Reading the Detectives discussion

I can hardly believe it's already time to nominate for our September 2023 group read. Where is the year going?!

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 Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth

“The door!” he shouted. “The door!” Every man in the room looked where Fifteen was looking. Above the water-lilies and the storks, where the top panel of the door had shown, there was a dark, empty space. The door was open.

A girl, clad only in a night dress, is found walking in her sleep. Had she heard too much? Should she be “eliminated”? Jane Smith, an impecunious and intrepid heroine, finds herself in the wrong place at the right time, swept into an adventure which will include imposture, peril, romance and… murder.

I think a lot of us got this free some time ago

I will nominate Two-Way Murder by E.C.R. Lorac, the next Lorac I own and want to read, I hope it’s available in most places, reissued in 2021.

'This is only a hill mist, not a real fog. You'll find it'll be perfectly clear when we run down into Fordings. Let's think - were you at the Hunt Ball last year, too?'

It is a dark and misty night - isn't it always? - and bachelors Nicholas and Ian are driving to the ball at Fordings, a beautiful concert hall in the countryside. There waits the charming Dilys Maine, and a party buzzing with rumours of one Rosemary Reeve who disappeared on the eve of this event the previous year, not found to this day. With thoughts of mysterious case ringing in their ears, Dilys and Nicholas strike a stranger on the drive back home, launching a new investigation and unwittingly reviving the search for what really became of Rosemary Reeve.

All the hallmarks of the Golden Age mystery are here in this previously unpublished novel by E.C.R. Lorac, boasting the author's characteristically detailed sense of setting and gripping police work.

I'll nominate Twice Round the Clock by Billie Houston

Horace Manning, scientist, recluse and ‘closed book’ even to his friends is found dead in his study at 4am, following a dinner in honour of his daughter’s engagement. An ivory-handled carving knife rests between his shoulder blades as the houseguests gather round to witness the awful crime. The telephone line has been sabotaged – a calculated murder has been committed.

Rewinding twelve hours, the events of the afternoon and evening unfold, revealing a multitude of clues and motives from a closed cast of suspects until the narrative reaches 4am again – then races on to its riveting conclusion at 4pm as the reader is led twice round the clock.

First published in 1935, the sole novel from the actor and dancer Billie Houston is a lively country house mystery and a true lost gem of the Golden Age of crime writing.

On Amazon in the US:
Jane Smith, $1
Two-Way Murder, $9 - $10
Twice Round the Clock, kindle not available, paperback $17.

I expect Twice Round the Clock will appear eventually as that series usually does. It was only published in April.

I'll nominate The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson. It is on Kindle here - $8.99. Part of "the American Mystery Classic". A mystery in a university library bearing a resemblance to Cornell. Published in 1942. Almost immediately went in to three printings. Humorous.

A woman falls off a rolling ladder. Then a strangled death of a man in a locked room surrounded by rare erotica. And the theft of a valuable manuscript. So the chief cataloguer has to determine what is going on - before she is next.

This is the only mystery written by Johnston, in real life a history professor at Cornell.

Don't know about the availability elsewhere but available in US.

Jan C wrote: "I'll nominate The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson. It is on Kindle here - $8.99. Part of "the American Mystery Classic". A mystery in a university library ..."

Read that last year and loved it. Wish there were more.

Thanks for all the nominations so far. Good news - The Widening Stain is now on Kindle in the UK, for £3.99 (I think it was unavailable here when previously suggested.)

I'll have to send info about both the mystery and the author to a friend who's an editor, first at major publishing houses, then for academic presses. He went to Cornell and has a great sense of humor.

From Google Books:

This comic mystery set in the library of a university that bears a remarkable resemblance to Cornell was a big hit in 1942, going into three printings within a month of publication. The author was Morris Bishop, professor of French literature and provost at Cornell, who hid his identity behind the pseudonym W. Bolingbroke Johnson. There is much bibliographic lore as well as a sufficient amount of genteel gore as a professor with a fondness for limericks looks into a murder in the library stacks.

This has been nominated in the past but I'll have another try - it's a Dean Street Press edition so hopefully should be widely available, and is the first in a series.

The Death of Mr. Lomas

When Mr. Lomas visits the Chief Constable of Burnham and describes his symptoms, Sir Wilfred Burrows believes that his visitor suffers from nothing more serious than nerves. Later that day Mr. Lomas's body is recovered from the water at Willow Lock...
The Death of Mr. Lomas was first published in 1941. This new edition features an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.

Nominations so far:

Jill: The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith by Patricia Wentworth

Susan in N.C.: Two-Way Murder by E.C.R. Lorac

Jan: The Widening Stain by W. Bolingbroke Johnson

Judy: The Death of Mr. Lomas by Francis Vivian

Susan nominated Twice Round the Clock by Billie Houston but Sandy checked and sadly it isn't on Kindle in the US as yet, so I think we should hold that one for a future poll or buddy read.

Does anyone have any more nominations to add? I'd like to get the poll up tonight so this is your last call. :)

Judy wrote: "This has been nominated in the past but I'll have another try - it's a Dean Street Press edition so hopefully should be widely available, and is the first in a series.

[book:The Death of Mr. Lomas..."

I liked it. Read it in 2020.

Our poll is now open - please choose the book you most want to read:

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Oops, missed the nominations... next time! ;)

We have a winner - The Death of Mr Lomas, which will be our September group read.

Full results:
The Death of Mr. Lomas (The Inspector Knollis Mysteries #1) 6 votes, 35.3%
Two-Way Murder 4 votes, 23.5%
The Widening Stain 4 votes, 23.5%
The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith 3 votes, 17.6 %

Thanks, Judy.

Sorry, I have been away everyone - at the Old Theakston Peculier Crime Festival in Harrogate. Great fun and LOTS of crime novels and novelists!

I will update now.

Thank you Susan! I hope you had a wonderful time at the festival - bet you added to your TBR!

Oh goodness! Certainly did, Judy, thank you, but good to be home.

Oh, that sounds great, Susan! I bet you also saw the man on my avi, the actor Richard Armitage who wrote his first book Geneva: A Novel, obviously a kind of psychological thriller.

He did turn up, although I didn't see him, Michaela. There were so many people - some who were there but did not give any talks, such as Richard Osman, who I did see (and he is quite as tall as you imagine!).

How exciting Susan. Have you been to any crime festivals before. Was Anthony Horowitz there?