#1394: The Big Bow Mystery, a.k.a. The Perfect Crime (1892) by Israel Zangwill
When I first heard of The Big Bow Mystery (1892) by Israel Zangwill, I legitimately thought it was about a big, y’know, bow — the fancy knot one ties in a piece of ribbon. I also anticipated, given its...
View Article#1380: The Noose (1930) by Philip MacDonald
In five days, Daniel Bronson will be hanged for the murder of regional ne’er-do-well Blackatter, found shot through the back of the head with the insensible, gun-clutching Bronson nearby. And while “no...
View Article#1374: The Affair at Little Wokeham, a.k.a. Double Tragedy (1943) by Freeman...
The Affair at Little Wokeham, a.k.a. Double Tragedy (1943), was the last of Freeman Wills Crofts’s books to be recently reprinted by Harper Collins in these lovely paperback editions. Fear not, I have...
View Article#1311: Fear Comes to Chalfont (1942) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Your typical Freeman Wills Crofts protagonist — fallen on hard times, usually following the death of a loved one — young widow Julia Langley enters into a marriage of convenience with solicitor Richard...
View Article#1260: A Losing Game, a.k.a. The Losing Game (1941) by Freeman Wills Crofts
People will tell you that I lack critical faculties when it comes to the work of Freeman Wills Crofts, and, well, they might have a point: I find his flavour of rigorous investigation and patient...
View Article#1251: The Case of the Gilded Fly, a.k.a. Obsequies at Oxford (1944) by...
Among the five books I have reread for Thursday reviews this January, The Case of the Gilded Fly (1944), the debut of the composer Bruce Montgomery under the name Edmund Crispin, is unique in that I...
View Article#1245: Peril at End House (1932) by Agatha Christie
Thursdays in January, I have decided — to get me through the start of year meh — are going to be books I loved before blogging and now want to revisit to get some thoughts on record. Which brings us...
View Article#1220: “About ghosts in particular he was a blatant and contemptuous...
Let’s take a moment to reflect on what Tony Medawar has done in recent years for GAD fans, with Wicked Spirits (2024) being the eighth collection of lost, forgotten, and...
View Article#1217: James Tarrant, Adventurer, a.k.a. Circumstantial Evidence (1941) by...
Having previously had a new business undertaking result in murder in Fatal Venture (1939), and having dealt in business manipulation in The End of Andrew Harrison (1938), Freeman Wills Crofts once...
View ArticleIn GAD We Trust – Episode 33: Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness...
Another surprise episode of my increasingly-irregular podcast In GAD We Trust, this time featuring Mark Aldridge in discussion about his new book, Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness (2024)....
View Article#1185: How Sleek the Woe Appears – My Ten Favourite Golden Age Reprint Covers
As someone who has never taken the time to foster any artistic talent, I’m amazed at the skill of people who design book covers. I even tried to start a regular feature on this blog celebrating such...
View Article#1169: A Little Help for My Friends – Finding a Modern Locked Room Mystery...
I really rather enjoyed Faith Martin’s impossible crime novel The Castle Mystery (2019) when I read it back in 2019, so stumbling over a new hardback by her at my local library — and learning that...
View Article#1163: Golden Ashes (1940) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Rendered a widow and penniless at a young age — well, she is a Freeman Wills Crofts protagonist — Betty Stanton is fortunate in finding a job as housekeeper and general organiser of newly-minted...
View Article#1152: The Sittaford Mystery, a.k.a. Murder at Hazelmoor (1931) by Agatha...
I’ve been struggling to enjoy my reading of late, so it was something of a relief to revisit The Sittaford Mystery (1931) by Agatha Christie and find it so enjoyable. We’re probably in the lower half...
View Article#1141: “He must have known he was playing a dangerous game.”– Bodies from the...
Bodies from the Library 6 (2023) represents another delightful foray into the neglected and forgotten stories from many of the luminaries of the Golden Age, as editor Tony Medawar puts his enviable...
View Article#1112: Fatal Venture, a.k.a. Tragedy in the Hollow (1939) by Freeman Wills...
Fatal Venture (1939) represents, by my count, the ninth time in twenty-three books that Freeman Wills Crofts has devised a criminal scheme which contains a significant strain of maritime malfeasance....
View Article#1088: The Moving Finger (1942) by Agatha Christie
I had intended to review Behind the Crimson Blind (1952) by Carter Dickson this week, but the opening chapters of that puzzled my will and so I’ve taken the coward’s way out and opted to reread what I...
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#1049: The End of Andrew Harrison, a.k.a. The Futile Alibi (1938) by Freeman...
It’s been a long road to The End of Andrew Harrison, a.k.a. The Futile Alibi (1938) by Freeman Wills Crofts. Back when I was fairly new to classic era detective fiction in general, and impossible...
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#1023: “The act of homicide always throws a man off balance.”– Bodies from...
The annual Bodies from the Library (2018-present) collections, in which Tony Medawar expertly selects long-forgotten and previously-unpublished stories and plays, have become essential purchases for...
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#1003: Found Floating (1937) by Freeman Wills Crofts
In the same year that Agatha Christie mixed sight-seeing and shipboard slaughter in Death on the Nile (1937), Freeman Wills Crofts sent his series detective, Chief Inspector Joseph French, into bat...
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