Reading the Detectives discussion

Nominations please for our August 2023 group read.

Please only nominate books written and published in the Golden Age period, or a little earlier or later - if in doubt whether a title is eligible, please ask.

As usual, just one nomination per group member, and only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month.

If you aren't sure whether we have read something, the group bookshelves may help, or just ask! If it was at least 3 years ago that we read it, it is fine to renominate.

I will nominate The Six Queer Things. By. Christopher St. John Sprigg


“A rip-roaring tale of mediums, psychic research and the powers of darkness.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“[A] hair-raising excursion into the occult, with trimmings of insanity, racketeering in souls, palpitating action, and efficient British-type sleuthing.” - Saturday Review

“Mystery and horror, laid on with a trowel.” - New York Times

Desperate to escape living with her miserly uncle, Marjorie Easton eagerly accepts a job offer from the strange Michael Crispin despite knowing nothing of the employment except that it is well-paid and includes some kind of research. Much to her surprise, the “research” involves séances and requires Marjorie to develop her own psychic gifts to assist in communing with the dead. Soon she begins to suffer from terrible nightmares and seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but the real terror begins when Crispin dies under mysterious circumstances during one of the séances. Who is responsible? And what is the significance of the “six queer things” the police discover among his belongings after his death?

A Golden Age mystery with echoes of the occult, The Six Queer Things (1937) was Christopher St. John Sprigg’s seventh and final novel, published posthumously after his death in the Spanish Civil War. This first-ever reprint of his scarcest novel features a reproduction of the original jacket art.

I've come up with 4 suggestions but I don't know their availablility elsewhere. Here they are $.99-$1.99

Murder in a Library by Charles J. Dutton from 1931. An old lady is killed in a library. Why?

The Eames-Erskine Case: A Chief Inspector Pointer Mystery by Dorothy Fielding from 1924. A dead body is found in a hotel wardrobe and it looks like an OD. But the inspector is treating it as a murder.

The Polo Ground Mystery by Robin Forsythe from 1932. A financier is shot dead on his private polo ground. His last word is "murder".

The Tragedy at Freyne: A Golden Age English Country House Murder Mystery by Anthony Gilbert from 1927. A house party is going on and a man is found poisoned with a confession in front of him.

Murder in a Library is not on kindle in the UK
The Eames-Erskine Case is on kindle
The Polo Ground Mystery is also on kindle
Sadly, The Tragedy at Freyne is not. Hope that helps.

As I am currently re-reading And Then There Were None, I will nominate (again!)

The Invisible Host

"Do not doubt me, my friends; you shall all be dead before morning."

New Orleans, 1930. Eight guests are invited to a party at a luxurious penthouse apartment, yet on arrival it turns out that no one knows who their mysterious host actually is. The latter does not openly appear, but instead communicates with the guests by radio broadcast. What he has to tell his guests is chilling: that every hour, one of them will die. Despite putting the guests on their guard, the Host's prophecy starts to come horribly true, each demise occurring in bizarre fashion. As the dwindling band of survivors grows increasingly tense, their confessions to each other might explain why they have been chosen for this macabre evening-and invoke the nightmarish thought that the mysterious Host is one of them. The burning question becomes: will any of the party survive, including the Host . . . ?

The Invisible Host (1930) established one of the best-loved and most durable forms in classic mystery fiction. It was famously to reappear in Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (1939). How much Christie's novel is indebted to its predecessor is open to conjecture (and the subject is discussed in our new introduction, by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans). Whatever the verdict, readers will delight in The Invisible Host, an innovative and most unusual mystery from the golden age of crime fiction. It was adapted into a play, and a Hollywood movie as The Ninth Guest (1934).

Susan wrote: "Murder in a Library is not on kindle in the UK
The Eames-Erskine Case is on kindle
The Polo Ground Mystery is also on kindle
Sadly, The Tragedy at Freyne is not. Hope that helps."

Thanks. I will nominate The Polo Ground Mystery then.

Is Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer eligible?
Thanks

If Farmer's novel is eligible, I second nomination.

