Reading the Detectives discussion

Hard to believe, but it's time to nominate for our December 2022 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. Christmas/winter themes are welcome (but not required!)

P.S. We do already have one Christmas mystery lined up as a buddy read in December, The Christmas Egg by Mary Kelly, as that one has been nominated a few times in the past.

I will nominate Postscript to Poison by Dorothy Bowers

“Do you think it is a secret that you are slowly poisoning Mrs. Lackland?”
When Dr. Tom Faithful receives the third anonymous letter, he knows it is time to call the police. His wealthy patient, Cornelia Lackland, is recovering steadily from a serious illness, diligently cared for by him, her family members and her household staff. But something is amiss in Minsterbridge. Mrs. Lackland rules her house with an iron fist, keeping granddaughters Jenny and Carol as virtual prisoners and bullying her attendant Emily Bullen. Scornful and dismissive of everyone, she is planning to make one final change to her will. But, before she can meet her solicitor, Cornelia Lackland is dead, the apparent victim of a poisoner. This is a town where everybody's business is known by everyone else. Chief Inspector Dan Pardoe of Scotland Yard and his colleague Sergeant Salt are called in to investigate an ever-growing list of suspects. Pardoe is a satisfying and likeable creation, described by Milward Kennedy, crime writer and Sunday Times reviewer, as having ‘humanity and common sense as impressive as his intelligence’.

Author Dorothy Bowers (1901-1948) was an advocate of the ‘fair play’ school of detective novels, and displayed great ingenuity in piecing together the necessary elements of a baffling mystery, with clues shared freely with the reader. When Inspector Pardoe indicates he knows who the murderer is, the reader knows virtually everything he does. Bower’s skill in obscuring her characters motives allows her to hide the identity of the murderer until exactly the right moment. However, what raises Bowers above contemporary fair play plodders is the perceptive description of her characters, no matter how small, and a keen eye for place unusual in a genre dominated by plot. For example: “Lights winked, went out, came on in some other room. Blinds shut out the deep blue night that pressed against the windows. A few bats flitted and chased each other like a company of dark, undefined thoughts, and from one of the shrubberies an owl quavered low crooning notes. A cat darted noiselessly from one side of the square to the other…”

The only writer selected for membership in to the prestigious Detection Club in 1948, Bowers wrote five crime thrillers before her early death from tuberculosis: Postscript to Poison (1938), Shadows Before (1929), A Deed Without a Name (1940), Fear for MIss Betony (1941) and The Bells at Old Bailey (1947).

This sounds like an interesting book, Susan - poison pen letters tend to make for a great plot. Dorothy Bowers is an author I haven't tried yet, but would like to.

Not very Christmassy I know, Judy, but I would like to try her. It's good that so many authors are being republished.

Susan wrote: "I will nominate Postscript to Poison by Dorothy Bowers

“Do you think it is a secret that you are slowly poisoning Mrs. Lac..."

I don't think it available on kindle in the US. There is a single copy in my library system.

I’ll try again with The Port of London Murders by Josephine Bell:

“ Wapping. Tugs and barges on the river. A west-end shop that deals apparently in nothing but lingerie. Women who sell their souls for something in a little screw of paper. A doctor in the slums who has mysterious visitors ...

In a mean street of dockland a woman is dead, with every sign of suicide ...

A derelict barge casts part of a cargo ashore, boxes which have double ends: some of these box-ends are empty, others conceal pink chiffon nightdresses ...

The river police are concerned with the smuggling, Detective-Sergeant Chandler with an apparent suicide which he believes to be murder. River and shore police confer. Sergeant Chandler visits his suspects once more. He is never seen again ...”

Definitely not Christmas-y, but intriguing, and I don’t think I’ve read Josephine Bell. She was a female physician who practiced with her husband, also a doctor, then wrote crime fiction, often with medical connection, and was a founder of the Crime Writers’ Association.

Sandy wrote: "Susan wrote: "I will nominate Postscript to Poison by Dorothy Bowers

“Do you think it is a secret that you are slowly pois..."

I found four other Dorothy Boyers mysteries available through Scribd (The Bells at Old Bailey, Fear For Miss Betony, A Deed Without A Name, and Shadows Before) but not this one - sounds interesting!

I'll leave it in anyway. It does sound interesting and might appeal to some members, even if it isn't available across the pond. I think nominations are useful for that, regardless of what wins and I often read book on the list that don't win.

Me, too, I’ve found several great reads through our nominations.

Me too. We can leave it out of the vote, but I won't remove it, as it has been re-published fairly recently I think.

I will nominate So Pretty a Problem. By. Francis Duncan

Amateur sleuth Mordecai Tremaine is back in another classic mystery from the author of Murder for Christmas

Adrian Carthallow, enfant terrible of the art world, is no stranger to controversy. But this time it’s not his paintings that have provoked a blaze of publicity – it’s the fact that his career has been suddenly terminated by a bullet to the head. Not only that, but his wife has confessed to firing the fatal shot.

