighbourhood; and an irresistibly attractive ballerina. The amiable and eccentric Algernon Vereker finds the case as befuddling as a crack on the head from a polo mallet. Two witnesses were certain they heard two shots fired, yet only one spent cartridge case was found on the ground by the dead man’s body. What is the “Sutton Stakes” connection… and is a “Bombay Head” part of the solution?

[Rosina]

I've had that in my 'queue' for ages ...

[Jill]

Rosina wrote: "I've had that in my 'queue' for ages ..."

Me too

[Abigail]

I’ll nominate Death of an Editor by Vernon Loder.

It’s a country-house mystery published originally in 1931; available in paperback and on Kindle.

[Sandy]

In US, Polo Ground is available on Kindle and cheap, but I don't find Death of an Editor available on kindle.

[Abigail]

This says it’s a Kindle edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2....

[Sandy]

Abigail wrote: "This says it’s a Kindle edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...."

When I click on the Amazon link, Amazon says "not available". Hopefully another US member will double check.

[Rosina]

Sandy wrote: "Abigail wrote: "This says it’s a Kindle edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...."

When I click on the Amazon link, Amaz..."

Not in the US, but although Death of an Editor doesn't seem to be available as Kindle, I did find (on Amazon.com)

https://www.amazon.com/Vernon-Loder-C...

Six of his stories, including Death of an Editor, for a fantastic price!

[Abigail]

Okay, I’ll withdraw my nomination.

[Sandy]

Rosina wrote: "Sandy wrote: "Abigail wrote: "This says it’s a Kindle edition: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...."

When I click on the Ama..."

But still not available, sniff.

[Judy]

Thank you for the nomination for The Polo Ground Mystery, Jill - I've read this one and enjoyed it.

[Judy]

Abigail, thanks for your nomination and sorry about the problems with availability of Death of an Editor - such a pain when books are available in some countries and not in others. Would you like to nominate something else?

If it's any consolation, our challenge read for March, Inquest: A Golden Age Mystery is by the same author, under a different pseudonym, Henrietta Clandon - I see from his GR page that his real name was John George Hazlette Vahey, and he not only wrote as Vernon Loder and Henrietta Clandon, but also under at least five other names!

[Abigail]

How interesting! I am amazed at how prolific some of these GA authors were.

I think I won’t nominate anything else, thank you. I did try to check on availability before nominating but obviously was not assiduous enough, having been deceived by Goodreads listing an ebook edition. I’ve had trouble with nominating books before that don’t meet the group’s availability threshold and think it best if I simply stay out of the nomination process.

[Susan]

It often happens, Abigail. Very annoying I agree and I've had the same issue. We try to find nominations available on kindle in the UK and US at least, but not always easy to find. Well, only one nomination so far. I wasn't going to nominate, but let me see if I can find something...

[Susan]

Let's see if this works. I nominate Death of My Aunt

Malcolm Warren, a young but valetudinarian stockbroker, is looking forward to a dull weekend when a telegram summons him to stay with his capricious old Aunt Catherine, who has shocked the family by marrying Hannibal Cartwright, a muscular garage owner many years her junior. Gleeful at the prospect of profit, Malcolm hurries to her bedside. But when his aunt resorts to her bottle labelled 'Le Secret de Venus' he finds that, instead of a gilt-edged portfolio, he is landed with a file of family skeletons. The resulting saga is retailed with a dry humour that reads as well now as it did on first publication in 1929. 'Kitchin's knowledge of the crevices of human nature lifts his crime lifts his crime fiction out of the category of puzzledom and into the realm of the detective novel. He was, in short, ahead of his day' - H.R.F. Keating.

[Judy]

Thanks for the nomination, Susan - this sounds like an unusual and intriguing book!

[Craftyhj]

how about Mystery At Lynden Sands by J. J. Connington. It is a cheap Kindle book in UK but I don't k now about US.

It is in my TBR so I can't comment on it personally but there is something wonderfully nostalgic about any book titled "Mystery at ...".

[Sandy]

Both Death of My Aunt and Mystery at Lynden Sands are available, and cheap, on Kindle in the US.

[Michaela]

I´m the same as Abigail, as most of the books I nominated before weren´t available in the US or/and UK.

[Susan]

That has happened to me many times, Michaela. It's impossible to check what's available in the US.

[Michaela]

Susan wrote: "That has happened to me many times, Michaela. It's impossible to check what's available in the US."

Yes, that´s because it always shows my own country, even if I look at the UK or US site. I´ll think of something...

