Diane’s Comments (group member since Dec 06, 2018)

Diane’s comments from the Reading the Detectives group.

Like others, I found the pace slow and plodding. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I am not sure how both those sentences can be true but they are. I think part of it is the sheer decent hard-working nature of French as he follows one clue until it comes to a dead end and moves on to another, often admitting he doesn't know the next step. He does not have the flashes of brilliance of many golden age detectives; but his approach seems more realistic. Second, the day-to-day details of 1920s life are a bit exotic 100 years later. Third, I loved the travel and followed along on a map. Finally, there is always an underlying sense of humor which I enjoyed.

I enjoyed it and will look for more Croft books... but not immediately. I think I will need to space them out.

Tara wrote: "It seemed odd that the "uncle" left all of the money to Rosemary and none to Iris. While neither necessarily deserved the money since they weren't blood relatives, so it wouldn't be fair to expect ..."

I just listened to the All About Agatha Podcast episode about this book and one of their listeners suggested that Rosemary could have been the "uncle's" daughter. The book said that he had been in love with Rosemary's mother so an affair producing a daughter would not have been out of the question. I'm going to have to reread that part of the book with that in mind to see if I find it convincing. It would explain the very odd will.

I just read Blood On The Backs by Margaret Suckling, the second in the Midge Carrington series. It takes place in Cambridge in the 1930s where an undergraduate student has just fallen on the roof of one of the buildings. Two of the major detectives are Midge who is a student and her cousin John who is a don. The dons are wonderful and dialog amongst them is great. Also good courtroom scenes.

Margaret wrote: "I can't work out whether to re-read Thus Was Adonis Murdered or an Allingham. I've just finished The Punt Murder, which I very much enjoyed (possibly 4.5, rather than ..."

Margaret, funny that you should mention Thus Was Adonis Murdered. When I was reading your own book (Prisoner at the Bar), the interactions between the young lawyers vaguely reminded me of those in Thus Was Adonis Murdered. It's been years (decades?) since I read that and it's due for a reread.

Margaret wrote: "PS Really sorry to ask, but might you consider posting a review on Amazon? It's so difficult attracting an audience and positive reviews really do help (especially as it encourages Amazon's algorit..."

Happy to do so. I see that I am the first US reviewer though you have some great reviews from the UK.

I just finished Prisoner at the Bar last night and enjoyed it thoroughly. Midge is an unusual and appealing character. I particularly liked the courtroom scenes and the interaction between characters.

Jackie wrote: "Jill wrote: "I was wondering about what happened to Gillian. I wondered if because she had once been married, the author thought that her being abused didn't matter."

yes, that and since she didn'..."

I agree that the implied rape and abuse was not handled well. I thought it was very naive of Jennifer to ask Stephen at one point, but when were they married? Not the major problem at hand. Perhaps it's a product of its time -- I don't think a 21 year old today would ask that.

I just heard an interview on the wonderful Shedunnit podcast where a New Zealander said that Ngaio Marsh was known as an wonderful Shakespearean director. I think Marsh was describing how she would direct MacBeth. And I agree that it sounds chilling. Not her best mystery but fascinating from the theater perspective.

(And if you haven't listened to Shedunnit, I strongly recommend it. It's a podcast primarily about women writers of the Golden Age. Well researched and told.)

The latest episode of the excellent podcast Shedunnit is about Lorac. The host interviews an expert on Lorac and talks about Lorac's background. They both agree that one strength of her books is their sense of setting. By the way, Lorac is Carol spelled backwards. (The Shedunnit podcast is about British crime writers between the world wars. I really enjoy the podcast.)

I just realized that An English Murder is available on Kindle for 2.00 in the US but not under the pen name Cyril Hare. It's under the author's real name Clark Alfred Alexander Gordon. A few other of the Cyril Hare books are also available under the Gordon name. It's a great Christmas read so look for it. I'm pleased to buy it since my old paperback has print so small I can barely read it.

