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Category Archives: 2016 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt
2016 Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt
For as long as I’ve been hosting this blog, I’ve participated in Bev Hankins’ irresistible vintage mystery reading challenges. The rules have been amended over the years, but the basic criteria is the same – review a mystery from two … Continue reading
Posted in 2016 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, 2016 Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt, 87th Precinct, Albert Campion, Bill Pronzini, California, Canada, Catherine Aird, Chicago, Cosy Cozy, David Callan, Don DeLillo, Dorothy L. Sayers, Edgar Wallace, Ellery Queen, England, Fletcher Fliora, Florida, Germany, Gideon Fell, Inspector Wexford, Italy, James Hadley Chase, James Mitchell, John Dickson Carr, John le Carre, Kansas City, London, Louisiana, Margery Allingham, Middle East, Montana, New York, Noir, Ostara Publishing, Patricia Moyes, Police procedural, Private Eye, Radio, Ruth Rendell, San Francisco, Stark House Press, Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt 2016
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HAG’S NOOK (1933) by John Dickson Carr
Today would have been John Dickson Carr’s 110th birthday and JJ, over at his blog, The Invisible Event, is celebrating the great writer’s work. So I thought I should chip in, as Carr is my favourite Golden Age detective story … Continue reading
THE SECRET AGENT (1907) by Joseph Conrad
Subtitled ‘A Simple Tale’ and dedicated to HG Wells, Conrad’s novel of anarchists, spies, treachery and a terror campaign gone wrong was based on the Greenwich bombing of 1894, though it is actually set eight years before that. Recently adapted for … Continue reading
HOUSE OF EVIL (1954) by Clayre and Michael Lipman
Despite sporting a generic title that makes it sound like a Gothic horror, don’t be put off as this is a terrific little mystery with a strong psychological slant. This reprint comes courtesy of Stark House Press supremo Greg Shepard, … Continue reading
HE WON’T NEED IT NOW (1939) and THE DEAD STAY DUMB (1939) by James Hadley Chase
This pair of ultra-hardboiled thrillers were the first two books published by James Hadley Chase following the huge success of his controversial gangster story No Orchids for Miss Blandish (which I recently reviewed right here). Well, actually, He Won’t Need it Now … Continue reading
POLICE AT THE FUNERAL (1931) by Margery Allingham
This is the book that many see as being the breakthrough for Margery Allingham in her series featuring Albert Campion, who after three comparatively ‘light’ adventures finally appeared in a darker, more substantial work that showed something like the true … Continue reading
THE CLUE OF THE SILVER KEY (1930) by Edgar Wallace
Why should someone go to the trouble of assassinating petty thief Horace Tom Tickler and leaving his body inside a taxi with £100 in his pocket? This is the problem that Surefoot Smith of Scotland Yard has to clear up, … Continue reading
MURDER IN MINIATURE by Leo Bruce
This 1991 collection brought together all the (then) known uncollected short stories by Leo Bruce, the pseudonym used by Rupert Croft-Cooke (1903-1979) for his murder mysteries, which first featured Sergeant (later Inspector) Beef (1936-1952) and later the amateur sleuth Carolus Deene (1955-1974). … Continue reading
THE CLUE OF THE NEW PIN (1923) by Edgar Wallace
In 1961 Clue of the New Pin became one of the first of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries series made at Merton Park studios to sit on the lower birth of a cinema double bill. Originally released in Britain at a rate of roughly … Continue reading
NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH (1939) and TWELVE CHINAMEN AND A WOMAN (1940) by James Hadley Chase
No Orchids for Miss Blandish is a famous book that for years only aficionados have been able to read in its original, unexpurgated version, and the same goes for its less well-known follow-up, Twelve Chinks and a Woman (as it … Continue reading
DEAD MEN DON’T SKI (1959) by Patricia Moyes
Apparently written to pass the time while the author was recovering from a skiing accident, this ended up being the first of nineteen novels featuring Inspector Henry Tibbett. Having really enjoyed the intricately plotted Who Is Simon Warwick?, one of the … Continue reading
WHOSE BODY? (1923) by Dorothy L. Sayers
It has been years since I read anything by Sayers and I thought it would be interesting to go back to the debut of Lord Peter, who initially is very much presented as belonging to the ‘silly ass’ school of … Continue reading
LEAVE HER TO HELL (1958) by Fletcher Flora
This sardonic private eye novel arrives from those very nice people at Stark House Press in an edition bringing together a trio of 1950s Noirs by Fletcher Flora (1914-1968) with an introduction by Bill Pronzini. Our narrator, Perceval “Percy” Hand, is hired … Continue reading
WHO KILLED MATTHEW CORBIN? by John Dickson Carr
You may not have heard of this work by the great John Dickson Carr, but that’s OK as it isn’t a novel or short story – it was in fact his debut as a radio dramatist. Recordings of the serial appear … Continue reading
TO WAKE THE DEAD (1937) by John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr is my favourite Golden Age mystery author and this entry, featuring his titanic sleuth Gideon Fell, was published when he was at the height of his powers. However, this one isn’t as well-known as many of the … Continue reading
CRY BLOOD and KILLER IN SILK (1956) by Harry Vernor Dixon
This pair of hitherto hard-to-find mysteries come in a new volume from those very nice people at Stark House Press, the imprint specialising in new and classic crime fiction. Dixon is an author that seems really ripe for rediscovery, much … Continue reading
