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Cordially Invited to Meet Death (1942) by Rex Stout
This novella was first published as ‘Invitation to Murder’ in an abridged format in The American Magazine in April 1942. It is tenuously linked to Black Orchids, the novella I reviewed in my last...
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Shady Hollow (2015) by Juneau Black
This is a novel and a series that I came across by accident, when recently perusing Oxfam’s online shop for books. The premise appealed to me as it is a mystery series populated with anthropomorphic...
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The Cup and the Lip (1975) by Elizabeth Ferrars
Since 2020 Elizabeth Ferrars has become a frequent author on the blog, with this being my 16th review for one of her books. Unusually The Cup and the Lip centres upon a male protagonist, as based on...
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Deadly Earnest (1952) by Joan Cockin
Cockin was not a prolific mystery author, writing only a trio of mysteries. The first two are: Curiosity Killed the Cat (1949) and Villainy at Vespers (1949) and today’s review is for the final one....
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My 1800th Post: Some Recent Additions to my TBR Pile
2024 is my 9th year of blogging, and despite slowing down a bit in recent years, I have managed 107 posts this year. When I started my blog in 2015, I never really considered that I would have...
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Prisoner’s Base (1967) by Celia Fremlin
It has been great seeing Celia Fremlin’s work receive more attention in recent years, with Faber & Faber reprinting some of her novels such as The Hours Before Dawn (1958) and The Long Shadow...
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The Chief Inspector’s Daughter (1981) by Sheila Radley
Does anyone else have a decade which just doesn’t overly appeal to them when it comes to picking books to read? The 1980s is such a decade for me. I rarely wander into it with my reading, aside from...
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Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries (2021) ed. by Martin Edwards
Although the reviews have been irregular, (there are two more in the pipeline) I have been managing to achieve my goal of reading one short story collection a month this year, which has been great in...
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Cafes, Cake and Crime: ‘The Case of Janissary’ (1897) by Arthur Morrison
This year I have set myself the task of reading one short story collection a month. The list for this project can be found here. Yesterday I put up my review for Guilty Creatures: A Menageries of...
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Appointment with Death (1945) by Agatha Christie
1945 you say? Surely this mystery was published in 1938? And that is perfectly true, but today I am writing about the adaptation Christie made of this novel for the stage. I have read the novel...
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The Problemist: The Complete Adventures of Thornley Colton, Blind Detective...
This is not the first time that I have encountered a blind detective in my mystery fiction reading. Back in 2016 I reviewed Max Carrados (1914) by Ernest Bramah and in recent years I have read two of...
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A Brief Guide to Five Vintage Mystery Plays
A couple of weeks ago I reviewed Agatha Christie’s play Appointment with Death (1945), which was an interesting reading experience, as my usual reading fodder is novels. So, it was quite timely that...
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How to Solve Your Own Murder (2024) by Kristen Perrin
I first mentioned this book in my 1800th post, where I was intrigued by the busybody victim, Frances Adams, whose motivations for unearthing everyone’s secrets diverge from the genre norm, as her...
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Mr Monk on Patrol (2012) by Lee Goldberg
There is a lot of change in this next instalment of the Adrian Monk mysteries, as not only do Adrian and his assistant Natalie have to travel to New Jersey to solve a perplexing murder, but there is...
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Book of the Month: July 2024
June had not been the best month for reading, and my initial July reads did not seem to suggest there would be a great improvement. However, in the end, it turned out to be a busy reading month, with...
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Cold Clay (2017) by Juneau Black
This is the second book in the Shady Hollow series. Since I only read the first book last month, my prompt return is surely a good sign. Juneau Black is the penname for American authors Jocelyn Cole...
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The Last Murder at the End of the World (2024) by Stuart Turton
Stuart Turton is an author who has been on my radar for a while, but the premises for his previous books have not quite grabbed me enough to pick them up. This changed with today’s read, as I liked...
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The Case of the Busy Bees (1952) by Clifford Witting
One of the things which intrigued me about this plot was how it differs in structure to my other recent readings by this author. Unusually in this novel there are multiple crimes to investigate, so...
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Death of a Minor Character (1983) by Elizabeth Ferrars
This is the fourth book in the Virginia and Felix Freer series. Previously I have read the first two books in this series: Last Will and Testament (1978) and Frog in the Throat (1980). Synopsis...
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Murder Your Employer: The McMaster’s Guide to Homicide (2023) by Rupert Holmes
When I first heard about this book, its premise reminded me of Pamela Branch’s Murder Every Monday (1954), with its “school for murderers” concept, although I will say Holmes’ novel takes the plot in...
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