#1348: “I don’t think. That’s not my method. I investigate. I wait. And, finally, I understand.” – The Secret of the Pointed Tower (1937) by Pierre Véry [trans. Tom Mead 2023]

This first English translation of The Secret of the Pointed Tower (1937) by Pierre Véry was a cause of great excitement when announced, and I regret only that the complexity of the multi-limbed TBR has delayed me this long in getting to it.

Continue reading

#337: Foreign Bodies [ss] (2017) ed. Martin Edwards

Foreign Bodiesstar filledstar filledstar filledstarsstars
Had you asserted back in 2014 that the republication of two forgotten crime novels would lay the foundation for one of the most celebrated series of GAD reissues in modern times, well, people would have laughed.  And yet the British Library Crime Classics collection, under the stewardship of Martin Edwards and Rob Davies, is now over 50 books deep and gathering momentum for another exciting year.  And it’s a sure sign of the hale condition of the series that, far from simply reissuing books, they’re now branching out into original translations with this collection of overseas tales.  In the words of Ira Gershwin, who’s got the last laugh now?

Continue reading