I finally finished my first book of 2019 the other day. I'll update that and also update what book I've started since then. I think the next book I finish will probably be A Blunt Instrument by Georgette Heyer, a neat little police mystery. Today I'm also going to get back to my look at the Mystery Genre. In my last entry on the topic I finished off my review of the British police procedurals that I've been trying. Today I'll stick with British mysteries and start with a look at detective mysteries. So with that preamble, let's get going.
Just Finished
"The Black Dudley Murder is the first Albert Campion mystery by Margery Allingham. It was originally published in 1929.
Campion is amongst a number of guests invited to a weekend party at Black Dudley Manor, located outside of London. The host, Colonel Coombe, confined to a wheel chair, dies during a game played one evening. It is a supposed Black Dudley tradition, the passing along of an old dagger, while the house lights are turned down.
Two of the guests are doctors. At separate times they are asked to sign the death certificate to indicate that Coombe died of a heart attack. The first refuses as he is not permitted to look at the body. The second, George Abbershaw, is pretty well forced to sign the paperwork. Combe has been accompanied by three threatening individuals. While in the room, Abbershaw takes a billfold, filled with papers that seem to be in code.
Later, the mysterious guests, Dawlish and Gideon, lock the others in their rooms as they search for said documents. So there you go, this begins a relatively action-filled story, while the young guests try to keep the gang from finding the info they need. Campion, who it seems had come to the party to get the same documents from Combe, helps them. He remains a mysterious character throughout the story. As well, he is somewhat peripheral to the final action, which makes it curious as it is an "Albert Campion" mystery after all. The story focuses mainly on Abbershaw.
It's a curious, somewhat confusing story. Along with Abbershaw and his friends, we try to discover who killed Combe. What are Dawlish and Gideon and the gang looking for? Who will win the struggle between Abbershaw's friends and Dawlish's cohorts? And who is this mysterious Campion, who seems to have various aliases, who seems to be fool, but at the same time, who is effective when combating the enemy?
All in all it's an interesting story and a good intro to Campion. It leaves you wanting to know more about him. I've read others in this series and enjoyed them. Worth trying and checking out the Campion series. (3.5 stars)"
Currently Reading
My first book was one of my 12 + 4 Reading Challenges. I've now started my second book in this challenge. It will also satisfy a genre challenge in my UK Book Club; January is War / Revolution.
This is one of my 'tried and true' series, always enjoyable and with lots of action.
"To stem the Napoleonic tide, Sharpe must capture a fortress—where his wife and infant daughter are trapped—while protecting himself from a fellow officer determined to destroy him."
Bill's Ongoing Look at the Mystery Genre - British detectives Part 1
I started this thread, my look at Mysteries, a few months ago. If you're interested in checking it out, scroll down to Labels on the right side column and you'll see various mystery-related headings; British mysteries, European mysteries, etc and you will see my earlier posts. With this latest thread, I'm going to take a look at British detectives. I may have talked about some of them in other threads; classics, etc and I'll try to mention those. So here we go. I'll do this alphabetically
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| Kate Atkinson |
a. Case Histories.
"It's a toss-up as to whether I gave this story 4 or 5 stars. Such an excellent book and definitely my favourite of 2013. I had seen the BBC TV series starring Jason Isaacs as Jackson Brodie, which I'd enjoyed immensely. So I approached this with both trepidation and excitement. I did find it somewhat odd that the book is set in Cambridge, whereas the TV series was set in Scotland, but once I'd accepted the difference, I enjoyed the book so very much.
Kate Atkinson draws you in immediately, introducing the various Case Histories, then Jackson Brodie, then meanders through each, tying them together when felt necessary. Every character is interesting and well-presented, Jackson Brodie is super, witty but with his own issues. The story isn't really tense, even though there are awful crimes involved, but it's more of a character study. The writing is subtle, intelligent, funny at times. Loved it so very much. I look forward to reading more of Kate Atkinson's work. Thanks to the BBC to introducing me to her and making me search out her books. (5 stars)"
"This is the second book in the Jackson Brodie series and we now find Brodie in Edinburgh, which now matched up somewhat with the TV series. In this story, Brodie is only in Edinburgh because girlfriend, Julia, who we met in the first book has an acting job during Edinburgh's festival. Brodie is a retired police detective/ private detective and finds himself somewhat out of pace during this visit.
He doesn't really know what to do to occupy his time but suddenly becomes involved in a road rage incident and then finds a dead body, which also manages to disappear on him. We are introduced to a cast of interesting characters; writer Martin Canning, from the road rage incident, Gloria Hatter, the wife of conman Graham and my favourite character, Detective Sergeant Louise Monroe. The story rotates from each character's perspective and moves along nicely, gradually interconnecting their individual story lines.
It's an intelligent, well-written, entertaining story and I look forward to reading the rest of this series. I enjoyed the TV series immensely and the books, so far, have not let me down at all. (4 stars)"
"On a hot summer day, Joanna Mason's family slowly wanders home along a country lane. A moment later, Joanna's life is changed forever...
On a dark night thirty years later, ex-detective Jackson Brodie finds himself on a train that is both crowded and late. Lost in his thoughts, he suddenly hears a shocking sound...
At the end of a long day, 16-year-old Reggie is looking forward to watching a little TV. Then a terrifying noise shatters her peaceful evening. Luckily, Reggie makes it a point to be prepared for an emergency..."
"Tracy Waterhouse leads a quiet, ordered life as a retired police detective-a life that takes a surprising turn when she encounters Kelly Cross, a habitual offender, dragging a young child through town. Both appear miserable and better off without each other-or so decides Tracy, in a snap decision that surprises herself as much as Kelly. Suddenly burdened with a small child, Tracy soon learns her parental inexperience is actually the least of her problems, as much larger ones loom for her and her young charge.
