Martin Edwards
Martin Edwards: Gallows Court
Festive Tasks Master Update Post HERE Festive Tasks, Door 9 – Cycles: Read a book that has something lucky on the cover or in the title; or that has a cover that is more than 50% red, yellow and or green, which are considered lucky colors in China. Gallows Court was a book I’d been […]
Read More
May 2021 Reading Recap
Still a lot of work on the back end of the blog, including on my “featured authors” pages (see the right column on the main Literature page and the introduction of my April 2021 recap post). So, contrary to plans, still no new posts in my alphabet blogging series in May. However, the time-consuming back end […]
Read More
Martin Edwards (ed.), Various Authors: Vintage Crime
Given this book’s title, I’d originally been considering it for my Detection Club (= Golden Age mysteries) reading project, but as it turns out, the number of Silver Age and, even more so, contemporary entries is somewhat too high to justify that. However, this survey of short stories by members of the Crime Writers’ Association […]
Read More
Martin Edwards (ed.), Various Authors: Blood on the Tracks
The January “side read” — topic: Murder by Transport — for the Appointment with Agatha / Agatha Christie Centenary Celebration group read (blog master post HERE; Goodreads group HERE): For me, another reread after first having read this collection only last year, but decidedly one of my favorites among the British Library Classic Crime short […]
Read More
January 2021 Reading Wrap-Up
I only finished eleven books in January, which isn’t a lot by my standards as of the last couple of years, even taking into account that two of the books were decidedly on the long side (all the more as I balanced out the two long books by two extremely short ones). But I decided […]
Read More
2020 in Facts and Figures
I already posted my main 2020 in Review and Looking Ahead to 2021 posts a while ago — only on my new blog (separate post to come) –, but I held back on my 2020 reading statistics until the year was well and truly over. And for all my good intentions when posting my mid-year […]
Read More
For any mystery fans still looking for a book for the “Fear the Drowning Deep” bingo square …
… this short story compilation from the British Library Crime Classics series looks like it would fit the bill. (Link to Obi’s review HERE: obi.booklikes.com/post/1956924/post) Original post: ThemisAthena.booklikes.com/post/1957146/for-any-mystery-fans-still-looking-for-a-book-for-the-fear-the-drowning-deep-bingo-square
Read More
Halloween Bingo 2019 PreParty — Question for 08/01 (Day 1): Mystery or Horror?
Mystery, definitely. For one thing, I’m a total chicken — I can’t look at blood (not even, or rather, especially not my own, e.g. in medical procedures); and anything shocking, spooky, or otherwise unnaturally unsettling just has me running for the rafters. That’s particularly true at night — which is when I’m doing a […]
Read More
Martin Edwards (ed.) & Various Authors: The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories (BLCC)
24 Festive Tasks: Door 20 – Christmas, Book: The third annual edition of the British Library’s anthologies of unjustifiedly-buried Golden Age Christmas mystery short stories, again edited by Martin Edwards. Great fun and a great way to segue into the holiday season, one story at a time. I’m using it as my book for, guess […]
Read More
Members of the Detection Club: The Sinking Admiral
24 Festive Tasks: Door 10 – Bon Om Touk, Book: Read a book that takes place at sea or on a river OR with water on the cover OR where the plot involves a festival or the moon plays a pivotal role in the plot. In 1931, “certain members” of the Detection Club — in […]
Read More
My Comfort Reads
24 Festive Tasks: Door 8 – Penance Day, Task 1: “Confess” your book habits. Dog-earring? Laying books face down? Bending back the spines? Skimming? OR: Confess your guilty reading pleasure, or comfort reads. It’s probably no secret that my comfort reads are Golden Age mysteries — I’m slowly making my way through the works […]
Read More
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Final Tally
The Markers: Stack of Books: Books read Red Bows and Ribbons: Other Tasks completed Joker cards used: The Squares, Books and Other Tasks: Square 1: November 1st: All Saints Day / Día de los Muertos & Calan Gaeaf Book themes for Día de Muertos and All Saint’s Day: A book that […]
Read More
Martin Edwards (ed.) & Various Authors: Silent Nights (BLCC)
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Square 5 – Advent Golden Age Christmas Vignettes Book themes for Advent: Read a book with a wreath or with pines or fir trees on the cover. Silent Nights is the first of (at this point) two Christmas mystery short story anthologies in the British Library’s “Crime Classics” series, […]
Read More
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Updates / Blackout
I’ve yet to read at least one book for some of the squares, but I’ve completed a minimum of either one book or one task for all of the squares, and in several cases, more. The Markers: Stack of Books: Books read Red Bows and Ribbons: Other Tasks completed […]
Read More
2017: Favorite and Least Favorite Books of the Year
16 Tasks of the Festive Season: Square 10 – Pancha Ganapti – and Square 12 – Festivus Tasks for Pancha Ganapati: Post about your 5 favourite books this year and why you appreciated them so much. Tasks for Festivus: […] –OR– Perform the Airing of Grievances: name 5 books you’ve read this year that have […]
Read More
Martin Edwards: The Golden Age of Murder
The early history of the Detection Club, told by its current president and first archivist. Martin’s knowledge of both Golden Age detective fiction and the lives of its writers is downright encyclopedic, and he tells a multi-faceted story very compellingly. At times I had the feeling that he was taking his own conjecture a bit […]
Read More
Halloween Bingo 2017: Update 3, Part 2 — Catching up on Reviews
The “bingo” squares and books read: My Square Markers and “Virgin” Bingo Card: “Virgin” card posted for ease of tracking and comparison. Black Kitty: Read but not called Black Vignette: Called but not read Black Kitty in Black Vignette: Read and Called Black Kitty Center Square: Read = Called Current Status […]
Read More
Martin Edwards: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books
The standout read among the books I read in the third week of September; a tour de force parcours through 50 years of British crime writing (from 1900 to 1950), with sidelights on authors and books published in the U.S., continental Europe, Argentina and Japan. Martin Edwards is concurrently President of the Crime Writers’ Association […]
Read More
Martin Edwards: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books — Part 4: Chapters 16-24
Reading progress update: 357 of 357 pages. Finished; full review to come as part of my next bingo update. Right now, my head is still too much in a whirl, brimming with the names and information that Edwards has crammed into it. The book’s final chapters explore specific topics and methods of narration pioneered by […]
Read More
Martin Edwards: The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books — Part 3: Chapters 11-15
Reading progress update: 219 of 357 pages. From the chapters covering some of the key locations of classic British mysteries (the countryside, including and especially country manors, as well as London — of course — and domestic and international vacation resorts), we’ve now moved to an exploration of how the various writers used their “original” […]
Read More