OOP

#1284: The Dead Man’s Knock (1958) by John Dickson Carr

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As my grandfather used to say, “Good god, it’s tough being a John Dickson Carr fan — he wrote some of the genre’s best and most enduring masterpieces, and yet the decline in his later works like Behind the Crimson Blind (1952) and The Cavalier’s Cup (1953) means that when you get to that end of his career he can prove to be frustrating and unenjoyable to read. But try The Dead Man’s Knock (1958), which at least features Dr. Gideon Fell, a character I’m sure you’ll like when you encounter him.” And, over 40 years later, his prophecy has been borne out, with The Dead Man’s Knock arresting a recent slide in quality where my Carr reading is concerned.

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#1275: Fools Die on Friday (1947) by A.A. Fair

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As my grandfather used to say, “When you fall off the horse, get back on the horse”.  And that’s why he made such a controversial judge at gymnastic competitions. But the fact remains that lately I’ve had some disheartening reading experiences with favoured authors — John Dickson Carr, J.J. Connington, Freeman Wills Crofts, A.A. Fair, Craig Rice, Cornell Woolrich J.J. Connington again, maybe Rice a second time — and so the tempting thing is to leave them alone for a while, wait for that memory to fade, and then return. But, no, I’m not doing that, I’m reading Fair again now, because why not? That’s what the horse is here. It was a pommel horse all along.

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#1272: Yesterday’s Murder, a.k.a. Telefair (1942) by Craig Rice

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As my grandfather used to say, “When you fall off the horse, get back on the horse”.  And that’s why he lost his job as a stuntman in Western movies. But the fact remains that lately I’ve had some disheartening reading experiences with favoured authors — John Dickson Carr, J.J. Connington, Freeman Wills Crofts, A.A. Fair, Craig Rice, Cornell Woolrich, J.J. Connington again — and so the tempting thing is to leave them alone for a while, wait for that memory to fade, and then return. But, no, I’m not doing that, I’m reading Rice again now, because why not? That’s what the horse is here. It was a literary horse all along.

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#1266: Constable, Guard Thyself! (1934) by Henry Wade

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I was one of many Golden Age fans who was quite excited when Orion’s now-defunct Murder Room acquired the rights to the novels of Henry Wade. And I was one of many Golden Age fans who signally failed to buy any of those titles and read and review them, which in part resulted in the aforementioned defunctness. But when titles began to vanish from availability, I snapped a couple up, including Constable, Guard Thyself! (1934) on the understanding that it presented an example of my favourite subgenre, the impossible crime. So, now that you can’t buy it for yourself, I’m here to say that, yeah, it’s fine, and that Wade, like J.J. Connington, presents enough of interest in his procedural approach to warrant further reading.

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#1247: The Frightened Stiff (1942) by Kelley Roos

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Frightened Stiff

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“I stood staring about the room, and the first disadvantage of living in a basement apartment occurred to me.  Jumping from a window would bring no release”. The much-missed Rue Morgue Press reprinted only four Jeff and Haila Troy novels from husband-and-wife team Kelley Roos. The Frightened Stiff (1942), the third, opens magnificently and wastes barely a word right up to THE END, so let me say this now: someone needs to reprint this series. Not a few selected titles as we’d likely get from the (excellent) American Mystery Classics range, but the whole kit and caboodle. Sure, some will be better than others, but I refuse to believe that they don’t deserve rediscovery.

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#1243: The Judas Window, a.k.a. The Crossbow Murder (1938) by Carter Dickson

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The Judas WIndow

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One of many classic detection titles I read before I started this blog, The Judas Window (1938) is arguably among the most popular books John Dickson Carr ever wrote, under his nom de plume Carter Dickson or otherwise. The seventh book to feature his barrister-detective Sir Henry ‘H.M.’ Merrivale, and the only time H.M. enters the courtroom in all his cases, this was actually the first Merrivale book I read, way back when, and so a revisit seemed on the cards, especially with the British Library Crime Classics adding Dickson’s The Ten Teacups, a.k.a. The Peacock Feather Murders (1937) to their stable next month. Might this one follow suit? Lord knows it deserves to.

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#1241: The Sunday Pigeon Murders (1942) by Craig Rice

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Sunday Pigeon Miurders

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Having published five books about lawyer John J. Malone and his friends Jake Justus and Helene Brand between 1938 and 1941, Craig Rice evidently felt the need for change. Consequently, only one of the four books she published in 1942 featured that triumvirate. I’ve been unable to track down Telefair, a.k.a. Yesterday’s Murder (1942) or The Man Who Slept All Day (1942) — the second published under the nom de plume Michael Venning — but I do have The Sunday Pigeon Murders (1942), the first of two novels Rice would complete about Robert Emmett ‘Bingo’ Riggs and Boniface ‘Handsome’ Kusak. And, as a fan of Rice’s writing, I can comfortably say that, well, I found this one a little flat.

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#1230: Crows Can’t Count (1946) by A.A. Fair

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Crows Can't Count

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How do you go about discussing a book you couldn’t even be bothered to finish? The tempting thing is not to review it at all, but I’m committed to certain undertakings on this blog — the complete works of Freeman Wills Crofts, the complete John Thorndyke stories of R. Austin Freeman, more Walter S. Masterman than most people will ever consume — and the full Cool & Lam by A.A. Fair, nom de plume of Erle Stanley Gardner, is one of them. So how to write about Crows Can’t Count (1946), the tenth published Cool & Lam novel, and the first time this normally lively and entertaining series has draaaaaaagged me into the doldrums of an almost spiritual level of indifference?

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#1202: The Piccadilly Murder (1929) by Anthony Berkeley

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Piccadilly Murder Penguin

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As has recently been remarked elsewhere, the superb modern raft of Golden Age reprints has been very kind to Anthony Berkeley. The form’s arch Innovator-in-Chief has seen some excellent titles brought back to public availability — The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929), Murder in the Basement (1932), Jumping Jenny (1933) — and one, in The Wintringham Mystery, a.k.a. Cicely Disappears (1927), rescued from the sort of obscurity that had reduced its existence almost to rumour. Still yet to see the light of day, however, is The Piccadilly Murder (1929), so a reread seemed due to see if it really was as good as I remember. And, yes, it very nearly is — except in one key regard, in which it’s even better.

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#1199: “There was undoubtedly method in the old boy’s madness…” – The Punch and Judy Murders, a.k.a. The Magic Lantern Murders (1936) by Carter Dickson

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I have in the past referred to The Punch and Judy Murders, a.k.a. The Magic Lantern Murders (1936) — the fifth book to feature Sir Henry ‘H.M.’ Merrivale under John Dickson Carr’s Carter Dickson nom de plume — as an underacknowledged masterpiece in the oeuvre of an author who produced more than his fair share of masterpieces in the genre. So let’s examine that, eh? That sort of claim can’t possibly backfire.

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