As we draw these “Yay, My Blog Has Lasted Ten Years!” celebrations to a close, the only sensible thing to do is to look ahead to the next decade, I guess.
There’s never been a masterplan for The Invisible Event. One of the lovely things about doing this blog for so long is that it has clearly found its niche very naturally, and sits however low it sits in your priorities because I never really wanted it to be anything besides enjoyable for me and useful as a weather vane to readers who might be interested in the books I reviewed.
That said, there are things I would like to do in the years ahead — and, hell, doubtless some things will happen that don’t currently sit anywhere on or near my radar. So, let’s see how many I can think of, and then let’s come back in 2035 and see how many happened, eh?
1. More Podcasting
You wouldn’t know this if you found the blog in recent months, but back in 2020 I started a semi-regular podcast called In GAD We Trust in which I had interesting conversations with Golden Age Detection fans about whatever they wanted, really. There are 30-some episodes available at that link (or there’s a page at the top of the blog), and I’ve promised to get to at least 40 episodes in the coming years. And, look, I love doing the podcast, but since I always intended it to be a free-to-access thing I only really want to do it when it’s fun — I’m not getting tied into it because it’s how I pay my mortgage, I already have a job under those conditions. And more is on the way, I promise.
2. More Pre-GAD Crime Stories
Having read a lot of post-Golden Age stuff before finding the joys of GAD, I’ve been slowly moving backwards in time and reading a sprinkling of pre-GAD Victorian crime fiction in the likes of two Michael Sims-edited collections. I recently read The Mysterious Case of the Victorian Female Detective (2024) by Sara Lodge, and it teased out a few links that I’m trying to find a way to explore, and you can expect this to surface in various ways in the months and years ahead. My heart will always belong to, and this blog will always prioritise, the Golden Age, but where it came from and how the threads of earlier crime fiction were woven into the complex patterns of GAD is becoming increasingly fascinating to me. So expect developments.
3. More Think Pieces
I lamented in an earlier Tenniversay post that I had stopped doing general meanderings on topics that were interesting to me and pretty much just wrote book reviews now, and the realisation that I enjoyed those think pieces made me want to try writing one again. So I have, and it’ll pop up on here in a couple of weeks. Lord alone knows if that’ll be the last one ever, but, since I enjoyed writing it and it felt reassuring to flex those muscles again, I doubt it. These will be infrequent, probably unconnected, and occasionally unsuccessful in their intent, but I really do think about this genre a lot, and some of those thoughts come from the most unlikely of sources. So expect me to meander around a few topics, and feel free not to read them if that sort of thing doesn’t interest you.
4. A Second (and Maybe Third) Novel
I wrote a novel a few years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed the process. I have a first draft of a follow-up sitting in a drawer at the moment, and enjoyed writing that, so I expect to return to it to start the second draft before the end of the year (aforementioned job permitting). My current thinking is to publish the second five years after the first, so in early 2027, but that depends on how good the second draft turns out to be. And, since I have the broad plots of four more sketched out to follow that one, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that I can use my time in the next decade to get on with at least the third book, right? I’m very proud of The Red Death Murders (2022) and would want anything that follows it to feel equally as good — and that may not be possible — but the intent is certainly there.
That’s all pretty safe, though; let’s go out on a limb or two…
5. Some New Media
Be this a board game, some interactive project on here or elsewhere, maybe something with VR as that becomes more normal and accessible, I like to think that I have enough creativity and enough of a handle on the core concepts of GAD to do something more than just write prose on here, fashion a complex fictional plot, and record podcasts. Book publishing has become increasingly easy in the last decade, so who knows what other media will follow suit, if they haven’t already? The likes of Kickstarter make funding a popular-sounding project all the more possible, so I wouldn’t put it past me to put a toe into this ocean at some point. Hey, I never imagined I’d start a podcast, and that’s now second nature to me, so why not?
6. Publishing More Forgotten GAD Classics
It was a distinct pleasure to be the motivating force behind the republication of Murder on the Way! (1935) and I’ll Grind Their Bones (1936) by Theodore Roscoe — and the wonderful Bold Venture Press were very accommodating in making it happen — and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that more in the same vein might follow. Sure, there are lots of small imprints springing up in the wake of the British Library Crime Classics range, but there are even more forgotten books that might just be fabulous (like Mystery Mansion (1930) by Herman Landon, to name but one — which might also be terrible, I can’t find a copy anywhere to check) and should the right project or author come along, I would love to get involved in bringing something excellent back to public awareness. Happened once, right? So why not again?
