Reading the Detectives discussion

It's time to nominate for our November group read. We are trying something different for a couple of months and asking for nominations on themes.

As November will be the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, you are invited to nominate a mystery which relates to the war in some way.

This could mean that it is actually set during the war or immediately after, or that its aftermath is a key theme. Books written at the time or later are welcome. If you're not sure a title fits, feel free to suggest it anyway!

Just one nomination per group member, please. Also, only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month.

A couple of links which may give some inspiration for nominations ...

https://crimefictionlover.com/2014/08...

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

Not perhaps a Golden Age Detective, but it is 'aftermath of the Great War', so I am going to take a chance and nominate A Toast To Tomorrow by Manning Coles. Interesting in that not only does it start in the last days of WWI, but goes on to the rise of Fascism in Germany - also, perhaps of topical interest.

I will nominate A Bespoke Murder

May 1915. While thousands of Britons fight in the trenches, a severely depleted police force remains behind to keep the Home Front safe. In London, the sinking of the Lusitania sparks an unprecedented wave of anti-German riots and arson attacks across the city. Among the victims is the immigrant tailor Jacob Stein, found dead in his burnt-out shop.

Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion and Sergeant Joe Keedy must take on this case of cover-ups and contradictions and track down Jacob's killer – a hunt which carries them from the crime-ridden streets of wartime London to the chaos of the front line. But is the murder simply the result of a tragic excess of wartime hysteria, or perhaps a more premeditated crime?

Not read it but have it on my to read list A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang

The year is 1924, and Lieutenant Eric Peterkin, formerly of the Royal Fusiliers, is a new member of the Britannia―London’s most prestigious club. It's a family tradition, but an honor he's not sure he quite deserves. So, when a gentleman's wager ends with one man dead in the vault under the club, Eric is only too ready to tackle the mystery head on.

Eric’s quest to resolve the murder quickly becomes an investigation of a mysterious wartime disappearance. It draws him far from the marbled halls of the Brittania, to the shadowy remains of a dilapidated war hospital to the heroin dens of Limehouse. Eric faces a Matryoshka doll of murder, vice, and secrets pointing not only to the officers of his own club but the very investigator assigned by Scotland Yard.

Threatened with expulsion and dogged by the racist shadows of the Great War, Eric presses on nonetheless. But can he snare the killer before his own membership becomes a thing of yesterday?

I have so many of these books to read. Having read Charles Todd before( A Test of Wills ) and enjoyed it I would like to nominate A Duty to the Dead

A Duty to the Dead introduces readers to an unforgettable new protagonist in an exceptional new series: Bess Crawford, a courageous World War I nurse and determined investigator. Once again the New York Times bestselling author brilliantly evokes post-Great War Europe, casting an indomitable heroine into a simmering cauldron of village secrets, family intrigues, and murder.

England, 1916. Independent-minded Bess Crawford's upbringing was far different from that of the usual upper-middle class British gentlewoman. Growing up in India, she learned the importance of responsibility, honor, and duty from her officer father. At the outbreak of World War I, Bess volunteered for the nursing corps, serving from the battlefields of France to the doomed hospital ship Britannic.

On one voyage, Bess grows fond of the young, gravely wounded Lieutenant Arthur Graham. Something rests heavily on his conscience, and to give him a bit of peace as he dies, she promises to deliver a message to his brother. It is some months before she can carry out this duty, and when she's next in England, she herself is recovering from a wound.

When Bess arrives at the Graham house in Kent, Jonathan Graham listens to his brother's last wishes with surprising indifference. Neither his mother nor his brother Timothy seems to think it has any significance, either. Unsettled by this, Bess is about to take her leave when sudden tragedy envelops her. She quickly discovers that fulfilling this duty to the dead has thrust her into a maelstrom of intrigue and murder that will endanger her own life and test her courage as not even war has.

Some great nominations so far! I'm actually in the middle of A Gentleman's Murder at the moment and enjoying it - the author is a member of our group. :)

Jill wrote: "I have so many of these books to read. Having read Charles Todd before( A Test of Wills ) and enjoyed it I would like to nominate A Duty to the Dead

A Duty to the Dead..."

That's the one I was going to nominate, Jill. And because I enjoyed Duty to the Dead so much too!

I've just gone back to Rennie Airth's first book in his John Madden series, River of Darkness. It is post war but Madden is still suffering (I believe) from the effects of the war. I think it takes place in 1920.

Rennie Airth is brilliant, Jan and River of Darkness certainly deals with events from WWI. I haven't read the fourth one yet, but probably need to re-read the trilogy again first.

I'll nominate No Graves As Yet - I think I'd describe it as a 'proper' novel, one strand of which involves a murder rather than a murder mystery as such.

It's excellent in getting under the skin of characters living through summer 1914 - and the rest of the series takes place in each of the years of WW1. I've got 1918 to go and can highly recommend this series.

Any more nominations? The poll will go up in a couple of days.

While not set in WWI the mystery in this book relates to events of the Great War.
Birds of a Feather / Jacqueline Winspear

The poll is open! Cast your votes now

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

Thanks, Judy!

Christopher-I'm sure you've seen it, but The Ottawa Citizen gave your book a great review-congratulations and I'm looking forward to reading it.

We have a winner! It's A Bespoke Murder by Edward Marston, which is the first in a series.

Full results:

A Bespoke Murder (Home Front Detective #1) 7 votes, 29.2%
A Gentleman's Murder 5 votes, 20.8%
Birds of a Feather (Maisie Dobbs, #2) 3 votes, 12.5%
No Graves As Yet (World War I, #1) 3 votes, 12.5%
A Duty to the Dead (Bess Crawford, #1) 3 votes, 12.5%
A Toast To Tomorrow (Tommy Hambledon, #2) 2 votes, 8.3%
River of Darkness (John Madden, #1) 1 vote, 4.2%

Quite close this month. Some great choices, as always.

There were several books I wanted to try in this month's vote. I have been thinking about Marston's railroad detective series since the Jim Stringer series seems to have folded. This will give me a taste of his style.

Sandy wrote: "There were several books I wanted to try in this month's vote. I have been thinking about Marston's railroad detective series since the Jim Stringer series seems to have folded. This will give me a..."

Yes, it was more thr Railway detective I have been interested in, the Stringer one also. So many books......