The Grandest Game in the World
When will we at last renounce the detective novel, the fantasy novel and the entire prolific, varied and ambitious literary genre that is fed by unreality?
First published: 1928 Available from Dean Street Press This may well be the most popular detective fiction release of the week. The Puzzle Doctor has prescribed a course of Brian Flynn, now available from Dean Street Press; half the criminous blogosphere has read it; and the verdict has been unanimously in favour. The 'eyes', to … Continue reading The Mystery of the Peacock’s Eye (Brian Flynn)
Murderous manna for motor enthusiasts.
By Miles Burton First published: UK, Collins, 1953 On a wet November night, Dr. Murford drives his car off a pier into Carmouth harbour. A week or so later, Nurse Penruddock is found at the bottom of a cliff. Both had been named principal heir by Lady Violet Vernham of Dragonscourt (a friendly dragon). More outrages … Continue reading Heir to Murder (Miles Burton)
By Moray Dalton First published: UK, 1931 Edgar Stallard, who combined writing about true crime with blackmailing practitioners, is stabbed during a Yuletide game of hide-and-seek in the dark. Suspicion falls on Hugh Darrow, a blind war veteran. Both Curtis Evans, in his introduction for the Dean Street Press reprint, and Barzun & Taylor call The … Continue reading The Night of Fear (Moray Dalton)
By Stuart Palmer First published: US, Doubleday, 1937. UK, Collins, 1937, as No Flowers by Request. Kudos to Palmer for trying something new, even if it doesn't quite work. No Hildegarde Withers here; it's one of those atmospheric jobs seen from the suspects' perspective. Grasping relatives descend on elderly eccentric Uncle Joel; he (apparently?) goes up … Continue reading Omit Flowers (Stuart Palmer)
By Helen McCloy First published: USA, Morrow Mystery, 1940 The Americans wrote better detective stories than anyone. [Discuss. Argue. Argue furiously.] Here's a good example why. "It was only when Lambert lifted his eyes from the decapitated mouse in his hand that Basil knew something was wrong." Murder interrupts a psychological experiment at Yorkville University. … Continue reading The Man in the Moonlight (Helen McCloy)
By Andrew Garve First published: UK, Collins, 1950 I'm not sure why this book enjoys such a positive reputation. Arcturus Publishing reprinted it as a "Crime Classic", while Barzun and Taylor praised it: The first book by this author that we read, though not his first. Yet there is about Hilda a freshness suggestive of … Continue reading No Tears for Hilda (Andrew Garve)
By Carolyn Wells First published: J.B. Lippincott, 1942 Carolyn Well's 82nd and final mystery. "Carolyn Wells might have wished the long legend of her tale spinning to turn out in just this way," Will Cuppy wrote. "She left behind one of her best stories in many years, a mystery full of her special qualities and … Continue reading Murder Will In (Carolyn Wells)
By Val Gielgud First published: UK, Collins, 1963 Gielgud - brother of John, director of the first television drama, and collaborator with Carr - took readers into Scottish technocrat John Reith's BBC (Death at Broadcasting House, 1934). He also gave them The First Television Murder (1940). The Goggle-Box Affair, a quarter of a century later, is set in … Continue reading The Goggle-Box Affair (Val Gielgud)
By Paul Halter First published: Masque, France, 1996. Translation: Locked Room International, 2016, as The Vampire Tree A small English village. Witches! Dead children! Hang on - haven't I just read this? Newlywed Patricia Sheridan moves to the Suffolk village of Lightwood. Ironically, she's frightened of bright lights, and of trees. Or one tree in particular... … Continue reading L’Arbre aux doigts tordus / The Vampire Tree (Paul Halter)