7. An Online Detective Fiction Database
I’ve thought for a long time that it would be great to have a sort of spoilers database, so you could look up a book and see what other titles were spoiled in it (and, I suppose, if it had been spoiled elsewhere). I even devoted several hours to trying to make a very simple version of this, but while I am skilled at many things that turned out not to be one of them. Failing that, establishing or contributing to some sort of IMDB-style online resource that would enable people to easily look up authors, titles, books, awards, short stories, etc., all in one place would be amazing. I know there’s the GADetection wiki, but that has a frustratingly large proportion of links that go nowhere, and it feels almost easier to start from the ground up if that’s what one would have to improve.
And let’s go even further out, shall we…?
8. Some Sort of Collaboration
The BBC, or The British Library, or Harper Collins, or Harvard University, or SpaceX — probably SpaceX — will ask me to be involved in something prestigious, public, and GAD-related, something which will give me a chance, after over a decade of writing about this stuff in the public sphere, to contribute to a wider appreciation of the public understanding of the form. It’ll be a play, or an exhibition, or a TV series, or the world’s first interactive tattoo or something…the future’s going to be nuts, so who knows? Everyone will be delighted. Plaudits will pour in. And, yes, obviously they’ll ask Martin Edwards or John Curran or Tony Medawar or Lucy Worsley…but they’re bound to retire at some point and a man can dream, can’t he?
9. A Public Lecture (or Two)
Following the triumphant success of the above, GAD enthusiasm is at fever pitch, and the producer of whatever it was is approached to organise a lecture tour to sate the baying masses. They modestly reply, “Well, it was really Jim who did all the work…”. My phone starts ringing off the hook (I have a landline for this exact purpose). To get my attention, agents hurl themselves out of windows as I walk down the street. I sneeze and everyone commends me on my excellent Anthony Boucher homage. The only way to calm this national fervour is to agree to do the lectures; tickets for the Wembley Stadium event go quicker than for the Oasis reunion. I sell three copies of The Red Death Murders. Somebody recognises me in the street, but it turns out they thought I was Paul Giamatti. It is awkward.
10. Netflix…?
Netflix call, they offer me £1.5 million. They’re not sure what for. An agent hiding among my bins explodes. His devastated family bravely insist that he died doing what he loved. They go to Lanzarote to try to move on, but it rains the whole time they’re there and the youngest child gets food poisoning. Netflix call again, they offer me £6 million, they’re still not sure what for. Mike Leigh makes a movie of my life; it’s just scenes of me answering the phone as Netflix offer me more and more money. It wins 37 Oscars. The international dateline is moved so that I never have to experience daylight savings time ever again, and the sun is displaced in the sky so that it’s always the summer-autumn shoulder season wherever I choose to be in the world. My tan fades; I take up origami. Netflix keep calling…
~
Full disclosure: there was a point in the above where I stopped taking it seriously. I don’t know what’s going to happen on here; the blog might not even be running ten years from now. But while it’s fun, and while I have you lovely people to share it with, I hope to continue to provide stuff that at least occasionally distracts you from the increasing horrors outside your window. So let’s see what happens…together.
The Invisible Event 
You should get Stingaree Murders republished somehow, seeing as that one’s going public domain soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Have you read it? It’s…fine. I’d like to feel a bit more enthusiastic about anything I’m involved in, because it really is a lot of work. But, hey, maybe Coachwhip already have this one in their sights…?
LikeLike
Yeah I have lol. If one excludes all the racism (very hard, I’m aware) the solution to the last death is great.
LikeLike
One almost wishes it was possible to publish a novella version with just the setup and solution of that — yes, excellent — final death. Maybe as a twofer with just the aeroplane murder in Obelists Fly High by C. Daly King.
LikeLike
I enjoy your blogs as I enjoyed your podcast, thank you for it all, I’d be very glad to have more of it. Allow me a suggestion: George Baxt?Best wishesTranterV
LikeLike
Thank-you, both for the kind words and the recommendation. Not a name I know, I shall look into him forthwith.
