Reading the Detectives discussion

Nominations please for our February 2024 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.

How about

'Thrones,Dominations', Dorothy L. Sayers / Jill Paton Walsh

I’ll nominate The Stretton Darknesse Mystery by Moray Dalton:

A man is found stabbed to death in the library of a vicarage. Who is he? What is his real background? Who murdered him? The location is Stretton Darknesse, a picturesque yet unremarkable Somerset village, resting in sight of Glastonbury Tor – the eerie conical hill crowned with a small tower. Stretton’s vicar is the Reverend Gregory Fortinbras, a tall, charismatic and manicured widower. Well liked and well-read but with a weakness for specialist literature . The lord of the manor is the aging, Sir John Pole, last of his family line, residing at, The Court, a grand country house. Private detective Cosmo Thor investigates but can he outwit Inspector Mears of Scotland Yard?

Currently $1.99 on Kindle US, not sure about elsewhere, please let me know.

Susan in NC wrote: "I’ll nominate The Stretton Darknesse Mystery by Moray Dalton:

A man is found stabbed to death in the library of..."

This doesn't seem to be available in any format in the UK (on Amazon, at least).

Rosina wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I’ll nominate The Stretton Darknesse Mystery by Moray Dalton:

A man is found stabbed to dea..."

Thanks, Rosina, I was afraid of that!

Okay, how about Murderer's Mistake by E.C.R. Lorac:

It's not long after the end of WWII, rationing is still in force in the UK, and Chief Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is hot on the heels of a coupon racketeer, Gordon Ginner. Just then he gets a letter from Lancastrian farmer Giles Hoggett about some odd goings on recently in Lunesdale. Normally he'd pass on the letter to some subordinate, but the possibility that Giles's suspicions might link to the Ginner investigation are just too tantalizing to leave alone, so off to Lancashire goes Chief Inspector Macdonald... soon to discover the murdered body of Gordon Ginner!

Currently .99 on Kindle US, please let me know about availability elsewhere, thanks.

.99p in the UK too, although you have to search by title - the link from the Goodreads page doesn't work.

Thanks, that’s my nomination then

Thanks Susan, shame about the Dalton - maybe those books will become available outside the US, fingers crossed.

Murderer's Mistake is an alternative title for The Theft of the Iron Dogs: A Lancashire Mystery which has just been reissued by British Library in the UK and is on Kindle Unlimited here. A bit confusing, but a lot of mysteries seem to have two titles (or more!)

Under that name it's on Kindle Unlimited - I am so glad I didn't splurge my 99p!

Susan in NC wrote: "I’ll nominate The Stretton Darknesse Mystery by Moray Dalton:

A man is found stabbed to death in the library of..."

Thanks for nominating this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known I already purchased it.

Judy wrote: "Thanks Susan, shame about the Dalton - maybe those books will become available outside the US, fingers crossed.

Murderer's Mistake is an alternative title for [book:The Theft of th..."

Great, thanks, I saw that audiobook (“Theft of the iron dogs”) is available on Everand.

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "I’ll nominate The Stretton Darknesse Mystery by Moray Dalton:

A man is found stabbed to dea..."

You must have got it on kindle sale, like I did!

Rosina wrote: "Under that name it's on Kindle Unlimited - I am so glad I didn't splurge my 99p!"

Yay! Glad it’s available for you.

I'll nominate The Lyttleton Case by R.A.V. Morris.

Sir James Lyttleton sent a wire saying he was going to America and then he vanished. The chance discovery of a body floating down a stream in Sussex which provided the first clue, for there were several very singular facts about it, and soon after Lyttleton's body was found in another man's coffin. Featuring Chief Inspector Candlish of Scotland Yard.

Jan C wrote: "I'll nominate The Lyttleton Case by R.A.V. Morris.

Sir James Lyttleton sent a wire saying he was going to America and then he vanished. The chance discovery of a ..."

I own that one so it must have been free at some time. Currently $1 in the US.

Keith wrote: "How about

'Thrones,Dominations', Dorothy L. Sayers / Jill Paton Walsh"

Yes, I think Walsh did an excellent job with her Sayers continuation.

I checked on what is in my Kindle and find I have Lorac's 'Murderer's Mistake'. I must have got it in a sale too. I have 7 of her books and not read any of them yet.

