I have successfully finished Vintage Mystery Scattergories 2022 challenge hosted by Bev @ My Reader’s Block. I had to read at least 8 books for both the Golden Age and Siver Age. Here are the categories covered:
Golden Age: 8 Books
Categories:
1. Colorful Crime: A book with a color or reference to color in the title: The Black Curl by Conyth Little
2. Murder by the Numbers: A book with a number or quantity in the title: The Patient in Room 18 by Mignon G. Eberhart
3. Amateur Night: A book with a detective who is not a P.I.; Police Officer; or other official investigator (Nurse Keate, Father Brown, Miss Marple, etc.): The Black Corridors by Conyth Little
4. Leave It to the Professionals: A book featuring cops, private eyes, secret service, professional spies, etc.: Subject-Murder by Clifford Witting; , Ask a Policeman by E.C.R. Lorac
5. Jolly Old England: A mystery set in the United Kingdom: Death of a Star by G.D.H. and Margaret Cole
6. Yankee Doodle Dandy: A mystery set in the United States: The House that Died by Josephine Gill
7. World Traveler: A mystery set in any country except the U.S. or U.K: The Barrakee Mystery by Arthur Upfield (Australia)
8. Dangerous Beasts: A book with an animal in the title: The Mouse who wouldn’t play Ball by Anthony Gilbert
11. Malicious Men: A book with a man in the title–either by name (Maigret & the Yellow Dog) or by reference (The Case of the Haunted Husband): The Treasure House of Martin Hews by E. Phillips Oppenheim
13. Staging the Crime: Measure for Murder by Clifford Witting
14. Scene of the Crime: A book with the location of the crime in the title (The Body in the Library, Murder at the Vicarage, etc): Death at Broadcasting House by Val Gielgud and Holt Marvell
16. Locked Rooms/Impossible Crimes: A locked-room or otherwise impossible crime mystery (locks not necessary): The Double Turn by Carol Carnac
18. Country House Criminals: The Writing on the Wall by Herbert Adams
19. Murder on the High Seas: A mystery involving water: The Murder on the Enriqueta by Molly Thynne
22. Things That Go Bump in the Night: A book with something spooky, creepy, gothic in the title: The Hand of Doom by J.M. Walsh
23. Repeat Offenders: A mystery featuring your favorite series detective or by your favorite author or reread an old favorite: The Black Thumb by Conyth Little (Authors are my favourite)
25. A Mystery by Any Other Name: Any book that has been published under more than one title (Murder Is Easy–aka Easy to Kill [Christie]; Fog of Doubt–aka London Particular [Christianna Brand], etc.): Four-Ply Yarn/ The Shadow on the Cliff by Miles Burton
28. Psychic Phenomena: A mystery featuring a seance, medium, hypnotism, or other psychic or “supernatural” characters/events: The Black Dream by Conyth Little
36. Genuine Fakes: Read a book by an author who wrote under a pseudonym (Josephine Tey [Elizabeth Mackintosh]; Nicholas Blake [Cecil Day Lewis]; etc.):The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey
40. Get Out of Jail Free: One per customer. You tell me what special category the book fits and it counts–the only thing I won’t accept is “It’s a vintage mystery!” The genre/time period is a given: Death as an Extra by Val Gielgud & Holt Marvell (Murder occurs on a film-set)
Silver Age: Eight Books
1. Colorful Crime: A book with a color or reference to color in the title: Red Christmas by Reginald Hill
4. Leave It to the Professionals: A book featuring cops, private eyes, secret service, professional spies, etc.: Evil Intent by John Wainwright
5. Jolly Old England: A mystery set in the United Kingdom: The Seeds of Hate by Harry Carmichael
7. World Traveler: A mystery set in any country except the U.S. or U.K: Death in the Sun by Stephen Coulter (set in Nepal)
22. Things That Go Bump in the Night: A book with something spooky, creepy, gothic in the title (The Skeleton in the Clock; Haunted Lady; The Bat; etc): The Hungry Goblin by John Dickson Carr
23. Repeat Offenders: A mystery featuring your favorite series detective or by your favorite author or reread an old favorite: Life Cycle by Harry Carmichael
31. Serial Killers: Books that were originally published in serial format (from the pulp era) OR a book that includes three or more deaths–all committed by the same person: Ruling Passion by Reginald Hill (one killer going berserk)
36. Genuine Fakes: Read a book by an author who wrote under a pseudonym (Josephine Tey [Elizabeth Mackintosh]; Nicholas Blake [Cecil Day Lewis]; etc.): Foot in the Grave by E.X. Ferrars (Morna Doris McTaggart)
39. I’ve Got You Covered: Pick a book to read based on the cover: Murders Anonymous by E.X. Ferrars
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Bev is hosting the 2023 edition of the challenge too. I will soon be signing up for it. Here are the details.
a hot cup of pleasure 
Well done on completeing this challenge, Neeru! You chose some authors whose work I like, too (e.g. Lorac, GIlbert, Thynne). This is an interesting challenge, too, I think; the categories are quite creative! I hope you’ll enjoy the challenge this year.
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Thanks Margot. I absolutely adore Gilbert. Bev has an interesting edition of the challenge this year. I am looking forward to it.
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Congratulations on completing the challenge Neeru. Nice to see books under two of ECR Lorac’s pseudonyms 🙂
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Thanks Mallika. I will pick up any book by Carnac since it’s so difficult to find her books. As for Lorac, the last book I read of her has rekindled my interest in her works 🙂
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I haven’t done any of Bev’s challenges in a couple of years, but I’ve decided I’m going to do her scavenger hunt vintage mysteries this year again. (I’m afraid we won’t have Back to the Classics…)
See you on the killing floor… 😉
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And I am going to pummel you😜
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