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Les Blatt
Interests: Classic mystery stories, communications, writing, podcasting, blogging, traveling, social media, web 2.0
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Thanks, Jon, and I'm glad you are enjoying the blog. Crispin has long been one of my favorites - I've reviewed ten of his eleven books (counting the two collections of short stories). The only one I've missed so far is "The Glimpses of the Moon," his last novel. My favorite is "Swan Song," but they're all excellent. Glad you enjoy him as well!
From the Vault: "The Golden Dagger"
My trip into the Classic Mysteries vault this week has brought back a thoroughly likeable and capable detective, Scotland Yard Commander Bobby Owen. He was the series detective created by Ernest Robertson Punshon - E.R. Punshon, a master of intricate and sometimes bizarre plots. He could also cr...
Thanks, Jason. Please let me know when you publish your review and I'll add a link from here.
"Good by Stealth"
Miss Edna Alice is a most unusual person - at least, according to her neighbors. She is a woman of great virtue (just ask her). She is a woman who intends only kindness in her efforts to improve the morals and general behavior of her neighbors. Of course, she does this anonymously, for a great m...
Im going to have to dig that one up - I dont think Ive ever read it. Good by Stealth would be a horror story if the central character wasnt so totally out of touch with reality. Its VERY dark humor, but its still quite funny!
"Good by Stealth"
Miss Edna Alice is a most unusual person - at least, according to her neighbors. She is a woman of great virtue (just ask her). She is a woman who intends only kindness in her efforts to improve the morals and general behavior of her neighbors. Of course, she does this anonymously, for a great m...
Thanks, Bill, and thanks for the link to your site. We've met and talked, I know - I think at Deadly Ink. Lindbergh's historic flight was in 1927, which was the year after "Clouds of Witness" was first published, but she might well have known of the earlier attempts. They were certainly risky!
From the Vault: "Clouds of Witness"
Our visit to the Classic Mysteries vault this week has brought back a queen - Dorothy L. Sayers, one of the so-called "Crime Queens" of the Golden Age of Detection. Among mystery readers, she's best remembered for her novels and short stories about Lord Peter Wimsey, the archetypal upper-class a...
I think it does show what Christie was able to accomplish at the height of her abilities, Colin. And thanks for the good wishes - I wish you and yours all the best!
From the Vault: "Hercule Poirot's Christmas"
Given the approach of the Christmas season, I've been making a list and checking it twice, trying to find a suggestion for a gift that you might enjoy, whatever holiday you prefer. Back in the prime of Agatha Christie's career, her publisher used to advertise, with some pride, the availability e...
Steve Barge, who has written the introduction for Dean Street Press for this book and other Brian Flynn titles, blogs as "Puzzle Doctor" at the In Search of the Classic Mystery blog, which you'll find in my blogroll on the lower right hand column on this page. If you don't already read PD on a regular basis - well, you should, that's all. https://classicmystery.blog/ . I recommend him very highly!
"The Mystery of the Peacock's Eye"
Item: a young woman meets a rather dashing gentleman - name unknown - at the glamorous Hunt Ball of Westhampton, where the local near-aristocracy has gathered for what has traditionally been the most socially prominent charity event of the season. She enjoys her dance, but the man won't tell her...
Constant Suicides and Crooked Hinge were both published in the US by the Rue Morgue Press, now sadly out of business. Most of the really good ones still are awaiting their turn. I've always assumed it was a rights problem. I certainly hope it gets cleared up!
"The Mad Hatter Mystery"
It began really with what seemed to be practical jokes at best (or at worst, depending on your point of view). Somebody was stealing top hats and other headgear from a number of prominent people - snatching them off their owners' heads and escaping into a crowd. The hats would later turn up in u...
I keep hearing rumblings about more of Carr's work (as both Carr and Dickson) being due for re-publication, Colin. I certainly hope that's true. Too many of the best titles have been completely unavailable for a long while. Let's hope it happens soon.
"The Mad Hatter Mystery"
It began really with what seemed to be practical jokes at best (or at worst, depending on your point of view). Somebody was stealing top hats and other headgear from a number of prominent people - snatching them off their owners' heads and escaping into a crowd. The hats would later turn up in u...
