Two Envelopes And A Phone > Recent Status Updates

Westlake first, and then this. So. Very. Excited!

This was another book I picked out, when I got to peruse the entire cellar of a Crime & Mystery specialty bookstore in my area. I ended up taking a lot of hardboiled-noir books, but the two main British hardcovers I bought were The Murderer of Sleep by Milward Kennedy, and this book by the Coles. I knew the authors' names, but had never seen their books around. They both have turned out to be quite fun.

Enter Mr. Wilson. And I guess he's pretty important, because I turned just a few more pages after Wilson showed up to take over, and suddenly I'm starting Part Two of the book...called 'Wilson'. Dick Prescot (of 'Part One: Dick Prescot' fame) will not be solving the case??

So, earlier, I hit about two pages that have not aged well at all (this novel is from 1926), which is a pity, because other than the repetition of a racial slur that was painful to get through for a string of paragraphs, this is a pretty entertaining whodunit. I have a hardcover from 1926, and I guess I can see why it would be hard to re-issue this (without editing or revising).

Loving it. Didn't know much about this book going into it, but I guess Prescot is the amateur sleuth of the affair, rather than the Police Inspector being the star of the show. The details surrounding the murder are already bizarre and entertaining; it remains to be seen if attempted ruby theft was in any way connected...or if it even really occurred.

This may be the lightest book I read between now and Nov. 1st…planning to make pretty dark reading choices once October hits hard. This is intended to be a bit of respite from what have been a slew of bleak, nasty books I spent September with, before I perhaps find worse reads waiting…

I’ve been curious about novels by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole ever since reading about them in The Golden Age of Murder, by Martin Edwards. Anyone mentioned in that book who I had never heard of was immediately intriguing - obviously not writers who I had seen on store shelves over decades…the elusive, neglected names. I want to get a Helen Simpson book too, but for now, the Coles.

I’ll finish it tonight. It’s been a riveting read.

Two creepy tales, to start. I like this a lot.

I didn’t read a synopsis, it’s nothing like what I expected - but it’s awesome.

Let’s DO this! Whatever it is. (The cover is cool.)

I’m looking for a Willeford I love, not one I merely like. Not that I’ve read that many by him. I can tell you I love the film Miami Blues, but have not read that particular novel. I can also tell you I have a book signed by Willeford! It’ s Sex Life on the Planet Mars, which is by Fredric Brown…but Charles Willeford signed it, because he wrote the Introduction.

Two wonderful tales to start this collection - though I did hit the first major ‘technical difficulty’ I’ve experienced, when it comes to books in this series: the first story had a few pages out of order right near the end. But at least they were all there. It’s when a misprint causes something to be omitted where it gets really frustrating. Anyway, Fredric Brown writes the best short Crime stuff, I feel.

Well, it’s out of the protective plastic, and it turns out I have # 238 out of the 450 copies printed.

A powerful collection - I just read the John Brunner story, ‘Two by Two’, and it was a winner. The last novel I read by him, To Conquer Chaos, was quite good too, but my favourite work by him is always likely to be The Sheep Look Up.

Suddenly, it’s all about short stories! I’m going to combined the contents of this book with what I have left in The End of the World and Other Catastrophes, in terms of what’s gettin’ read for the next day or two. Surely I’ll want a novel after that? (We shall see…). Meanwhile, I think Oct. will be all about more Fredric Brown, Horror novels of course, and hardboiled/noir Crime choices (mostly).

Loving it.

Loving it. Gosh, did I need a break from Extreme Horror novels. I mean, if this gets kind of icky, I don’t think it’s gonna rival a few really off-putting experiences I’ve had recently. I need normal gore levels, and less nightmarish sex craziness. Thank you.