|
I recently obtained a big annotated 2-volume set of the complete Sherlock Holmes works and I've been having fun reading it! Just finished A Study in Scarlet for the first time - when I tried reading Sherlock as a teenager I started at the beginning, enjoyed it up until the western sequence right in the middle, and got bored and stopped. Which is a bummer, as I'm loving the short stories so far (so far I've read the Musgrave Ritual and the Gloria Scott!) I'm also really happy with the annotations so far - the dedication to "Sherlock and Watson were real people" isn't for me, but it's fun watching the annotators frantically try to make things fit, and their knowledge of the era is unsurpassed. I'm not reading every essay or annotation, as I'm trying to stay focused on reading the Canon first, but I can tell I'm going to enjoy returning to them in rereads. Also the dedication of fans in an era before the internet or tools like wordsearch impress me:  Also the little images are artwork are neat!  ps if you want to read it too, some kind soul scanned the entire thing and put it on archive.org here: https://archive.org/details/annotatedsherloc0001doyl_w7u5 You'll need a free account to borrow it, but hey!
|
#
?
Aug 28, 2023 21:50
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 05:10 |
|
|
I picked up My Foe Outstretched Beneath the Tree by V. C. Clinton-Baddeley this week, a donnish Cambridge murder mystery written in the 60s. I thought it was pretty good, and I appreciated that it came with a recipe for creme brulee, although many of its instructions were incomprehensible to me. That said, Ostara had done their best to ruin the ebook by filling it with ads, including one that was literally placed in between "Chapter One" and the beginning of the text. I spent a considerable amount of time cleaning the file up, because I am a crazy person.
|
|
#
?
Sep 8, 2023 18:31
|
|
|
Just finished This Storm. Since I prefer physical books, this means I've been carrying around a book with a big red swastika on the front cover. I thought Perfidia was weak, but This Storm was much better, even if part of it was Ellroy playing the old hits (Dudley Smith, again). We're now two books into what he's calling the "Second L. A. Quartet," which is actually a prequel to the first Quartet.
|
|
#
?
Sep 9, 2023 02:28
|
|
|
Starting Nero Wolfe 2 and I appreciate that it opens with Archie going “I am bored and plan to annoy you until you pick up a case” as Wolfe retreats to his orchids. It’s such a funny contrast to Sherlock going “watson! I don’t know why you’re in this opium den but it’s CRIME TIME”
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 15:33
|
|
|
Archie Goodwin is the original manic pixie dream girl.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 15:37
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:Starting Nero Wolfe 2 and I appreciate that it opens with Archie going “I am bored and plan to annoy you until you pick up a case” as Wolfe retreats to his orchids. I just realized I don't even remember whether it was Archie Goodwin or Donald Lam who escaped the police by enlisting at the end of one novel  The two characters are so conflated in my mind.
|
|
#
?
Sep 15, 2023 15:39
|
|
|
Okay so I've gotten partway through in my Golden Age Mystery readings. I'm talking in broad low-spoilery terms as best I can. These thoughts are pretty disorganized since I read some of these books a while back. My first foray into a different book series was Fer-De-Lance, first of the Nero Wolfe books. I didn't much care for it. The detective sounds like a redditor, the narrator is a huge asswipe, the mystery was paced weirdly with some huge early discoveries and then ages of fluff, and some of the things the 'good guys' scheme to do in this book are horrible. It felt like that the detective didn't deign to explain himself as much in the same way as others in the genre, partially because he didn't seem to delight in it, which is fine but just a bit less fun. Going from The Big Four (which was exciting for what is was, but not terribly mysterious) to this sucked the desire to read from me for a few weeks. I might try these again, but I might not bother. Next was Mystery of the Blue Train because I wanted to try something to get back in the groove instead of trying something new. I liked it slightly less than the other Poirots outside of The Big Four. I enjoyed how it structurally started with all these unassociated characters slowly being drawn together by circumstance until the man with the egg shaped head appeared, but since everyone's related and not being introduced to an audience surrogate, did make it hard to follow at times. I had some issues following the first two books (Styles and Links) because so many characters have family relationships, but maybe I am just a moron. Otherwise these are imminently readable to the surprise of no one. I was not ahead of any of the big "aha" moments for this one as I was for some of the previous ones, but I felt like I could have been, which is mostly what I want out of these: alternating feelings of cleverness and idiocy. Next was Whose Body, first in the Lord Peter Wimsey stories. I really enjoyed it. Some of the names felt a little Stan Lee like they're a joke, but the mental exercises were satisfying and the setup was quite a clever thing to hang a mystery on. It involves some of the same direct mendacity as Archie from the Wolfe book, but it's much more fun when it's against people who are suspected to maybe deserve it. This book has some weird construction, swapping from parenthetical narration to diegetic court transcripts and poems almost at random, and not just when it makes sense like " 'The clerk asked "What's your address?' Danny replied with his full street address, including the 9-digit form of his area code as was his wont.". I also think some of the endless prattle doesn't make as much comedic sense to me since