Category Archives: James Hadley Chase

2016 Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt

Posted on 20 December 2016 by Cavershamragu

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 | 18 Comments

HE WON’T NEED IT NOW (1939) and THE DEAD STAY DUMB (1939) by James Hadley Chase

Posted on 24 June 2016 by Cavershamragu

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 →

Posted in 2016 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, James Hadley Chase, Kansas City, New York, Stark House Press | 32 Comments

NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH (1939) and TWELVE CHINAMEN AND A WOMAN (1940) by James Hadley Chase

Posted on 6 May 2016 by Cavershamragu

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 →

Posted in 2016 Golden Age Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt, Florida, James Hadley Chase, Kansas City, New York, Stark House Press | 34 Comments

2014 Book to Movie Challenge – completed

Posted on 29 December 2014 by Cavershamragu

Well, we all like a good sequel and when Katie over at her Doing Dewey blog asked me to co-host this challenge, I just couldn’t resist (hubris is a terrible thing)! I selected the Movie Auteur level (24 books to be reviewed and … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Book to Movie Challenge, 87th Precinct, Agatha Christie, Audrey Erskine Lindop, Barry England, Bill Pronzini, Billy Wilder, Blake Edwards, Brian de Palma, Charles Williams, Charlotte Armstrong, Claude Chabrol, Columbo, Cornell Woolrich, Dashiell Hammett, David Callan, Desmond Cory, Ed McBain, Erle Stanley Gardner, Evelyn Anthony, Georges Simenon, Graham Greene, Isaac Asimov, James Hadley Chase, James M. Cain, James Mitchell, Maigret, Miss Marple, Nero Wolfe, Orson Welles, PD James, Perry Mason, Philip Marlowe, Philo Vance, Poirot, Raymond Chandler, Rex Stout, Robert Siodmak, Roy Baker, Shirley Jackson, Somerset Maugham, SS Van Dine, Stanley Ellin, The Thin Man, William Goldman | 16 Comments

2014 Vintage Mystery Challenges – completed

Posted on 28 December 2014 by Cavershamragu

12 months and 72 book reviews later and the Vintage Mystery Challenge bingos, both Golden (pre-1960) and Silver (1960 to 1989) varieties, are complete! The indefatigable Bev of My Reader’s Block gives structure and meaning to the reading habits of us mystery … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo, 87th Precinct, Agatha Christie, Bill Pronzini, Carter Dickson, Charlotte Armstrong, Cornell Woolrich, Dashiell Hammett, David Callan, Dorothy Dunnett, Ed McBain, Edward D. Hoch, Erle Stanley Gardner, Evelyn Anthony, Georges Simenon, Gideon Fell, Gil Brewer, Gillian Freeman, Graham Greene, Harold Q. Masur, Helen Nielsen, James Hadley Chase, James M. Cain, James Mitchell, John Blackburn, John Dickson Carr, John Sladek, L. Ron Hubbard, Lange Lewis, Lawrence Sanders, Leslie Charteris, LP Davies, Maigret, Marcia Muller, Miss Marple, Nero Wolfe, Ngaio Marsh, Noir, Orson Welles, Parker, PD James, Perry Mason, Peter Corris, Philip Marlowe, Philo Vance, Poirot, Police procedural, Private Eye, Raymond Chandler, Rex Stout, Richard Stark, Robert B. Parker, Robert Bloch, Roderick Alleyn, Science Fiction, Shirley Jackson, Somerset Maugham, SS Van Dine, Stanley Ellin, Stark House Press, The Shadow, Thomas M. Disch, Walter B Gibson, William Goldman | 24 Comments

Try This One for Size (1989) – Tuesday’s Overlooked Film

Posted on 16 September 2014 by Cavershamragu

This amusing comedy-thriller was the first of a quartet of films starring Michael Brandon derived from the work of euro noir legend, James Hadley Chase. Set in the double-dealing world of smugglers and dodgy art dealers, this one brought Paradise City detective Tom … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Book to Movie Challenge, 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo, Florida, France, James Hadley Chase, Noir, Switzerland | 24 Comments

NO ORCHIDS FOR MISS BLANDISH (1939) by James Hadley Chase

Posted on 1 April 2014 by Cavershamragu

What can you say about this infamous crime story – that as a book and again as a film it was once the most notorious title in the UK? That it was critically lambasted by George Orwell? That it sold … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 Book to Movie Challenge, 2014 Vintage Mystery Challenge Bingo, Film Noir, James Hadley Chase, Kansas City, Tuesday's Overlooked Film | 45 Comments

Joseph Losey’s crime movies

Posted on 10 November 2013 by Cavershamragu

In the 1940s and early 1950s Joseph Losey established himself as a new director of rare intelligence and technical dexterity in Hollywood. His promise however was curtailed by the McCarthy witch hunts that destroyed the lives of hundreds of men … Continue reading →

Posted in Cold War, Film Noir, James Hadley Chase, Joseph Losey, London, New York, Noir on Tuesday, Paris, Stanley Ellin, Tuesday's Overlooked Film | 23 Comments

The Last Page (1952)

Posted on 23 October 2012 by Cavershamragu

Released as Man Bait in the US, this story of blackmail and murder in the London book trade was adapted from a 1947 play by James Hadley Chase, a writer still best-known for the pulp shocker No Orchids for Miss … Continue reading →

Posted in Hammer Studios, James Hadley Chase, London, Terence Fisher, Tuesday's Overlooked Film | Tagged , , | 31 Comments