AFTER THE FUNERAL - Agatha Christie

 

Even for a Christie cheat this is an abomination, worse it was a nearly 400 page abomination.

BRIDESHEAD REVISITED - Evelyn Waugh

 

And still my favourite book, 13th or 14th reading.  It never gets old

READING JAZZ- Edited by Robert Gottlieb

 

A beautiful collection covering all the greats from 1919 until 1996. A big collection clocking in at over  1000 pages.

Philip Larkin is terribly harsh on Thelonious Monk. 

Stanley Crouch rips into the later Miles Davis as well, not a word held back.

My favourite piece,  "The Poet: Bill Evans by Gene Lees.  Evans is always the favourite.

THE CASE OF THE SECOND CHANCE - Christopher Bush

 

Very slow to get going and the resolution is very contrived.  C+

THE JEWEL THAT WAS OURS - Colin Dexter

 

This story misses the banter and humour that others in the series have. Dexter can be very funny but this lacks the laughs, the mystery is ordinary

ADVENTURE STORIES FROM THE STRAND - Various

A  book of short stories taken from the pages of the Strand Magazine.  All the usual culprits found, Conan Doyle, Kipling ,Greene, Wallace, Maugham et al.

The story I enjoyed the most was "The Adventure of the Cantankerous Old Lady" by Grant Allen published in 1898.

This is a Folio Society edition so the stories are of a consistent quality
 

VENUS WITH PISTOL - Gavin Lyall

 

The normal wise cracking hero adventure from Lyall.  Nothing highbrow but entertaining as always

THE CLOCK STRIKES 12 - Patricia Wentworth

 

Average country house murder mystery, not a jot on Christie.

HERE BE MONSTERS - Anthony Price

 

A spy story entirely comprised of conversations. Didn't enjoy this as much as previous Price stories as it just fizzled out at the end.

THE ETRUSCAN NET -Michael Gilbert

 

Gilbert is always solid. This isn't a ground breaking mystery but a good read with some interesting history.  Set in Florence.

Gilbert is an interesting character in his own right, he wrote dozens on books but only wrote on his daily train commute to and from his day job as a solicitor.

MURDER GONE MAD - Philip MacDonald

 

Published in 1931, a serial killer is rampant in a small English village.  Very entertaining, reads like a screen play.

A bonus its a lovely wee 1955 edition.

DEATH AND THE DANCING FOOTMAN - Ngaio Marsh

 

Not her best effort, some staggering holes in the story, which is a shame as its starts out really well.  The book then loses its way totally as a murder mystery .The killer is glaringly obvious with a third of the book to go.

THE MAN WHO KILLED HIMSELF - Julian Symons

 

Once you get over the absurd setup of this story you get a very clever tale of murder.  It's a typical Symons book i.e an ordinary wee man whose life gets out of control.

Again,don't get put off by the silly covers with many of these editions.

THE CORNISH COAST MURDER - John Bude

Published in the mid 1930's this was Bude's first book .The best thing I can say about it is the Bude ranks in the 3rd division of crime writers , positioned mid table.

Very ordinary, somehow he had another 29 books published.

I've noticed with this British Library Crime Classic's line that the quality of the stories is poor, whether this is as they are out of copywrite I don't know but they continue to disappoint.  Even in the Introduction its noted that Bude wasn't flash on plotting or character's and that this books main claim to fame is that its initial print run was very small and its a rarity for hardcore collectors

WRITING WITH INTENT -Margaret Atwood

 

I love everything she writes.  The stand out in this collection s her essay on Orwell.  

Atwood for a "Nobel" is all I can say.

THE TEN TEACUPS - Carter Dickson

 

Not up to his usual standard for a locked room murder mystery

SION CROSSING -Anthony Price

 

THE MAN ON THE BALCONY - Sjowall & Wahloo

 

GHOSTS- Ed McBain

 

A solid procedural.

DEATH IS NOW MY NEIGHBOUR - Colin Dexter

 

Morse , always enjoyable.

THE EYE OF OSIRIS - R. Austin Freeman

 

Published in 1911 this features , Doctor Thorndyke, the first forensic detective.

This is not a bad mystery, guessable if you pay attention but worthwhile reading, an easy read considering the time period it was published.  Recommended.

EXIT LINES - Reginald Hill

 

"Fat Andy " Dalziel , one of crime fictions great characters.  Warren Clarke absolutely nailed him in the TV series 'Dalziel & Pascoe".

Anything Hill wrote is worth picking up.

