Reading the Detectives discussion

Thank you folks! This looks as though it is a friendly group :D

Jan C wrote: "I always think that if you skip a volume you may be missing a facet in the development of the character. "

That is a good point, Jan. I think perhaps I'll leave it a while and then try the second book at a later date (when I've got over my current obsession with books set in London!)

That's a great selection of favourite authors, Hilary!

I loved that book, Ann. Here is a link if anyone is interested: The Golden Age of Murder

Hello.Just signed up as this genre interests me. Just finished Magery Allingham's Police at the Funeral a Campion novel. Lots of twists and written in that 1920's style that I enjoy. Have been gradually reading through some of the classic detectives, Poirot, Campion, Wimsey, Grant and Thorndyke. I do intersperse them with some more modern works.

Hi Colin - welcome to the group! We are new too, so have not yet started our first group read, The Santa Klaus Murder which we intend to begin in December. We are also planning a challenge next year based around Dorothy L Sayers.

Welcome, Colin. I, too, enjoy Allingham.

You have some great favourites there, Colin - I also love Campion. Again, welcome.

Have you ever had a tune repeatedly running through your head who's title escapes you, and you've got no idea why it keeps popping up?

This has been happening to me for the last few weeks and looking at this group I've just realised that it's 'Watching the Detectives' by Elvis Costello!

It must be subliminal - my subconscious picks up the name of the group and associates it with the song without me even realising what's happening!

Haha, that's where I got the idea for the group name! Sorry Ruth!

I love Elvis Costello! Sadly, my LPs of his music haven't made it to my electronic devices. Maybe I will see if I can get some of his CDs from the library...

Hello fellow deserters. Using my own keen detecting powers I found you !
I read British Detective fiction, both Golden Age and Current. I've
read all of Tey and Sayers, most of Christie and years worth of others. I enjoyed the Santa Klaus book a lot and I've ordered The Cornish Coast Mystery for January but Amazon and the US Post Office won't deliver from the Sceptered Isle until Jan. 6th.
I'll perch in the front window and re-read "Whose Body" until the postman comes.

welcome Shera!

Thanks,
I'll start posting soon now that I'm officially semi-retired.

Welcome, Shera!

Hope the postman soon arrives with The Cornish Coast Mystery and that you enjoy rereading Whose Body - I'm looking forward to reading it again too.

Hi Shera!! Glad you found your way here :)

Hello. I read many of the "golden oldies" intermingled with more recent mysteries, historical mysteries and various non-fiction and new books that catch my eye.

I recently listened to Hercule Poirot's Christmas and am currently reading a golden age anthology edited by Martin Edwards Silent Nights. I saw Martin Edwards mentioned earlier in this thread as author of a lake district series and I plan investigate that series ... though I do have an awful lot if series in process already.

I discovered Delano Ames ( She Shall Have Murder) through another group and have enjoyed that series very much, although only the first three are available through my library. So I'm hoping for reprints soon.

This group looks great and I'm looking forward to sharing. Although I won't be joining the group read until Feb, I may reread the first Sayers for the year long challenge.

& welcome Sandy!

Welcome Shera and Sandy. Always lovely to have new members to our, almost new, group! Please do have a look at our poll for February, which is still open, and vote for your choice.

I am so in. Sayers is one of my five or so favorite mystery authors -- I've read every Lord Peter several times, but once more is always welcome.

Other favorite most authors are Ngaio Marsh (okay, not British unless you consider the Commonwealth British), Allingham, Tey, Rex Stout (no way to consider him British, but I still love his work). And of course ACD.

But on the second tier, there are plenty of British authors I'm looking forward to reading with this group.

Welcome, Everyman. Glad you will join in and hope that you enjoy the group.

Welcome, Everyman. Thanks for joining and glad you are looking forward to the Sayers challenge!

Everyman wrote: "I am so in. Sayers is one of my five or so favorite mystery authors -- I've read every Lord Peter several times, but once more is always welcome.

Other favorite most authors are Ngaio Marsh (okay..."

Welcome, Everyman - good to see you here

Thanks for all the welcomes, and Merry Christmas to all. And hope Santa brought you enough mysteries to last the whole year! (Well, maybe his sleigh can't carry that many, but enough, anyhow!)

I really like the mysteries of this era and can't wait to start the Dorothy Sayers Challenge. I've read a few of her books and saw the Lord Peter Wimsey series by the BBC and would like to read the rest of her work.
I've never read John Bude and find that discovering new authors, new to me anyway, is a fun part of book clubs.

Welcome, Diane - glad you found us. I can't wait to start the Sayers challenge either! I loved the TV adaptations too and will hope to revisit those along the way.

Must also agree that rediscovering new authors is a fun part of book clubs - I recently read The Cornish Coast Murder and am looking forward to discussing it with the group.

