Author: JJ
#184: Vintage Cover Bingo Scavenger Hunt 2016 Round-Up
Having participated in the Vintage Cover Scavenger Bingo run by Bev Hankin over at My Reader’s Block this year, I’m not delighted with the account I’ve given of myself, but it at least sets a bar to improve on in 2017 (and I did have two months off, after all…).
Since Christmas has played havoc with my reading, I’m not done with Rupert Penny’s Policeman in Armour yet (sorry about that) and since I’m therefore not going to review anything else in 2016 I can do my round-up of the 48 (out of 75) objects I found for the Bingo instead…
#183: Merry Christmas!
Whether Christmas is your thing or not, I hope everyone has a relaxed, happy, restful, and caring period of calm at the heart of this festive season. It’s great fun discussing books here (and elsewhere) with all y’all, and I wish for you all a solicitous few days to ensure you’re taking care of yourselves out there.
And then get back reading, dudes. There’s still so much to talk about…
Merry Christmas, everybody; see you soon.
#182: The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929) by Anthony Berkeley
The setup of The Poisoned Chocolates Case is rightly very famous: a lady is killed when a box of chocolates given to her husband by another member of his gentlemen’s club — who himself received them unsolicited through the mail — turns out to have been laced with poison. The police, with no culprit in sight, allow six amateurs with a fascination for real life crimes to theorise and present their own solutions, each one appearing watertight until someone finds a flaw that brings the edifice down. For this conceit alone, and the genius way Berkeley uses his different sleuths to unpick the sparse and simple known facts, this book has passed into near-legend in detective fiction circles.
Continue reading
#181: The Tuesday Night Bloggers – Strangers in Strange Lands: When East Comes West…
Alongside classic detective fiction and locked room/impossible crime mysteries of every date, stripe, and hue, I read a moderate amount of both classic and modern SF. And as much as I rejoice in the closedness of the ‘rules’ of detective fiction, I take equal delight in the free-form craziness that can open up in front of you in excellent SF.
Continue reading
#180: 2017 Reader Challenges Sign-Up
Bev at My Reader’s Block — wrangler of and participant in enough annual book challenges to make my head spin — is again running several next year and, having enjoyed the Vintage Golden Age Cover Bingo this year, I’m signing up for two.
#179: An Old-Fashioned Mystery (1983) by Runa Fairleigh
Writing a decent novel of detection is difficult enough, as evinced by the fact that the form virtually died out by the 1960s, so taking the classic detective story and turning into a pastiche of itself is even harder again — it has to be both a story of crime and detection and a cunning vehicle for transcending the tropes thereof while simultaneously wallowing in them. Leo Bruce did this near-perfectly in Case for Three Detectives (1936) and a great many luminaries of the form dipped their toe into such conceits with aspects of their books, plots, or characterisation, but for a full-length novel to take this on successfully is something of a challenge that it would be beyond the abilities of most mortals.
Continue reading
#178: The Tuesday Night Bloggers – Clewing, and Other Subtle Arts of the Detective Story
As the saying goes, man plans and God laughs. In last week’s Tuesday Night Bloggers post I offered a tantalising glimpse into a possible future with the line “Next week, if all goes to plan: France,” and has all gone to plan? Of course not. So repack your bags, everyone, because this week we’re off to…
#177: Spoiler Warning – Coming in January: The Ten Teacups, a.k.a. The Peacock Feather Murders (1937) by Carter Dickson
Benjamin Disraeli had it right when he said “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and publishers’ breathless comparisons to the classics”. I’ve 
The Invisible Event 