THE MYSTERIOUS MICKEY FINN - Elliot Paul

The Thin Man written by P G Wodehouse is the best way I can describe this caper.  Very funny, full of fun characters.  Published in 1939 , great fun.
 

THE RAT ON FIRE -George V. Higgins

 

No one does sleazy characters like Higgins.  The Boston underworld in all its sordidness with a surprising amount of humour.

ASK A POLICEMAN -By Members of the Detection Club

 

Chapters written by Anthony Berkeley, Milward Kennedy, Gladys Mitchell, John Rhode and Dorothy L. Sayers.

The only difference from  The Floating Admiral is the chapter authors wrote using other members detectives  i.e Berkeley wrote his chapter as Sayers using Lord Peter Wimsey.

The result, a rather tedious vanity project.

THE MYSTERY OF THE ENCHANTED CRYPT - Eduardo Mendoza

 

A very very funny detective novel parody.  Its laugh out loud funny even with it being a translation.

This is very well written with continual digs at the Franco regime that had ended 4 years prior to this novels publication (1979).

I will Mendoza again if I can come across any of his work.

OTHER PATHS TO GLORY - Anthony Price

 

How can events from the battle of the Somme affect things in 1974?

A very good thriller.  Reviewers state this is Price's best and you can see why .

Very easy to find secondhand as Price sold truck loads in the 70's and 80's

BOOKS v CIGARETTES - George Orwell

 

A small book of short essays mostly about books.

Who hasn't bought books rather then food? 

Others, working in a secondhand book store, being a book reviewer and a couple of political pieces.

A great little read as as usual very on point and easy to comprehend.  

THE MAD HATTER MYSTERY - John Dickson Carr

 

A Gideon Fell mystery from 1931. Lots of very funny banter and not a bad mystery.  Carr is always reliable

BLOODY MURDER -Julian Symons

 

 A history of the detective novel through to the thriller through to the spy novel.  From Poe through to the 1990's.

Originally published in 1972 with revisions in 1985 and finally1992 shortly before the authors death.  Symons doesn't hold back in his criticism, personally I agreed with most of what he writes about the genre.. I  also think we would agree on how bad Robert Ludlum is but he couldn't offer an opinion as he was never been able to finish one of his books.

A good history which doubles as an encyclopedia of the genre. This book has given me years of book hunting to undertake finding authors I have never previously heard of

Its very hard book to find, I had to bite the bullet and buy it new which was getting up there price wise,  but if detective fiction is your main reading its invaluable to have in your collection.

THE CRETAN COUNTERFEIT - Katherine Farrer

Very very slow, not even editing it by 50 pages ,which it desperately needs would have made much of a difference to what is a very boring detective tale

A QUESTION OF PROOF - Nicholas Blake

Published in 1935 this is Blake's (Cecil Day-Lewis) first effort.  A good whodunnit set in a boarding school.  All the clues are there for the reader to solve the crimes. 

THE GOLDFISH BOWL - Laurence Gough

 

A good serial killer tale.  Major cheats along the way but this was Gough's first effort.  Well worth seeking out

THE PIOUS AGENT -John Braine

 

In the mould of  James Bond.  Well written thriller.

THE FACE ON THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR - Cameron McCabe

 

Tries to be too clever and fails.

BAD CHILI - Joe R. Lansdale

 

Lansdale writes comics without pictures.  Very violent and very, very entertaining.  Absolute literary chocolate, no substance but very satisfying as a Sunday afternoon read.

BLACK COFFEE - Agatha Christie

A novelisation of a play.  Both are very ordinary 

THE RASP - Philip MacDonald

 A 'locked room" from 1924.  Not bad for a first effort,  overly long but I've read the series gets better.

THE MAN WHOSE DREAMS CAME TRUE - Julian Symons

This is very very good, don't get put off by the cover.  Symons was in the upper echelon of crime writers

THE RIVERSIDE VILLAS MURDER -Kingsley Amis

 

THE NIGHT OF WENCESLAS - Lionel Davidson

 

LAURA - Vera Caspary

 

DEATH THREATS AND OTHER STORIES - Georges Simenon

 

THE WAY THROUGH THE WOODS - Colin Dexter

 

PUPPET ON A CHAIN - Alistair MacLean

 

THE WICKED GO TO HELL - Frederic Dard

 

THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS -Agatha Christie

 

THE WYCHFORD POISONING CASE - Anthony Berkeley

 

A PUZZLE FOR FOOLS - Patrick Quentin

 

SHIMBUMI -Trevanian