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Category Archives: Friday’s Forgotten Book
FUZZ (1968) by Ed McBain
And Fedora is back (for now …) and so is Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series (for my previous reviews click here). I am reading them chronologically, an approach that pays dividends in the case of Fuzz. Not only does it … Continue reading
MEMOS FROM PURGATORY (1961) by Harlan Ellison
Harlan Ellison is a writer with a unique voice, paddling his own caustic canoe (sic), defying all those who would pigeon-hole his talent. His resistance to easy categorisation remains ever more laudable in an age of cookie counter consumerism and … Continue reading
SOMEONE IS BLEEDING (1953) by Richard Matheson
Like so many writers of his generation, Richard Matheson – who turned 87 last month – was shaped by his experiences in World War Two. Though this produced only one directly autobiographical book, The Beardless Warriors, postwar malaise and unease … Continue reading
EIGHTY MILLION EYES (1966) by Ed McBain
It’s common to hear it said that an act ‘died’ on stage but in the case of TV comic Stan Gifford this proves to be literally true – and in front of 40 million viewers too. This is the premise … Continue reading
THE CASE OF THE LATE PIG (1937) by Margery Allingham
This is Margery Allingham’s shortest Albert Campion novel (my Penguin TV tie-in edition, featured on the right, runs to 138 pages) but it certainly packs in plenty of incident with the sleuth battling problems on the domestic and romantic front … Continue reading
DREADFUL SUMMIT (1948) by Stanley Ellin
Stanley Ellin burst on the literary scene in Spring 1948 with a one-two punch with the twin successes of his first short story, ‘The Specialty of the House’, the classic tale of the macabre for Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and … Continue reading
BRAINWASH (1979) by John Wainwright
This claustrophobic psychological whodunit was one of over 80 books by John William Wainwright (1921-1995), a crime writer from Leeds who despite his prolific output seems in danger of being forgotten – at present in fact none of his books … Continue reading
DEKOK AND THE SORROWING TOMCAT by Baantjer (1969)
Revered in The Netherlands (and translated into several languages), this series of mysteries by ex-policeman Albert Cornelis Baantjer featured Inspector Jurrian De Cock and his sidekick Dick Vledder and appeared at a rate of roughly two a year from 1963 … Continue reading
DOLL (1965) by Ed McBain
After an unexpected break of several months I return to the urban (and sometimes urbane) world of Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct with one of its best and most compact entries so far. I am at present re-reading the entire corpus … Continue reading
NIGHT WALKER (1954) by Donald Hamilton
Donald Hamilton (1916-2006) produced many different types of adventure books including Westerns such as The Big Country (filmed in 1958 with Gregory Peck). He is best known for his series of 27 Matt Helm novels, four of which were adapted … Continue reading
THE G-STRING MURDERS (1941) by Gypsy Rose Lee
Rose Louise Hovick (1914-70), better known under her stage name, ‘Gypsy Rose Lee’, had a brief but notable career. Her autobiography, Gypsy, detailing her rise to become the ‘Queen of Burlesque’ was a Broadway hit and was later filmed with … Continue reading
MURDER AT CAMBRIDGE (1932) by Q Patrick
This was the third novel by ‘Q. Patrick’, the byline belonging to the same family as ‘Patrick Quentin’ and ‘Jonathan Stagge’. The first two were collaborations between Richard Wilson Webb and Martha Mott Kelley but this was by Webb writing … Continue reading
A GRAVEYARD FOR LUNATICS (1990) by Ray Bradbury
Hollywood, 1954 and the unnamed protagonist of Ray Bradbury’s Death is a Lonely Business (which I reviewed here) is back. When we saw him last he was a struggling pulp writer living in Venice (California) – since then has moved … Continue reading
THE HOUSE (1947) by Hilda Lawrence
John Norris has featured several postwar Gothic mysteries of late over at his fantabulous Pretty Sinister Books, whetting my appetite for something similar. So I finally decided to dust off this mystery by Hilda Lawrence (1906-76) and give it a … Continue reading
NIGHTMARE (1941) by Cornell Woolrich
During the 1940s Cornell Woolrich was one of the true masters of the psychological suspense yarn, as adept at creating ingenious and outlandish plots as painting an atmosphere of universal dread and irrationality. This is a case in point with … Continue reading
THE YELLOW DOG (1931) by Georges Simenon
This is one the first Maigret novels. Georges Simenon chronicled some 100 of his cases over a period of 40 years but initially churned them out in a blaze of activity – indeed this was the first of seven Maigret … Continue reading
THE WENCH IS DEAD (1955) by Fredric Brown
This unconventional mystery by cult author Fredric Brown has unfortunately become a little bit scarce, its absentee status probably not helped by the fact that the title, taken from Christopher Marlowe, has been used for several other novels too. The … Continue reading
VERONICA’S ROOM (1973) by Ira Levin
Even if you have not seen his plays performed on the stage or read his novels, you are probably familiar with some of the movies adapted from the work of Ira Levin (1929-2007). I thought I knew his output pretty … Continue reading
UNFINISHED PORTRAIT (1934) by Agatha Christie
