There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book while sipping a hot cup of tea.
I read a number of mysteries for the 1937 Club. Here they are in no particular order: The Elephant Never Forgets by Ethel Lina White The time is the Nineteen Thirties and Anna Stephanovich finds herself in Russia just when the Stalinist purges are beginning and everybody seems to be on the edge. Anna, who … Continue reading #1937 Club: Seven Mysteries
I have successfully completed the Vintage Scavenger Hunt challenge @ My Reader's Block in both the golden and silver age. Here are the books read: GOLDEN AGE Any other Weapon: Death in Ambush by John Bude (Hand Grenade) Nurse: The Nursemaid who Disappeared by Philip MacDonald More than 2 People: Dead Man’s Secret by Mary Plum Bottle/ Glass for … Continue reading Wrap-Up & Sign-Up: Vintage Scavenger Hunt Challenge
As 2023 draws to a close (where did it go?) I am scribbling a few lines about my last finished read of the year: Virgil Markham's The Deadly Jest. https://www.dustjackets.com/pages/books/17913/virgil-markham/deadly-jest-the The book opens with an avaricious and unnamed English Lord who wants a particular object for his collection and is willing to try even illegal … Continue reading Last read of 2023: The Deadly Jest by Virgil Markham (1935)
The year is almost done and I have so many books yet to be reviewed so here are brief notes on five mysteries of the silver-age. An Affair of the Heart by Jean Potts (1970) Jean Potts is one of my favourite authors because of her hold on human psychology. In this book, an advertising-agency … Continue reading Silver Mysteries
This Friday's Forgotten Book happens to be an obscure title: Scandal at the Home Office by Frank A. Clement, published in 1937. Chief Commissioner of Police, Admiral Lord Arthur Kippering, has plans of an evening out. First theatre with his wife and daughter, Lady Doddington and then dinner. However, he receives a call from the … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Scandal at the Home Office by Frank A. Clement (1937)
"It's the cold war, isn't it? Even is we think we cannot possibly be involved, we get sucked into the maelstrom." Sometimes you pick up a book based on where the story is located. Thus, it was with this book. I had never heard of the author or the book but since the action takes … Continue reading Cold Cambodia: The Four Faces by Han Suyin (1963)
The premise of this anthology is very interesting. Apparently before the news on BBC, there used to be S.O.S. read out for people missing from their homes. Eleven authors conjure up eleven scenarios for such people. "Before I read the news here are eleven S O S's" (With acknowledgement to the B.B.C.) The anthology opens … Continue reading SSW: Missing from their Homes (ed.) H.E. Bates (1936)
James Clough, journalist and author, is invited along with his secretary, Sally, to the Scottish island of Rarza by his friend Norma who is the wife of Stuart Drummond, the Laird of the island. Accompanying the two to the island are Clough's old acquaintances, Ernest Hillier, an Oxford don and Geoffrey Conquest an artist. When … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Novella: Clough Plays Murder by Luke Parsons (1943?)
I had long wanted to meet Author H.C. Bailey and his detective Mr. Reggie Fortune. In September, this year I finally got acquainted with them. So how did our meeting go? Lady Meon of Hartdean House is worried about the dinner she and her husband, Sir Thomas Meon are hosting. In attendance are the American … Continue reading Too Many Cooks: Dead Man’s Effects by H.C. Bailey (1944)
In 2021 I read a book called Death at the Wedding by a new-to-me author, Anne Hocking. I was not impressed by the book but did not want to dismiss the author after just one read. Visitor to the blog Ronald Smyth recommended the author's Miss Milverton, a book which incidentally I had seen in … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Miss Milverton by Anne Hocking (1941)
a hot cup of pleasure 