There is nothing more satisfying than reading a book while sipping a hot cup of tea.
British author John Wainwright (1921-1995) was a rear-gunner during the second world war. Subsequent to that he joined the police constabulary. In 1965, he published his first crime novel. In all, he published around eighty novels, all of which unfortunately seem to have fallen through the crevices of time. The novel begins with a police … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Evil Intent by John Wainwright (1966)
Though I have read a couple of Josephine Tey's Alan Grant novels, the #1929 club being hosted by Simon and Karen gave me an excellent opportunity to read his first case. A widely popular stage show is winding up in a week and crowds are thronging to the theatre to see the beautiful actress Ray … Continue reading #1929 Club: The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey
I have recently joined a reading group @ Goodreads that is into reading detective fiction of a vintage hue. One of the books selected for January was Catherine Aird's The Religious Body. Since Aird had been on my reading radar for long and this is the first of her Sloan & Crosby series, I jumped … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Religious Body by Catherine Aird (1966)
He understood that there were different versions of the truth. Every police officer knew that, with each trial it was experienced afresh. The war is fresh in people's memory and mourning; the monarchy has been reduced to porn pin-ups; Hitler is "that strange bird with a Charlie Chaplin moustache"; Himmler and his dreaded SS are … Continue reading #Germanlitmonth: Babylon Berlin by Volker Kutscher (2007)
Like Cecil Freeman Gregg whom I read recently, Francis Grierson is another prolific writer who is virtually unknown today. Here is an informative post on him: https://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2013/11/francis-d-grierson-1888-1972.html Grierson's series character, Superintendent George Muir is at the Ministry of Estimates and Social Service (MESS) when the novel opens. He is there to investigate the leaks that … Continue reading Murder in MESS: The Crimson Cat by Francis Grierson (1944)
"Well," Jack inquired amiably, "been any murders today?" One of the best ways to travel is through books and thus I was delighted to borrow Murder in Bermuda from the library. Though I have heard of the Bermuda triangle and read a book and seen a movie on it, I have no clear-cut idea about … Continue reading Deadly Lilies: Murder in Bermuda by Willoughby Sharp (1933)
"She walked out of the dorm and that’s it. She vanished into thin air.” Lowell Mitchell, a young student of a women's college in Massachusetts, disappears one fine day. On that day, she had attended her classes but when the lunch break came refused to go to the Mess claiming that she wasn't feeling well … Continue reading Police Procedural: Last Seen Wearing by Hillary Waugh (1952)
In a post that I did last year regarding the series that I wanted to begin reading, I mentioned Reginald Hill's Dalziel and Pascoe series. It had been on my reading radar for several years and I had even picked up their first book a couple of years back at a book fair. From the … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: A Clubbable Woman by Reginald Hill (1970)
This year, I read only three books in translation. THE DOGS AND THE WOLVES (LES CHIENS ET LES LOUPS) by IRENE NEMIROVSKY (1940) Ada Sinner, from the wrong side of the fence, has a glimpse of her wealthy cousin, Harry and falls in love with him. This is no childhood infatuation because even in her … Continue reading In Translation: Three Novels
Now he knew he would have to kill her. The Police Procedural is one of my favourite kind of mysteries and by that I don't mean A Higher Up from the Scotland Yard solving a case with perhaps one assistant whom he converses with a little but rather a whole team working together to bring … Continue reading Forgotten Book: Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh (1959)
a hot cup of pleasure 