LikeLike
An impressive and ambitious list. I look forward to these as they occur.
I have Landon’s “Murder (Mystery) Mansion” TBR so this post prompts me to push it higher in priority. Thanks for that.
LikeLike
Hahaha, is there anything you don’t own, Scott? Your personal library sounds amazing.
LikeLike
So after seeing you mention this followed by James Scott Byrnside reviewing this on his blog, I just finished Landon’s “Murder Mansion”.
I was a bit worried about what kind of book this would be when the first few dozen pages felt more like a thriller or caper story. Fortunately, it settled down into a proper impossible mystery. I don’t want to spoil this for you, but it has a decent locked room murder, an unsettling gothic atmosphere and an interesting group of suspects called the “night owls”.
So while some actual books almost deserve their mythic status (e.g., “Withered Murder” by A&P Shaffer, “Into This Air” by Horatio Winslow & Leslie Quirk, “The Sleeping Bacchus” by Hilary St George Saunders come to mind), “Murder Mansion” is more good than great. Definitely read it if a copy comes your way, but don’t pay too much for it.
LikeLike
Scott, you continue to amaze with your access to just about every book going. I can only deduce from this that you live in the British Library, in some long-forgotten corner that the staff don’t even know exists, and are able to creep out at nights and read and read and read whatever you like until your heart is full. It sounds like a wonderful life.
My understanding — here’s a challenge for you — is that Landon wrote two similarly-titled books, the other being Mystery Mansion, which sounds the same and has a similar setup, but resolves differently. So I throw down the gauntlet to you, sir 🙂
LikeLike
The one I have is the US edition, “Murder Mansion”. A look in the 2nd edition of Robert Adey’s “Locked Room Murders” shows only the UK edition, “Mystery Mansion”, with the included solution differing indeed from the US version. Interesting to speculate what led to the changes.
Of course there are differences at times between the UK and US titles from Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr, etc., but I can’t think of any GAD books where the solution changed dramatically.
A quick check of ChatGPT also led to a similar conclusion. If the US and UK versions of books by Queen, Marsh, Berkeley, Bentley, etc. differed slightly, it mainly was the result of the editing by the publishers versus the authors providing different culprits, motives, methods, etc.
LikeLike
The one I’m most curious about is the French edition of Death of Jezebel, where, for reasons known only to themself, the translator offered up a different solution to the one Brand wrote — a solution apparently so poor that it resulted in the book being vilified in that country,
And then there are the Georges Simenon translations where the trnaslator changed the endings seemingly just because they could. The mind really does boggle at times…
LikeLike
A bold vision for the future, which I very much enjoyed reading. When you make it to Wembley Stadium me and the rest of book group shall expect priority seating lol
LikeLike
I’ll even do you a good price on the tickets 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Happy anniversary! I’ve been to your house several times (no, folks, I was invited). Can you tell me where the bins are? (Asking for a friend.)
LikeLike
Follow the stench of rotting flesh. No, not that stench of rotting flesh, that’s the basement. The other, sweeter one. The clean-up guys did a good job, but when the wind blows in a certain direction the summerhouse is largely unusable.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Jim,
love your blog and have listened to every podcast. Have a copy of The Red Death Murders sitting on my shelf. There’s room for a few more mysteries next to it.
LikeLike
Glad there’s room for more, though others may need to provide them 🙂
Thanks for the kind words; I hope there’s much more on here to entertain in the years ahead.
LikeLike
Eagerly anticipating each of these happening, in order.
What’s the use of limbs if you can’t go out on them, anyway?
More podcast! More thinkpieces! And it’s good news indeed about that first draft.
LikeLike
I’m looking forward to the Netflix money, for sure.
And that first draft may never get past that stage — at the moment it’s a long way from the book I want it to be — but I’ve had fun doing it, so it’s fulfilled its purpose in that regard. I’ll return to it around Hallowe’en and see if Spooky Season can help tease out a few more of the ideas I want to include…but be prepared for the waiting to possibly never pay off 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
First draft is a lot better than anything I’ve managed…!
