For certain, we can agree on the Golden Age of Detective Fiction as a term that applies to stories written mainly in the 1920s and 1930s that tended to be about light-hearted ‘cosy’ crimes, within which you could reliably expect to find upper-class characters in a secluded country estate, where at least one of them usually died. Leading the pack of Golden Age writers was Agatha Christie. Poison Expert Speakers and … Continue reading
I was introduced to Dame (Edith) Ngaio Marsh 19 years ago during my first Christmas in the Mystery Book Club at Manchester Library. The book was appropriately, Tied Up in Tinsel, the 27th book in Marsh’s Detective Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn series. Her first book was in 1934 and her last, the year of her death, was in 1982. Alleyn presents as a British “gentleman detective” – schooled at Eton, … Continue reading
A steadfast group of mystery book fans in our book club read all 17 of the existing Inspector Gamache books. This is not the only indication of the popularity of Louise Penny and her famous book series set in the fictional town of Three Pines, Quebec. Last year’s book, The Madness of Crowds, was at the top of the NY Times best selling hardcover fiction list for 5 weeks straight. … Continue reading
Just finished Death of an Expert Witness by P. D. James. This is the sixth of 14 Adam Dalgliesh novels written by the highly honored British mystery writer. Here Dalgliesh is called to investigate the murder of Dr. Lorrimer, the “Chief Science Officer of the Biology Department” at a forensic laboratory. While not exactly a “locked room mystery,” there are some of the elements: the victim is found when the … Continue reading
LET'S PLAY CLUE: Was it MBC member Dick Goutal, in the garden, using the poisonous plant, Black Henbane?