Several new members have joined over the holidays - welcome to all of you! Just a reminder that there's still a chance to vote in our poll to choose the February group read, which will close on December 28.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...

Hi, I'm Ashley. I'm not terribly well-read in mysteries--I've read most of the Sherlock Holmes stories, all of the Father Browns, and a very few Agatha Christies--but I recently fell in love with the Lord Peter Wimsey series, and it's sparked my interest in the genre again. I think this year's going to have a lot of British mysteries in it for me--thank goodness the genre is so extensive!

Welcome Ashley!

Hi Ashley - welcome to the group. If you want to discover some new mysteries, you are in the right place.

Welcome, Ashley, glad you found us! A year full of British mysteries sounds like a great idea.

A Happy New Year to all members, and here's looking forward to a great year of reading!

Hi there!

I happily stumbled onto this group just in time to give direction to next years reading! I'm an avid reader, love mysteries but haven't read many "classical" authors other than Agatha Christie (who actually dominates my small library with a whole bookshelf for herself) or Conan Doyle. Looking forward to expending my horizons.

Jessica, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Welcome to the group, Simone. We look forward to you joining in and hope we can introduce you to lots of great books and authors!

Welcome to the new members and here;s to a great year of classic mystery reading :D

Oh, no, I’m in trouble—another group to seduce me away from my work discipline (I’m a freelance editor, and it’s always a struggle). I heard about you from the moderator of the Georgette Heyer group and would love to join. I’m a huge fan of Margery Allingham and Josephine Tey, as well as Michael Innes/J.I.M. Stewart, Edmund Crispin, and more. Haven’t read Dorothy Sayers in donkey’s ages and would love to do so again.

hello Abigail - err Georgette Heyer group (looks seriously interested)

Welcome Abigail. Well, we are doing a Georgette Heyer mystery next month - not that I am trying to tempt you or anything...

Hi

I'm another reader who has found her way over from the Georgette Heyer Group.

Most of my reading now is on my kindle, but I do still have a large collection of paperbacks which I work through re-reading regularly (I refer to these as my bath books).

I have all but one of The Lord Peter Wimsey books in paperback (and I did have the one that I can no longer find The Nine Tailors).

I also have several books by Ngaio Marsh and Ruth Rendell. Although I have considered donating the Ruth Rendell books to the charity shop as I am not keen on all, of them - just the Wexford ones.

I have read Margery Allingham but I don't own any - these would have been borrowed from the library.

Also Agatha Christie which I read many years ago (and am not really interested in re reading at the moment as there are way too many new to me authors tempting me).

I do read a very wide variety of genres but don't like any that are too violent, horror stories or poetry.

Welcome Simone/Jessica, Abigail and Jay-me - great to have you with us!

And many thanks to the Georgette Heyer group for giving us a plug. Looking forward to our group read of Death in the Stocks in February.

Thanks for all the welcoming messages! Have to admit, one of the reasons I want to reread Dorothy Sayers is that I have five of the novels in the first American hardcover editions (inherited from my grandmother). I love the sensory experience of reading a beautifully designed physical book.

Good evening and new year greetings.

Welcome Abigail! Yes! A well crafted book is a wonderful thing. I hope enjoy reading Sayers.

Judy wrote: "Welcome to the group! Please introduce yourself and say a little about your favourite classic detectives, authors and series."
Hello. I am a Sherlock Holmes aficionado, though I also enjoy Agatha Christie and other classic detective fiction. There are still many authors of the classic era that I have not got around to reading yet but hope to soon, such as Sayers. Recently I have been reading contemporary and slightly offbeat thrillers such as The Girl on the Train and Elizabeth Is Missing. I have plenty of means, motive and opportunity to read given that I run a bookshop and have, alas, relatively few customers!

Welcome, Leveller! I've enjoyed all the Holmes I've read so far and keep meaning to read all through them... maybe this year.

Sorry to hear you have relatively few customers, but running a bookshop must be a fascinating job for a keen reader.

Welcome to all the new members! :)

Welcome, Leveller :)

Greetings Leveller!

Welcome, Amanda, it's great that you have joined us and chosen the group for your first ever book club!

Also great news that you have signed up for the Sayers challenge - as you like Agatha Christie and 20s and 30s books, I have a feeling you'll enjoy her novels.

I'm another from the Georgette Heyer group, and am pleased to find this group since Golden Age crime fiction is my favourite. I'm especially fond of Josephine Tey and Dorothy L Sayers, but I've read most of the authors mentioned in this thread, at one time or another.

I live in England, and I enjoy reading old books partly because of the details about life in the UK in the early twentieth century which are revealed incidentally. I prefer books which don't concentrate on complex puzzle-solving at the expense of establishing characters and their relationships.

Welcome, HJ!