I agree, Colin, the Maigret books can indeed be more than a little dour. I like him best when he shows some basic feelings, as he does in this one, even if he doesn't always understand the source of those feelings.
"Maigret Goes to School"
Inspector Maigret, of the Parisian police, would have found it difficult to explain why he had become involved in the case of a schoolteacher accused of murder. It wasn't even in his jurisdiction. But Maigret had come to work in the morning and found Joseph Gastin, the schoolteacher from the tin...
I agree, Colin. The problem, I think, is that Christie really was trying to merge two dissimilar stories. I don't think she succeeded very well.
From the Vault: "The Clocks"
Our visit to the Classic Mysteries vault this week has yielded another Agatha Christie book - one of her last to feature Hercule Poirot as the detective. I've never really thought that The Clocks, published in 1963, was one of Christie's best. But it does have a lot of good points. So here's the...
I think it's definitely worth rereading, Colin!
From the Vault: "The Judas Window"
If you are a fan of the impossible crime or locked room story, as I am, then you are probably familiar with the name of John Dickson Carr (who also wrote as "Carter Dickson"). If you are a fan of the impossible crime or locked room story and you are not familiar with the name of John Dickson Car...
I would have to agree that the theatrical part of the mystery was more fun than the "scientific" investigations of Manson. But I thought there was enough balance there to make it worth reading, and I probably will try another of their books.
"Who Killed Dick Whittington?"
The audience attending the Pavilion Theatre Company's popular performance of a Christmas pantomime had come to enjoy a popular and traditional show based on the English folk tale of Dick Whittington and his cat. They got a good deal more than they had bargained for when the actress playing the p...
She certainly had a real talent for misdirection, didn't she, Colin? I do think it's one of her best.
"Five Little Pigs"
Did somebody get away with murder sixteen years ago? That was when the painter, Amyas Crayle, was poisoned. The police (and just about everyone else) believed that his wife, Carolyn Crayle, had murdered him because she had learned he was planning to abandon her and their toddler daughter and mar...
It's been a few years since I read and reviewed "No Wind of Blame," but I did enjoy the book. It may be the funniest of Heyer's books. If you're still looking at some of her other titles, you might consider "Envious Casca" - again, as I recall, I liked that one a lot; it may be her best.
From the Vault: "Death in the Stocks"
Georgette Heyer is probably most often remembered today for her very popular and entertaining Regency romance novels. But she was also quite a good mystery writer and one who cultivated many of the virtues of the best English Golden Age writers. I must admit that I was attracted to her fourth my...
I'm glad you did enjoy it, Colin. I understand your feeling a bit let down by the ending - I felt an awful lot got thrown at us in the last few pages - but I did think the Wainwrights were an interesting lot of people.
"The Belting Inheritance"
There is nothing quite like the prospect of an inherited fortune to provide a motive for all sorts of mischief in a traditional or classic mystery plot. Here's a very good example for you. Consider the case of a British family that lost two sons in the battles of World War II. Hugh and David Wai...
Agreed, Colin. As a general rule, the novellas are written more tightly, there's no need to be padding out the story with extra deaths for example. But the real selling point for all the Nero Wolfe books is the whole 35th street group of characters. We keep going back to visit the brownstone and to catch up on the people who live or work there. I find re-reading these books to be as enjoyable as reading them for the first time.
"Trouble in Triplicate"
Three cases of murder. Three men who showed up on Nero Wolfe's doorstep, looking for help. Three men who would soon be murder victims, each wanting to hire Nero Wolfe. And that would leave Nero Wolfe and his right-hand assistant, Archie Goodwin right in the midst of three very difficult and dang...
Thank you for the catch, Jon. I can't believe I did that. It's a useful lesson to me about NOT trying to write and type on the morning after a too-large holiday weekend dinner the night before. In my own defense, at least I DID get the name right on the podcast version. And, yes, she is available on Kindle - that's the version I read as well. Again, thanks - I think I've corrected it now.
"Death of an Old Girl"
[Page updated to correct the author's name. D'oh! Thanks to Jon Blake for catching this!] Is it likely that someone would be murdered simply because she - or he - was an intensely irritating person? Well it's something of a rarity in traditional mysteries - there is usually a good solid motive f...
