Indeed, he read very little except detective stories, which he devoured at a rate of one a day. Ronald Knox, The Motive
The Creeping Jenny Mystery by Brian Flynn (1930) The seemingly untouchable jewel-thief “Creeping Jenny” has been burglarizing the country houses of England. But Jenny’s last job goes a bit to far, and it’s not just jewels that are taken. Not one of my favorite of Flynn's books. Bathurst isn't "seen" until almost the end of …
Continue reading A Bundle of Reviews #10 Or The Case of the Creeping Rabbi
The fishing wasn’t good off Burry Port. It’s so bad that all a man and his son caught was a waterlogged crate which they decide to float onto the beach. Inside is a decomposing body of a man. He has obviously been murdered, the face battered and any means of identification removed. It will take …
Continue reading Inspector French and the Sea Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts (1928)
The small town of Yewbury is shaken by the seemingly motiveless murder of Mrs. Pink, “a widow, of course, entirely given up to good works.” Motiveless that is until you take into account her very surly landlord Mr. Todman, who wants her out of his cottage, “one way or another.” Or Horace Wendon, Lady Furlong’s …
Continue reading Death Walks the Woods by Cyril Hare (1954) aka The Yew Tree’s Shade
The Arsenal Stadium Mystery by Leonard R. Gribble (1939) A crowd of thousands are on hand to watch the match between league champion Arsenal and the Trojans was the all-amateur team comprised of “carpenters and electricians, chemists and insurance brokers, clerks and salesmen.” The teams are well-matched, going toe-to-toe in a tie game. Then suddenly …
Continue reading A Bundle of Reviews #5 – From Highbury to Haworth
In which Mr. Pottermack commits the perfect crime, only to discover this is the last thing in the world he wants. Worse still is that “oversight”, which leads Dr. Thorndyke to discern that something is amiss. Let me first apologize for the extreme brevity of this review. As soon as I finish a book I'm starting …
Continue reading Mr. Pottermack’s Oversight by R. Austin Freeman (1930)
After artist Lydia Arundel is found dead in her locked studio, with a gun close at hand, an inquest brings in a determination of suicide. But Major Tom Boddy, who knew Lydia well, finds it hard to believe that a woman so vibrant would ever contemplate suicide. Plus, there were so many with a motive …
Continue reading Mini Review – Death Knows No Calendar by John Bude (1942)