I have read this book several times before and I've always thought it was a good Poirot. However, this time I was struck by Aunt Laura's treatment of Mary Gerrard. I know it was a different time and having an illegitimate child was a serious issue back then, but she let her own daughter be raised by her ladies maid and an abusive husband. And then she didn't write a will to make sure that any of her money went to Mary. She made sure Mary went to school but this time it struck me strongly as not enough for her own daughter. She could have done more.

Jill wrote: "We read the fist book of this series as a group back in 2018 Here are the threads

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://www.goodreads.com/t..."

Thanks. I will catch up on that commentary

I have just started Death by the Seaside, the latest in the Lady Hardcastle and Flo Armstrong series by T. E. Kinsey. This is a delightful series set in about 1908 in England featuring a Lady and her ladies maid who get involved in helping the police. They have a interesting background to say the least. But the best part is the banter between the two women which is very funny. The audio books are very good too.

Tara wrote: "Overall I enjoyed this book, but struggled with some elements not necessarily related to the murder itself. My review is here:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Ultimately, my bigg..."

I agree with Tara that we were not given the clues that Lady Westholme had a motive for the crime. I've read the book too many times to remember whether I suspected her the first time I read the book. However one of my secret joys about the culprit was (mild spoiler about the play version of this book follows) (view spoiler)[ that Agatha Christie changed her mind about the murderer when she turned it into a play. Lady Westholme is played for humor in the play and is not the murderer. It's been a while since I read the play so I can't remember who the murderer was! Just that it wasn't Lady Westholme. (hide spoiler)] I'll be rereading the play soon to see.

In the US on Amazon:

Lonesome Road (Miss Silver, book 3) by Patricia Wentworth is on sale for $1.99 today.

Several of the other Miss Silver books are 1.99 or 2.99 as well. I'm filling in my collection of these classics!

I am on vacation and before reading the 10th book in the St Mary's Chronicles by Jodi Taylor, I decided to binge reread the first nine novels and multiple short stories. I have been reminded how much I love these books! The series is a great combination of history with time travel. Mix in a lot of humor, romance, and some sorrow. The narrator is a historical researcher with a wicked sense of humor and dislike of authority. I find the books unputdownable. Must be read in order so start with Just One Damned Thing After Another.

I read all the Felse books and enjoyed them. I have also read most her stand-alones (try Never Pick Up Hitchhikers for a funny light read). However, I could never get into the Cadfael books. I have always tried the first one - is there another book in the series which might be a good one to start with?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I think you are right, Judy. However, it gives me a heads up because I'm not interested in reading "gripping" mysteries - especially when that word is accurate."

Interesting. I ignored the "gripping" label and read the books even though it annoyed me. I think that I will share this conversation with the publisher (Joffe books.)

Diane wrote: "I am working my way through Faith Martin's Hillary Greene series Murder on the Oxford Canal. I just finished the 13th in the series Murder of a Lover and am loving t..."

Susan wrote I’m just starting a reread The Toll-Gate, more of an adventure-romance than mystery...

Susan you raise an interesting point though the discussion maybe belongs on the Georgette Heyer group (which I'm also a member of). Is The Toll-Gate a mystery? (view spoiler)[ It's not a murder-mystery but John is trying to solve the mystery of why the toll keeper disappeared. It's certainly a romance and an adventure and a comedy for that matter. (hide spoiler)]

I am working my way through Faith Martin's Hillary Greene series Murder on the Oxford Canal. I just finished the 13th in the series Murder of a Lover and am loving them more and more with each book. I was reading them a book a month but I went straight from the 12th to the 13th and am not sure I can wait before beginning the 14th. Has anyone else tried them?

Hillary Greene is a Detective Inspector based in Oxford, a woman in her 40s who lives on a canal boat. The series is modern-day. If you try the series, you must read them in order. Each book has its own new murder but there are underlying subplots that go from book to book. The continuing community of fairly complex characters make this a very pleasant and intriguing series. They are police procedurals/cozy.

The series has been reissued in ebook form (with changed titles) as part of Amazon's Kindle Unlimited books