Keith wrote: "I checked on what is in my Kindle and find I have Lorac's 'Murderer's Mistake'. I must have got it in a sale too. I have 7 of her books and not read any of them yet."

I bought a bunch of cheap kindle Lorac mysteries at some point, Keith! She’s become a favorite over the last couple years for me.

Susan in NC, from our news, you are in a big storm. I hope you are warm and safe lass. Here it's the start of our summer and starting to get warmer. It's 20C today in Taupo. I guess somewhere in the mid 70sFahrenheit, we are at an altitude of around 1300ft I think, 400 metres anyway.

Keith wrote: "Susan in NC, from our news, you are in a big storm. I hope you are warm and safe lass. Here it's the start of our summer and starting to get warmer. It's 20C today in Taupo. I guess somewhere in th..."

Oh, your weather sounds delightful! Thank you for your concern, but we’re fine here in western North Carolina, for now! We’ve had sprinkles of rain on and off, and a cloudy day, but not as frigid cold as earlier in the week. There was snow to the west, in the middle of the USA, but luckily the Blue Ridge Mountains usually break up storms before they get to my city!

Yes, I was a bit bothered

Enjoy your weekend!

If this is available outside the UK, I will nominate:

Murder Intended: A Golden Age Murder Mystery by Francis Beeding a pseudonym used by John Palmer and Hilary St. George Saunders

A couple of books by Francis Beeding have recently appeared on kindle and I haven't read them before.

Ten people sat down to dinner with murder in their hearts.

By the strange terms of a will, a family has to meet each year for dinner at the house of their Aunt Agatha, the “rich old lady who won’t die!” at one of these annual gatherings, at which Aunt Agatha is not present, the possibilities of carrying out a murder and getting away with it are discussed, especially by a dissolute nephew of the old lady. Next morning he is found dead after a drunken accident. Ten days later another member of the family dies in an accident. Both deaths are ruled as ‘death by misadventure.’ Neither coroner’s verdicts were questioned, but when an out-of-work journalist in need of a story buys a drink for Agatha’s butler he realised all is not as it seems and a particularly cunning murderer is killing off the heirs one by one.

First published in 1932, this is a Golden Age Murder Mystery.

It’s $3.99 on kindle US, Susan, so it’s available. Two new-to-me GA authors nominated, woot woot!🎉

I am always scouting around for new GA releases - good to hear it's available in the US, Susan

Me, too! This group is death to my TBR list…🤣

Susan in NC wrote: "Keith wrote: "Susan in NC, from our news, you are in a big storm. I hope you are warm and safe lass. Here it's the start of our summer and starting to get warmer. It's 20C today in Taupo. I guess s..."

I'm further west - rain all day yesterday and most of today; although, on the brighter side, it has been in the 50s. The sun is supposed to come out tomorrow.

Jan C wrote: "Susan in NC wrote: "Keith wrote: "Susan in NC, from our news, you are in a big storm. I hope you are warm and safe lass. Here it's the start of our summer and starting to get warmer. It's 20C today..."

Fingers crossed for you, and here in Greensboro, too. Our weather people keep talking about how many holiday parades are this weekend, unfortunately likely to rain on and off - mostly sprinkles and gray skies today, but not bitter cold at least.

Murder Intended: A Golden Age Murder Mystery is one of the 99p books Susan listed today

Available in the US on Kindle for $3.99

Nominations so far:

Keith: Thrones, Dominations by Dorothy L. Sayers and Jill Paton Walsh

Susan in NC: Murderer's Mistake aka The Theft of the Iron Dogs: A Lancashire Mystery by E.C.R. Lorac

Jan C: The Lyttleton Case by R.A.V. Morris

Susan: Murder Intended: A Golden Age Murder Mystery by Francis Beeding

Any more? I'd like to get the poll up in the next day or so, so this is your last chance to nominate!

The Poisoned Chocolates Case, by Anthony Berkeley

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

Sarah wrote: "The Poisoned Chocolates Case, by Anthony Berkeley

Thank you, Sarah, great nomination - we have read it previously but I've just checked and it will have been more than 3 years ago (Jan 2021) so it's fine to renominate.

