English Mysteries Club discussion

This is the thread for The Art School Murders by Moray Dalton, which has won our poll for the July golden age English mystery group read. It is the 10th in his Inspector Collier series, published in 1943 and a World War II mystery.

Moray Dalton is a "new" author for the English Mysteries group, and this one sounds good!

Who's in for this one?

We officially begin on July 1st, but do please tell us if you will be reading it 🙂

I will be reading the book, Jean. I have never heard of the author, and I hope he packed his all in this series. Fingers crossed.

Yes I will be reading. I have read 4 of her books and enjoyed them.

I have a copy and will read along with the group. I’ve always enjoyed WWII fiction.

I'm in!

It's looking good!

Ellen wrote: "Yes I will be reading. I have read 4 of her books and enjoyed them."

D'oh, she is a gal then? My expectations have been raised.

I'm in too!

Just 3 days to go ...

I hope I'll have the time to join in reading this one.

I'm working my way through this one although it does seem to be a straightforward police procedural. Early on I did have to look up some of the English words no longer in common usage...

I've just finished the book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was a bit worried at the end that they might charge the wrong character with the crime.

Bill wrote: "Early on I did have to look up some of the English words no longer in common usage ..."

If you can't get an answer, do shout out, as I (or other English members) might be able to help!

Rosemarie wrote: "I was a bit worried at the end that they might charge the wrong character with the crime.."

It sounds as though it was quite cleverly written!

I enjoyed this one and found it quite suspenseful! The blackouts were quite useful in building suspense for mystery writers of this period. I cared about the characters and felt they were in real danger, which makes for a great read.

This mystery was pretty good; I enjoyed the investigation but I could not guess the culprit.

This is the third or fourth mystery I've read by Moray Dalton and I've enjoyed them all. I could picture the characters and the setting. Definitely a side event to the mystery, but I wonder if anyone remembers the art school advertisements that used to be on the back pages of popular magazines, I think applicants were requested to fill out a form and draw something simple from which their talent would be assessed. If memory serves, all applicants were talented. I don't think I had the entry fee or I might be a famous artist today. Does this ring a bell for anyone? Did it affect your reading of the book?

I remember those ads. I wonder if anyone ever actually responded to them?

This was my 5th Moray Dalton mystery. I have enjoyed them all. I plan to continue with this series.

Leaving this current for a couple of days, to allow everyone to finish.