Oh, Gladys Mitchell is an acquired taste - no argument - but it's a taste I have found I can enjoy. My favorite (should you want to try her again) would be "A Hearse on May-Day," where the sharp contrasts between Mitchell's bizarre humor and some fairly horrifying scenes really do play well together.
"The Widow's Cruise"
I must admit that I find seagoing cruises to be tremendously relaxing. In fact, my wife and I are about to leave for an extended cruise from New York City to Québec and back again. So it seemed to be a good time to feature an excellent mystery about cruising. How about The Widow's Cruise, by Nic...
I think you'd enjoy this one, Colin. I've read others of Blake's books and would recommend him as an author of unusually good plots in well-written books - probably not a surprise coming from a man who became the Poet Laureate of Britain. I haven't been to the Greek islands, but this book makes me realize some of what I missed. Have you read Gladys Mitchell's "Come Away Death" by the way? Mrs. Bradley meets the Mysteries at Eleusis...
"The Widow's Cruise"
I must admit that I find seagoing cruises to be tremendously relaxing. In fact, my wife and I are about to leave for an extended cruise from New York City to Québec and back again. So it seemed to be a good time to feature an excellent mystery about cruising. How about The Widow's Cruise, by Nic...
Colin, I'm delighted to see Moyes's books coming back and made available to new readers. It's been a while since I read "Third Dog," but I remember it as being very well written, with good twists and a vaguely-recalled ending which left me cheering for the dog. I'll be reading more of hers, as the series re-appears.
"Murder à la Mode"
Back when I was in high school, a long long time ago, I was the editor-in-chief of my high school newspaper, which published several times a year. I remember vividly the late night sessions at the printer, the night before the paper was due to be printed, a time of considerable pressure on the e...
I've heard a lot of people say they prefer Woman in White, Colin. It's been so long since I last read it, I'm not qualified to comment - looks like I should put that back on the To Be Read pile. Thanks.
From the Vault: "The Moonstone"
Every so often, it is pleasant to go back to the roots of the modern detective story. There is some disagreement over where, precisely, those roots may be found. Certainly Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter" were among the very first myster...
As it happens, mystery historian Curtis Evans posted an interesting and quite relevant entry about Sgt. Beef (and Sgt. Cribb and others) on his blog, The Passing Tramp (at http://thepassingtramp.blogspot.com/2018/04/some-time-for-sergeants-consideration.html ). As always with his posts, it is well worth your reading time.
From the Vault: "Case for Three Detectives"
Those of us who enjoy mysteries in general and Golden Age mysteries in particular are all too familiar with this situation: A murder is committed. The police (or other official law enforcement agents) are stumped. Then along comes our protagonist hero, male or female, to show the police what rea...
"The Murder of my Aunt" is due out in the States in September, and I'm looking forward to it - it seems to follow the same general pattern you mention. That's what I like best about Hull's books, and you're right - it's a great way to reveal a character's character, so to speak.
"Murder Isn't Easy"
Nicholas Latimer was an unhappy, frustrated and angry man. A partner in a small advertising agency, Latimer was convinced that his two business partners weren't doing their fair share of the work involved in making their agency successful. As far as Latimer was concerned, neither Paul Spencer, w...
For more info day-of (such as, maybe, when will this be over) you can go to http://status.typepad.com
Building Repairs on Monday
Typepad, the blogging platform which powers the Classic Mysteries blog and website, has sent around a warning notice about routine maintenance for Typepad which - apparently - may take this site down for a while on Monday night (4/9), beginning at 10 PM Central Time, 11 PM Eastern Time. They don...
Yes, it was released in 1954, 14 years after the first book. As far as I can tell, these two were the only mysteries Shepherd ever wrote. I haven't read the sequel yet, but if it's anywhere close to the quality of the first book, I'll have to add it to my TBR pile - and soon.
"Murder in a Nunnery"
When someone was murdered at Harrington Convent, the police were surprised to discover that most of the resident nuns simply took it in their stride. The Mother Superior in charge of the convent and its girls' school would prove to be a most helpful ally to Chief Inspector Pearson of Scotland Ya...
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