Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

So this was another impulse buy, brought on by perusing the publisher’s catalogue. Panic in Paris was worth taking a chance, as was Captain Vampire - and of course the start of my Black Coat Press indulgence was getting certain Maurice Renard titles, plus Nyctalope on Mars, which were on a Radium Age SF recommended reading list. Then, daring picks like this. I get two short novels in this edition, SF from the 1920s.

Off to a good start - but I know that at any moment this book could take a cringe-worthy turn in terms of racial stereotyping. I love the descriptions of the temple, and even the trek to it which really led the book off; it seems like the mystery content will be entertaining, so it will be a pity if this one takes a big wrong turn and the sour taste gets awful. So far, we’re on okay ground in this area, IMO…

Look up the word ‘neglected’ in this book, and there’s a picture of a dictionary. And as loony as that sounds…it looks like no one actually knows if it’s true. Look up the word ‘dictionary’ in this book…and there’s a picture of the Dick Shawn Aerie. Again, no one at Goodreads is in a position to dispute this. NEGLECTED, or what!?

Right now, I’m supposed to be reading Natchez Burning, to wrap up my Earth Air Fire Water mini-reading project on schedule. But, I’m being a bit of a jerk by putting that huge book off, for a week or two. It’s just so long, that I need to be in the right mood. Plus, there’s about four books that I can’t resist. I’m not sure why Murder in Peking is one of them…I know this book will have offensive elements.

Up to her usual high standard.

Always a pleasure to return to this writer.

I loved ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime: A Study of Duty’ by Oscar Wilde. It strikes me as being a distant ancestor to two of my favourite novels: The Count of Eleven by Ramsey Campbell, and Counting Down by Gerard Stembridge. The Oscar Wilde tale is followed in this book by a story by his mom, Jane, Lady Wilde (“Speranza”), and as it was so short, I read that one too. Some notes on her as well - wow, she was 6’ tall!

I did not anticipate saying this - but I am absolutely loving this book. It’s sort of Henry James Extra-Spicy, meets Mildred Pierce But With Extra Men & Kids, Sort Of Celia Fremlin. Rex Stout, of all people, giving me this…from 1931?! This seems daring for 1931 - did outrage bury this book for 90 years, and now we can handle it?? I sure can handle it.

Well, how odd for it to happen by accident - but it seems that I've picked a novel that is, thematically and even plot-wise, the natural progression from the short story I just read, May Sinclair's 'Where Their Fire is Not Quenched'. Marriage, infidelity, loneliness, secret romance without enough romance to really be happy. But will there be ghosts, when it comes to Stout's take. I'll keep an open mind...

I'm apparently going through a phase where I'm bumping into stories I've read already, since focusing more on short fiction between each novel. Spectral Sounds had a story that I had just sampled in that big Irish anthology I've got on the go - and now as I read the first May Sinclair tale, I knew it was familiar; I had read it in Women's Weird back in 2021. It's okay, but I think the rest here will be new to me.

Always happy to go to another Rex Stout - and “First Publication in over 90 Years!” is almost impossible to resist. My faves by Stout thus far are Red Threads, Murder By The Book, Prisoner’s Base, and In The Best Families. In terms of who is re-issuing this novel…thanks to Hard Case Crime, but I suspect this will not remind me of the last ten Hard Case Crime novels I read. Or…could it?

It’s pretty gripping. I’m fascinated, I’m awestruck, I’m troubled.

I thought In A Lonely Place by Karl Edward Wagner was from the 70s, but poking around for truths has shown me that it’s from 1983. I’m not up for re-reads…so I guess my Stuck in the Seventies reading project is done early. It was fun. I may end the month with a Bob Shaw re-read that fits - and I’m still doing Earth Air Fire Water picks - BUT, suddenly I can just pick anything, and I am very curious about this book.

Riveting. I’ve become a fan of Williams, because of recent reads. The only downer is how sun-faded or otherwise washed out my old copy is, in terms of the colours that I can see are supposed to be on the front cover. Other than that, my “Earth” pick (Hill being earth), for my Earth Air Fire Water mini-reading focus every second book is a great choice, and fits in with those James M. Cain tales I’m working through.

So far, it's perfect.

Love, love, LOVE that cover.

Well! That was quite the thunderous maelstrom of a story to switch off the book with!

I tell ya - I ain’t too enthusiastic about this collection, despite its status; it been gettin’ its knocks recently, from a few people I’m connected to at the website. We’ll see, in my case, if this turns into a full-on Dangerous Visions situation, total loathing and disillusionment. What’s wrong with these stories? All? Some? I’ve read ‘Sticks’ twice, may skip it. This is part of my Stuck in the 70s reading jag.

All I’ve got left in this is a longer work - originally serialized - called Money and the Woman (aka The Embezzler), and I’m ready for that. The short stuff has been entertaining, but not Cain’s top output, IMO.