Meanwhile, Jackson Brodie, the beloved detective of novels such as Case Histories, is embarking on a different sort of rescue-that of an abused dog. Dog in tow, Jackson is about to learn, along with Tracy, that no good deed goes unpunished."
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| M.C. Beaton |
"A fun, cozy, entertaining mystery. First in the Agatha Raisin series, Agatha has retired from a life in London, sold her advertising business and moved to the Cotswolds, an area she had always dreamed of living in. Trying to fit in to the community, she decides to enter a baking contest and wanting to get off to a fast start, she buys a quiche in London instead of making her own. Of course, a death results, is the quiche to blame? Agatha finds herself embroiled in a mystery, still trying to fit in, wanting to throw in the towel and move back to London. A nicely paced story, with a crusty main character, Agatha Raisin, and fun supporting cast of Bill Wong, the policeman and her ex-employee, Roy, plus others, you will be entertained and will want to read more of the series. 3.5 stars.."
"A nice cozy mystery, featuring Agatha Raisin, retired advertising executive, who has settled in the Cotswolds. Agatha still lusts after her neighbour, ex military man, confirmed bachelor, James Lacey, but he continues to run away from any advances. A new veterinarian moves into town and has all the eligible women chasing after him. But there is something off about the fellow and soon he is found dead (or maybe murdered?). Agatha and James get involved in the investigation, hi-jinks ensue. Don't expect anything deep or thoughtful, just a fun light read. Looking forward to my next break with Agatha.. :) (3 stars)"
"When Agatha Raisin comes home to cozy Carsely and finds that a new woman has piqued the interest of her handsome bachelor neighbor, James Lacey, she’s less than thrilled. The beautiful newcomer to the Cotswolds, Mary Fortune, is superior in every way—especially when it comes to gardening—and Agatha is suddenly seeing nothing but green. If only a nice juicy murder would come along to remind James of Agatha’s genius for investigation. When a series of mysterious assaults on the town’s finest gardens is followed by a shocking murder, Agatha gets her wish. Seizing the moment, she immediately starts yanking up village secrets by their roots and digging up details about the victim—who, as it turns out, may just have some hidden dirt of her own… (3 stars)"
"This is the fourth Agatha Raisin mystery and it was a nice, light, fun read, as were the others. Agatha returns to her cottage in the Cotswolds after spending a joyless time back in the city working as a PR agent. Even though successful, she realizes that being in London brings out the worst in her and she is happy to return to Carsley. Immediately she is caught up in trying to help solve a murder of an obnoxious Rambler from a nearby town, Dembley. Her neighbour, James, agrees to help her and they head off to Dembley, pretending to be a married couple who want to join the Walkers of Dembley. Poor Agatha is a bundle of mixed emotions; does she love James, does he love her, all the time trying to figure out who the murderer is. A comfort, easy read, but as always very entertaining. 3 stars."
The remaining books in the series, in order, can be found here.
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| E.C. Bentley |
"Trent's Last Case was the first book by EC Bentley in the Trent series, which only consisted of 3 books, the other two being Trent's Own Case and a book of short stories. The book is dedicated to his friend, GK Chesterton, who wrote The Man Who Was Thursday. Trent is an artist and sometime contributor to The Record, when requested by the owner. In this instance he is asked to investigate an interesting murder/ suicide of a rich American living in England to see if he can ascertain the culprit. The books moves along at a somewhat sedate pace, taking the time to introduce characters and the outline of the case; the victim, his associates, including his wife and others and to allow Trent the opportunity to conduct his investigation. I liked the pace, the writing style and the investigation. There were nice little surprises, both in solving the case and the ultimate ending. Written in 1913, it still seems valid and not at all outdated. I enjoyed very much. (4 stars)"
"Trent's Own Case is the second of 3 books written by E.C. Bentley featuring sleuth, Phillip Trent. Trent is an artist, sometime contributor to English newspapers and a successful sleuth. He is respected by Scotland Yard and has helped them solve many cases. Trent's Own Case finds Trent retired.
An acquaintance, a rich philanthropist, is murdered and a friend of Trent's confesses to the murder and tries to commit suicide. Trent comes out of retirement and offers to assist his friend, Inspector Bligh with the investigation. Thus begins a meandering investigation that finds Trent visiting France as part of his attempt to find clues to prove his friend innocent of the crime.
Trent is somewhat like Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey, a similar personality and an interesting character. While the story starts off slowly, it is always interesting and gradually the various clues and information that Trent gathers begins to make sense and to maybe even provide other suspects.
Interesting characters, an interesting story and well-crafted. I'm looking forward to delving into the final book, a collection of short stories involving Phillip Trent. (4 stars)"
"Trent Intervenes by E.C. Bentley is the third and final book about painter, newspaper journalist and investigator Phillip Trent. This book is a collection of short stories featuring this interesting investigator.
Trent is a unique person, in some ways reminding me of Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey. He enjoys the investigation, has great intuition and can look at a few clues and come up with a correct and interesting solution. He has an excellent relationship with the police and is regularly asked for his assistance, or, at the very least, they are more than willing to show him their cases and listen to his interpretations.
The stories are for the most part, quite gentle. In many of them the story starts with Trent writing about cases for his newspaper then following up with the investigation. They involve murder, theft, hoodwinking, all the good things. I'm sorry that Bentley only wrote three Trent books as they were all most enjoyable, comfortable reads. While it's nice to finish a series, there is always some sadness knowing there won't be others. (4 stars)"
So there you go. I'll keep this up with my next entry. I'll also get back to my Author's A - Z. Enjoy the rest of your week.
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