Icewineanne wrote: "Is Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer eligible?
Thanks"

It is eligible and on kindle.

Nobody needs to second nominations though, although they can, of course, vote for them.

Icewineanne wrote: "Is Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer eligible?
Thanks"

I followed the link and thought, well, not sure I would want to pay $23 for it though. Tried re-typing and it is on Kindle US for $7.99.

Jan C wrote: "Icewineanne wrote: "Is Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer eligible?
Thanks"

I followed the link and thought, well, not sure I would want to pay $23 for it..."

Jan, did you check your library? Ours have copies

My library has the ebook, yay! On my TBR list no matter what (I always add the nominees to my TBR, I’ve found so many good new-to-me authors that way - thanks, GR detective buddies! If I haven’t told you lately, thanks for feeding my mystery addiction!)

Icewineanne wrote: "Jan C wrote: "Icewineanne wrote: "Is Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer eligible?
Thanks"

I followed the link and thought, well, not sure I would want to ..."

The point was, that frequently, the link that gets posted is for the UK. In the US we need to re-type the title the book into the block when the price appears rather high. I assume the same is true in the reverse for y'all.

If there´s no problem with this, I´d like to nominate The Chianti Flask by Marie Belloc Lowndes. On the German Amazon page it´s 3.46 Euro, and also on Kindle Unlimited.

I find The Chianti Flask in the USA for $6.89 Kindle (price may vary depending on how many Kindle titles you order) and $7.25 paperback. It’s a British Library Crime Classics edition so it ought to be widely available.

Would love to read Chianti Flask but it’s not available up here on kindle only as a paperback ($25) or audiobook ($18) ☹️

Thanks for all the nominations. The list so far:

Jill: The Six Queer Things by Christopher St. John Sprigg

Susan: The Invisible Host by Gwen Bristow

Jan: The Polo Ground Mystery by Robin Forsythe

Icewineanne: Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer

Michaela: The Chianti Flask by Marie Belloc Lowndes

Any more before the poll goes up tomorrow?

Sorry to hear Chianti Flask isn't on Kindle in Australia, Anne (I'm guessing that's where you are from the Koala?), but sadly it seems to be difficult to find books which are available in all formats in different countries. I suppose it's to do with rights, but it's very frustrating that publishers so often don't issue ebooks everywhere.

Judy wrote: "Sorry to hear Chianti Flask isn't on Kindle in Australia, Anne (I'm guessing that's where you are from the Koala?), but sadly it seems to be difficult to find books which are available in all forma..."

I’m in Canada Judy, that’s why I was surprised that it’s not available on kindle or at my library (they usually have the audiobooks + physical copies)
Oh well, will just have to keep an eye out for it down the road

Hope the book turns up for you, Anne.

Our new poll is now up. https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

That was difficult ...

True, they all sound interesting - I voted for one that I remember being nominated before, that wasn’t available. It’s become available through my library, so I voted for it - but I’ve added them all to my TBR list!

I had forgotten that I had bought The Polo Ground Mystery at some point (probably when it was nominated previously)! So, I voted for it and am hoping for the best!

As I was doing my voting today I noticed Death of a Bookseller was on the list of books nominated for the July read in the English Mysteries Club.

The winner of our August poll is Death of a Bookseller by Bernard J. Farmer - thanks to all who nominated and voted.

Full results:
Death of a Bookseller 10 votes, 47.6%
The Polo Ground Mystery 7 votes, 33.3%
The Invisible Host 2 votes, 9.5%
The Chianti Flask 2 votes, 9.5%
The Six Queer Things 0 votes, 0.0%

Thanks Judy!

yes, thank you Judy!

Thanks, Judy.

I saw the writing on the wall and my copy arrived this week.

Thanks to Judy for the work and time invested in organizing the poll. I ordered my winning pick from the library, since I wanted to read it anyway, and finished last night. I hope others who choose to read enjoyed it as much as I did!

Good to know, my library has the ebook, I should probably go ahead and request it now - if I wait, it’s often checked out when I want it!

I already read this and found it good, but won´t reread it. Have fun all!