[Judy]

Craftyhj, thank you for the nomination for Mystery at Lynden Sands - this sounds like an exciting book, set at the seaside with Connington's detective Sir Clinton Driffield.

[Judy]

Sorry you have both had problems with nominations and availability , Abigail and Michaela - I think this has probably happened to all of us at some time, because of Amazon not letting us see Kindle availability in other countries!

I know it's a bit disheartening, but people do often read books mentioned in the nomination threads, so I hope you won't be put off suggesting titles. I'll make a note to read Death of an Editor as I love reading mysteries involving newspapers and reporters.

[Susan in NC]

Sorry, having a hard time posting a renominaton from past polls, byCarol Carnac:

An atmospheric holiday novel from one of the most consistently popular authors in the series, Carol Carnac (also known as E.C.R. Lorac).

‘Crossed skis means danger ahead…’

In London’s Bloomsbury, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard looks down at a dismal scene. Here is the victim, burnt to a crisp. Here are the clues – clues which point to a good climber and expert skier, and which lead Rivers to the piercing sunshine and sparkling snow of the Austrian Alps.

Here there is something sinister beneath the heady joys of the slopes, and Rivers is soon confronted by a merry group of suspects, and a long list of reasons not to trust each of them. For the mountains can be a dangerous, changeable place, and it can be lonely out between the pines of the slopes...

As with each of the novels published under E C R Lorac in the Crime Classics series, the author’s sense of place is beautifully realised in all its breathtaking freshness, and she does not miss opportunities; there may be at least one high-stakes ski-chase before this chilling mystery can be put to rest.

It’s been nominated a few times in the past, availability should not be a problem, don’t know about $

[Susan in NC]

Shows as $14 for paperback on Amazon US, but it’s been out for years, I read it through my city library.

[Michaela]

Susan in NC wrote: "Shows as $14 for paperback on Amazon US, but it’s been out for years, I read it through my city library."

I´ve got it at home, and would really like to read it! :)

[Judy]

I'll nominate a book that I think has been nominated in the past but never won, The Crime Coast by Elizabeth Gill.

This was published in 1931 and is the first of three books in the Benvenuto Brown series - it's a Dean Street Press reissue, and their books are usually on Kindle everywhere, though it may be harder to get hold of print copies. Sadly the author died aged only 32.

Paul Ashby is excited to be heading off on holiday to the South of France. But on the day before departure he is entrusted with a strange mission – to find a missing young man. When he arrives in St. Antoine, he falls quickly in with the local artistic set, including alluring Adelaide Moon and Argentian playboy Hernandez de Najera.

Also present is eccentric painter Benvenuto Brown who suspects de Najera of murder most foul, and a Scotland Yard detective looking for the ‘slosher’, a noted jewel thief.. Bevenuto and Paul will travel from exotic watering spots to the dangerous backstreets of Marseilles in their search for the solution to this clever and elegant whodunit.

[Judy]

Last call for nominations - the poll will go up tomorrow!

These are the nominations so far:

Jill: The Polo Ground Mystery by Robin Forsythe

Susan: Death of My Aunt by C.H.B. Kitchin

Craftyhj: Mystery At Lynden Sands by J. J. Connington

Susan in NC: Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac (aka E.C.R. Lorac)

Judy: The Crime Coast by Elizabeth Gill

[Judy]

Sorry, I'm a bit later than I said but the poll is up now - please cast your vote!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

[Susan]

Thanks, Judy.

[Judy]

And I'm late yet again... sorry, it slipped my mind that I hadn't posted the result. But we do have a winner! It is Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac, aka E.C.R. Lorac, which will be our April group read.

This means we will now have group reads by Lorac two months running, as she also won the poll for the March read with These Names Make Clues! So no Lorac nominations for a couple of months now to give other authors a chance.:)

Full results:
Crossed Skis (Julian Rivers #8) 7 votes, 43.8%
The Polo Ground Mystery 3 votes, 18.8%
Mystery At Lynden Sands 3 votes, 18.8%
The Crime Coast 2 votes, 12.5%
Death of My Aunt (Malcolm Warren Mysteries #1) 1 vote, 6.3%

[Susan in NC]

Thanks Judy! I promise, no more Lorac/Carnac, and whatever else she might’ve call herself…;)

[Michaela]

I promised the same, but Susan in NC suggested the ones I had wanted to read, so I´m glad! :)

[Judy]

I'm glad too and looking forward to these discussions :)