#1940 Club: The Great Mistake by Mary Roberts Rinehart & The Hangman’s Whip by Mignon G. Eberhart

As we approach the end of the #1940 Club, here are two American mysteries that I read for the event both of which have for their protagonist, a Miss Abbott. Pat Abbott who has seen her family fortunes plummet down and the death of her parents is happy when she is chosen as secretary by …

#1940 Club: The Disappearance of General Jason by P. C. Wren

Antoinette Jason is at her wit's end. Her husband, General Reginald Jason, once pitted to become the c-in-c of the armed forces in India before filial duty made him resign from his commission and return to England has not been heard of a year and more. Before his leaving England for an adventure of his …

#1940 Club: Wilson and Some Others by G.D.H. and Margaret Cole

Wilson and Some Others is a short story collection by the husband-wife duo of G.D.H and Margaret Cole. The crime club title, erroneously referred to as a novel, consists of 13 stories, of which seven belong to the Coles' series character, Inspector Wilson. In Death in the Tankard, a man is poisoned in a crowded, …

#1940 Club: The Norths Meet Murder by Frances and Richard Lockridge and The So Blue Marble by Dorothy B. Hughes

It is the second day of the #1940 Club and time to look at two debuts. The Norths husband-wife detective duo had long been on my wishlist and when I saw that their career in detection began in 1940, I immediately decided to read it for the club. Mr. North comes home one day, tired …

#1940 Club: Death on the Boat Train and Murder at Lilac Cottage by John Rhode

According to Wikipedia, in 1940, Major Cecil John Street, published five novels, 3 under his pseudonym of Miles Burton (one of which Mr. Westerby Missing has been reviewed earlier on the blog) and two under the name of John Rhode. For the #1940 Club, I read those two. Death on the Boat Train finds the …

Wrap-Up: Vintage Mystery Scattergories 2022

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 …

Friday’s Forgotten Book: Evil Intent by John Wainwright (1966)

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 …

Three Black Mysteries: Black Corridors (1940), Black Thumb (1942), and Black Curl (1953)

Australian sisters, Constance and Gwenyth (or Conyth, as they were collectively called) are on the list of my favourite authors and it is always wonderful to come across their books. Earlier, this year, I read The Black Dream and here are three more of their mysteries that I read this year (in the order I …

Great Finds: Murder with Impatience by Robert Verron (1944) and The Cloze Papers by Kenneth Livingston (1936)

It is always great when a book that you pick up randomly from the library shelves without any idea of the title or even the author turns out to be a great read. Here are two such books: Renowned criminologist Kennedy Critchley is planning to spend a few weeks with his cousin in Scotland when …

Locked-Room: The Double Turn by Carol Carnac (1956)

Adrian Delafield, once a great-in-demand painter of the Victorian era, now lives a secluded life at Firenze at St. John's Wood, looked after by his devoted maid, Miss Trimming. Trimming who is a religious fanatic keeps him away from 'the evils of the world'; one of those evils apparently being Delafield's own daughter, Virgilia Delafield, …