And hey, if writing fiction isn’t your job, then you get to do it as and when you enjoy it 🙂
LikeLike
I really like the idea of a database of spoilers. If you ever did make it and put it up, I’m sure you’d have lots of people crawling all over it to add stuff. I’ve thought of doing something similar for a “sequel” to Locked Room Murders; an open-source doc where people can add anything that’s not in Adey or Skupin.
I’ve also mused on starting my own podcast. I’ve got the people, just need to get the equipment and pull the trigger on it. Or at least do the latter and actually start it.
Best of luck to your future projects. Looking forward to the pre-GAD stories and more think pieces. 🙂 And to more novels, although I still haven’t read the first one!
LikeLike
The spoilers database is something I’d love to get off the ground; it’s always in the back of my mind, I just need to front-burner it at some point amidst all the other things I have going on in my life. Maybe I just need to pay someone else to make it happen…
An addendum to Skupin would be awesome. It’s to be wondered of we might get a print version in the years ahead, but something open source or at least updatable would be phenomenal. The difficulty would be in maintaining the “house style” of Adey/Skupin, but that’s a problem for much further down the track.
And…start your podcast!
Thanks, too, for your recent DWaM review — I can’t comment on it becuase I don’t have a Google account for that purpose, but it served to remind me that I stopped reading him for no good reason and should really return to his brand of wild creativity. One more for the list…
LikeLike
It’s easy to make your own website nowadays, as far as I know, but I’ll defer to you on that.
I admit I don’t mind doing something different than Adey/Skupin. On the old MysteryFile website there was a collection of possible additions to Locked Room Murders, and they were more detailed than Adey. I admit I was a little disappointed with how bare-bones Adey was, although I acknowledge that that’s the only way you could keep that from ballooning out of control. But that would be the fun of an open-source doc; you could have people put little mini-reviews and commentary.
And one of these days, I’ll finally start it! Do you mind explaining your set-up? The technical side of it, that is. I’ve worked things out on my side, but I’d like to hear how you do it.
And you’re welcome! Always happy to remind people of authors they’ve neglected. 🙂 I’m looking forward to his later stuff.
LikeLike
I can email you about my podcast setup — but prepare to be underwhelmed 🙂
One of the things I liked about Skupin over Adey was how he added the occasional opinion about a book in the Problem section (Adey generally did it, if at all, with the Solutions). I didn’t agree with some of Skupin’s opinions, but it was nice to have a least a little sense of his tastes to work from, which made the undertaking feel a little more…human, maybe?
LikeLike
Go ahead, fire away, I won’t mind.
And yes, it helps to have a grasp on what the compiler actually thinks about the story in question.
LikeLike
Looking forward to *all* of this coming true. 🙂 But most of all to at least one companion to the fabulous ride that was The Red Death Murders.
LikeLike
Haha, many thanks — I have high hopes for TRDM 2, but it’ll only see the light of day if I feel it’s up to the standard of the first. Fingers crossed…
LikeLike
Lots of exciting things here. I’m excited to read you’re at work on a second novel and will hold off on asking the many questions I have about the project until you’re further along.
I had a similar idea for a database of spoilers back when I was studying at Uni. I ran into the problem of not having read a whole lot of mystery fiction at that point, but I could definitely see its value. The challenge is how to make material (like keywords) hidden unless you want to see it so you can find something without accidentally spoiling other reads. I think of when I looked up a title in Adey only to accidentally learn the solution to a completely different book because it was there on the page and easily identifiable from the description…
And yes, more think pieces and podcasts would be delightful.
Whatever you do work on though, I have no doubt it will be brilliant. Happy birthday to The Invisible Event and congratulations again, JJ!
LikeLike
My idea with the spoilers database is more along the lines of you being able to look up a book and seeing if it has been spoiled elsewhere — so you know what to avoid before reading it — or it if spoils anything else, so you can read that first if you’re so inclined.
I don’t envisages there being details about the plots or what the spoilers actually were; it just frustrates me that, for instance, The Noh Mask Murder by Akimitsu Takagi spoils the superior The Greene Murder Case by S.S. van Dine. Knowing Greene was spoiled in Noh would have meant I’d know to read Greene first.
Thanks for the kind words about all this; I can — and will! — answer questions about the new novel if I ever figure out what’s going on with it. All I can say right now is that I reached a point where everyone else is dead and so it’s rather clear who the murderer is. So that needs addressing.
LikeLiked by 1 person