When I started Fedora I promised myself that I would try to avoid Agatha Christie as much as possible, not because I don’t enjoy her work but simply out of a spirit of self-preservation. She is already so well represented … Continue reading
TRAITOR’S PURSE (1941) by Margery Allingham
This is an Albert Campion novel like no other. Margery Allingham had introduced the character in the late 1920s and deployed him in a broad range of books, alternating between whodunits like Police at the Funeral (1931), Death of a … Continue reading
SALT RIVER by James Sallis
An author of compact mysteries rooted in the Deep South, poet and novelist James Sallis saw his profile rise last year after the release of the critically acclaimed Ryan Gosling movie Drive, an adaptation of his eponymous novel. Otherwise best … Continue reading
THE PIZZA HOUSE CRASH (1989) by Denise Danks
Georgina Powers is 25 years old and her life is a bit of a mess. A journalist working in London for a weekly computer magazine, she doesn’t take very good care of herself and is recovering from a brief and … Continue reading
ONE FOR THE ROAD (1958) by Fredric Brown
A whodunit that, as the title suggests, is more than a tad on the bibulous side, One For the Road is one of the less well-known mysteries by cult author Fredric Brown and one of his last. In the 40s … Continue reading
NIGHTMARE CRUISE (1961) by Wade Miller
The phrase ‘cook’s tour’ takes on a rather sinister meaning in this unjustly neglected maritime thriller, first published in 1961 as an Ace paperback original from the team of Robert Wade and Bill Miller. It was their penultimate book though a … Continue reading
THE LONG WAIT (1951) by Mickey Spillane
Well, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later at Fedora! After a year and a half of blogging it is time to confront some potentially ingrained snobbery and decided if we have descended to the level of Mickey … Continue reading
K is for … Stuart Kaminsky
The prolific mystery writer and academic Stuart Melvin Kaminsky was born in Chicago in 1934 and spent most of his career as a professor of film. Eventually he would spend 16 years teaching at Northwestern University before becoming a Professor … Continue reading
MAIGRET STONEWALLED (1931) by Georges Simenon
If one thinks of the great detective story writers from the Golden Age that have received serious and continued critical attention over the decades, the names that immediately spring to mind are Poe, Doyle, Christie, Hammett and Chandler. The only … Continue reading
INVISIBLE GREEN (1977) by John Sladek
This detective novel by science fiction author John Sladek offers several impossible crimes in the style of John Dickson Carr and deserves to be much better known. It was paid a great compliment in 1981 when, only two years after … Continue reading
DEATH IS A LONELY BUSINESS (1985) by Ray Bradbury
I delayed reading this book for the best part of thirty years but finally made the leap last week. I was thirty pages in when I heard the news: Ray Bradbury had died at the age of 91. The following, … Continue reading
DO EVIL IN RETURN (1950) by Margaret Millar
During the 1950s the Canadian author Margaret Millar proved herself, along with Patricia Highsmith, to be arguably the great innovator of the postwar crime and mystery genre. She was certainly crucial stepping stone in the later development of such notable … Continue reading
BLOOD ON THE MINK (1962) by Robert Silverberg
Counterfeiting is the name of the game in this hardboiled thriller by the legendary Robert Silverberg, one of the busiest writers of the 50 and 60s. Having made his short story debut while still in his teens and getting his … Continue reading
SOME OF YOUR BLOOD (1961) by Theodore Sturgeon
OK folks, this one might get a little bit tricky. For the record, let me state that Exhibit A, Some of Your Blood by Theodore Sturgeon, is a remarkable book. It describes an investigation into a person’s character, via a case … Continue reading
AXE (1964) by Ed McBain
Today we turn to one of the briefest entries in Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series. I am re-reading them in chronological sequence (click here to read my previous reviews) though this is not really necessary as they are all fairly … Continue reading
THE TIGER AMONG US (1957) by Leigh Bracket
It is an oft-repeated cliché that reading can be a ‘magical’ experience. It is certainly a special kind of pleasure but sometimes I think ‘alchemical’ may be a more appropriate term, not least because it can rely on so many … Continue reading
THE SCARF (1947 / 1966) by Robert Bloch
“I have the heart of a young boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk” Robert Bloch was the prolific author of novels, short stories and screenplays in the horror, science fiction and mystery genres. He also possessed … Continue reading
MURDER AT SCHOOL (1931) by James Hilton
James Hilton is probably best-remembered today for his trio of highly romantic novels from the 1930s, all of which were turned into successful movies: Lost Horizon (1933), the tale of the lost civilisation of Shangri-La, first filmed with Ronald Colman … Continue reading
WHY SHOOT A BUTLER? (1933) by Georgette Heyer
This is my first excursion in to the upper crust world of Georgette Heyer, though she was hardly an obscure author and was very prolific. Making her publishing début while still in her teens, she went on to produce some … Continue reading