Inspector Penross of the town constabulary is, however, less than convinced by Helen Carthallow’s story – but has no other explanation for the incident that occurred when the couple were alone in their clifftop house.

Luckily for the Inspector, amateur criminologist Mordecai Tremaine has an uncanny habit of being in the near neighbourhood whenever sudden death makes its appearance. Investigating the killing, Tremaine is quick to realise that however handsome a couple the Carthallows were, and however extravagant a life they led, beneath the surface there’s a pretty devil’s brew…


Not Christmasy but am completely out of ideas for Christmas.

Jill wrote: "I will nominate So Pretty a Problem. By. Francis Duncan

Amateur sleuth Mordecai Tremaine is back in another classic mystery from the author of Murder for Christma..."

Same here - we do have “Hercules Poirot’s Christmas” on our Detective Club list, so that’s something! This sounds interesting, I liked the previous Mordecai Tremaine, so on the TBR it goes…

I would like to try again for The Floating Admiral as a fitting conclusion to this year's reading challenge.

In 1931 Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and 10 other crime writers from the newly formed Detection Club collaborated in publishing a unique crime novel. In a literary game of consequences, each author would write one chapter, leaving G.K. Chesterton to write a typically paradoxical prologue and Anthony Berkeley to tie up all the loose ends. In addition, all of the authors provided their own solutions in sealed envelopes, all of which appeared at the end of the book, with Agatha Christie's ingenious conclusion acknowledged at the time to be 'enough to make the book worth buying on its own'.

Frances wrote: "I would like to try again for The Floating Admiral as a fitting conclusion to this year's reading challenge.

In 1931 Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, and 10 other crime writers f..."

I’ve never read this! Doesn’t seem fair on Berkeley, making him tie up all the loose ends!

Susan wrote: "I'll leave it in anyway. It does sound interesting and might appeal to some members, even if it isn't available across the pond. I think nominations are useful for that, regardless of what wins and..."

I got it in paperback some time ago.

I'll nominate The Mayfair Mystery by Frank Richardson. Originally published by Collins in 166929 as 2835 Mayfair. Re-published in 2015 as the first in a series of classic mysteries from the Collins vault.

A valet discovers his employer dead. When he brings someone back with him the body has disappeared.

Has anyone heard of this book? An English Murder
It gets pretty good reviews and is Christmasy.

I think we read it a while ago? I know that I have anyway. You are right, Klowey, it is good. I like Cyril Hare.

The bookshelf says buddy read in 2018, but I think I read it with another group too.

Klowey wrote: "Has anyone heard of this book? An English Murder
It gets pretty good reviews and is Christmasy."

Still doesn't seem to be available on kindle in the US.

Sandy wrote: "Klowey wrote: "Has anyone heard of this book? An English Murder
It gets pretty good reviews and is Christmasy."

Still doesn't seem to be available on kindle in the US."

I have a used paperback I ordered for our group read , I couldn’t find it anywhere else. I remember I enjoyed this one.

Yes, we read An English Murder at Christmas 2018, so it would be fine to nominate time-wise, but sounds as if US availability could be a problem.

Nominations so far:

Susan: Postscript to Poison by Dorothy Bowers

Susan in NC: The Port of London Murders by Josephine Bell

Jill: So Pretty a Problem by Francis Duncan

Frances: The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club

Jan: The Mayfair Mystery by Frank Richardson

Klowey, did you want to nominate An English Murder?

Also, Susan, should we include Postscript to Poison in the vote or just leave it as a suggestion?

Availability is getting rather complicated, but if a book wins which isn't available in some countries, we can always add an alternative. :)

I bought An English Murder, The Wind Blows Death and Untimely Death He Should Have Died Hereafter on Kindle in May of 2020 and now only The Wind Blows Death is still available.

The poll is now open - please cast your votes! A couple of books which were mentioned in the discussion haven't been included due to availability problems, Postscript to Poison by Dorothy Bowers and An English Murder, but we still have four great books to choose from.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/2...

I already read Port of London, and the others are available here, but not too cheap for a Kindle edition - I could nearly get a paperback for that.

The Floating Admiral is on Hoopla for me, so I am really hoping it wins the poll!

And the winner is... The Floating Admiral by The Detection Club, which will be our December group read, very appropriately as our Detection Club challenge comes to the end. Thank you to Frances for the nomination, and to all who nominated and voted.

Full results:
The Floating Admiral 11 votes, 50.0%
So Pretty a Problem (Mordecai Tremaine #3) 5 votes, 22.7%
The Port of London Murders 3 votes, 13.6%
The Mayfair Mystery 3 votes, 13.6%

Thanks, Judy. Will updat the list.

Thanks Susan

oh, good, I can get that from my library.

Thanks, Judy.