Apologies for nominating a previous group read, but some books are worth re-reading, and for those who haven't read, a good introduction to Anthony Berkeley. Thanks very much.

The poll is now open:
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

Please choose your preferred book for our February group read!

Judy wrote: "Sarah wrote: "The Poisoned Chocolates Case, by Anthony Berkeley

Thank you, Sarah, great nomination - we have read it previously but I've just checked and it will have been more than 3 years ago (J..."

I think I am still re-reading it from then.

:) I wish I had emojis to use!

I vote, (surprise, surprise!) for my nomination of
''Thrones, Dominations', Dorothy L. Sayers and completed by Jill Paton Walsh

Well, what else would you expect!!

Keith wrote: "I vote, (surprise, surprise!) for my nomination of
''Thrones, Dominations', Dorothy L. Sayers and completed by Jill Paton Walsh

Well, what else would you expect!!"

;o) naturally! I voted for my nomination, but would love to reread yours as well, I was so thrilled to find a new Lord Peter mystery when it first was published.

I try, not always successfully, to read a book at the 'appropriate' time. But right now I'm half way through Patricia Wentworth's 'The Silent Pool' and I have just bought a 'new' (used) camera, a Nikon Coolpix P7111 compact camera in immaculate condition which is a real beast with an enormous amount of manual control and it is taking some time to learn all the ins and outs. It was designed and built as a semi-professional pocketable backup to a DSLR kit and will cover 90% of what my Sony DSLR with a range of lenses is capable of.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know a thing about cameras, but that sounds impressive-best of luck mastering it! And enjoy the Wentworth book.

I'll get there Susan, it just takes time to absorb it all and get comfortable with it.

The book is quite fun, I'll be glad though when I've finished it and can get on to Lorac who is a new author to me.

Keith wrote: "I'll get there Susan, it just takes time to absorb it all and get comfortable with it.

The book is quite fun, I'll be glad though when I've finished it and can get on to Lorac who is a new author ..."

Good for you, I appreciate your attitude! With most interests and hobbies, takes time to absorb the details and get comfortable - I think that’s when I learn the most, in the doing and details. I may make mistakes, but then I learn how to fix them, always valuable.

I hope you like Lorac, she’s one of my favorite finds of the last few years in this group.

I learned photography in the 1950s so I know what I'm doing but the move from film to digital was a whole new ballgame and a steep learning curve. This 'new' camera is in many ways, similar to my DSLR but the controls are slightly different and I have to learn where everything is and how to get to it differs from my other gear.

If I had a second choice, I'd vote for either Lorac or Sayers. Slight edge for Lorac, since Paton Walsh finished Sayers' manuscript past the "Golden Age," but I want to start reading her series. Keith: I recently read Val McDermid's latest, "Past Lying," featuring Scottish detective Karen Pirie, but McDermid notes she wrote the book in New Zealand, thanking the Centre for Irish and Celtic Studies at the University of Otago in Dunedin!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I think that's a bit nitpicking Sarah. Sayers wrote the first six chapters and left notes for the rest of the book that Walsh used to finish the story.
Her own stories are well worth reading.

Thanks for the info about 'Past Lying'. I'll follow it up. I hope her books are on Kindle, I ain't got no room!

Keith wrote: "I learned photography in the 1950s so I know what I'm doing but the move from film to digital was a whole new ballgame and a steep learning curve. This 'new' camera is in many ways, similar to my D..."

Good luck with it, and enjoy the journey!

Keith: fair point, I didn't know the background of Sayers' last book, so full credit as a "Golden Age" book. I actually read a few of Paton Walsh's books as a kid (I especially remember "The Emperor's Winding Sheet), but haven't read any of her adult mysteries– yet. On top of my "to read" list.

Sarah, you should enjoy JPW's other Peter Wimsey / Harriet Vane books, 'Presumption of Death', 'The Attenbury Emeralds' and 'The Late Scholar'.
There are some errors in that story, the Bellona Club is called The Bellingham Club, Charles Parker varies between Asst. Chief Constable early on and Detective Chief Inspector later. There are other slips which an editor reading the draft should have picked up, it's rather fun finding them.

JPW has written several books with her own character, 'Imogen Qoy' which I enjoyed