I don't know poo poo about what these people would act like. I like that Lord Peter has multiple conversations with people who are at least remotely close to his intellectual equal, unlike Holmes or Poirot who are essentially always unparalleled. Still, it was fun. One weird thing was my e-book had a very long preview of the next book in it, so my Kindle thought it had a lot longer to go. I just finished The Crime At Black Dudley, first in the Albert Campion stories. For the first 40% of this book, I was hooked, on board, more, in my face. I loved the dread, the atmosphere, the wonder. (It reminded me of The Wreck of the Grosvenor, which I reach 2/3s of and simply decided that was where the story ended for me.) Unfortunately, it sags pretty bad in the middle while still having a fair bit of melodrama to keep it moving. Sadly, the information flow is just turned off at some point and it reads much more like a thriller, which makes sense because that's what it's called on Wikipedia. Still, I read it very quickly trying to refind what was in the opening, and overall I was quite happy with it. There are one or two repeated bits of odd prose, but overall I really liked the texture of it. I am looking forward to the next ones. It'd be cool if these books didn't have so much loving weird talk about various minorities. I know it was a different time, but 
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2023 19:59
|
|
|
Magnetic North posted:It'd be cool if these books didn't have so much loving weird talk about various minorities. I know it was a different time, but The antisemitism in the Christie books mostly goes away starting in the mid-30s, when I assume the rise of Hitler made that stuff less socially acceptable in the UK. Not familiar enough with Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham to know if there was a similar shift in their books.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2023 20:51
|
|
|
A lot of modern releases of the books have clipped out the racism, although not always in ways that leave the clipped sentences making sense.
|
|
#
?
Oct 6, 2023 21:21
|
|
|
I’m going to plug my writing buddy’s newly-released book because I know he won’t do it. So here it is… Murder on a Country Lane by Jon Harris It’s an adorable cozy mystery with a lot of humor of the sly, biting British type (so not as cozy as some cozies). Anyway, I feel partially responsible for this book since I helped beta read it. And I think it’s great!
|
|
#
?
Oct 7, 2023 00:34
|
|
|
https://twitter.com/akie_works/status/1713743514847121758
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2023 17:49
|
|
|
This is the most important chart that’s ever existed. Still, I might include a third variable for “survives.” The Nice Guys and Drebin might solve the Kira case, but I don’t think they’re making it out alive.
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2023 18:08
|
|
|
I have to wonder at the thought process that lands Dirty Harry in "can solve" and Shaft in "can't solve."
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2023 20:10
|
|
|
Meanwhile, I have to picture Miss Marple saying, "oh, I don't know; this is very similar to something that happened in St. Mary Mead about thirty years ago".
|
|
#
?
Oct 16, 2023 20:19
|
|
|
Whoever made that chart is outta their goddamn minds. First off my boy Battler would get that poo poo solved in no time flat. Secondly Courage would not only solve it, he'd do it in twenty minutes plus commercials. Hank Venture just needs to ask Dr.Orpheus for a solid something he'd be willing to do the second he realized poo poo was hosed in the astral plane. Branagh's Poirot ain't solving poo poo. And The Major is probably a non solver given magic is way outside her wheelhouse. Can a death note even kill a cyber brain?
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 00:19
|
|
|
Gaius Marius posted:Whoever made that chart is outta their goddamn minds. First off my boy Battler would get that poo poo solved in no time flat. Secondly Courage would not only solve it, he'd do it in twenty minutes plus commercials. Hank Venture just needs to ask Dr.Orpheus for a solid something he'd be willing to do the second he realized poo poo was hosed in the astral plane. Branagh's Poirot ain't solving poo poo. And The Major is probably a non solver given magic is way outside her wheelhouse. Can a death note even kill a cyber brain?
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 00:27
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:
I have to go through my "Death Note: How to Use It" booklet, but iirc in case the writer tries to specify a mode of death that is not possible the notebook defaults to a heart attack, which may or may not work on the Major. You probably could use the Death Note to kill the Major by either; A) Attacking her brain with an aneurysm or cancer, or B) causing a malfunction in her cyberbody.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 00:41
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:Has Battler Ushiromiya ever successfully solved a mystery? Including mysteries that were specifically created to be solved by him? also his name is battler and is the son of a well known rich family. even if he was a good enough detective to solve it (he isn't) he has some major disadvantages built in.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 00:53
|
|
|
I don't think a deathnote would be able to effect her cyberbody, that's just how it feels though. I think it's a bit moot though, if we're talking end of movie then she is fully digital and unkillable barring some a supernova or something. Rand Brittain posted:
He had his hands tied by the circumstance of who he'd have to accuse or suspect. He has no reason to hold back against Kira And like L writing his name in the deathnote wouldn't kill him given "battler" would no longer exist by the time Kira was around. Rand Brittain posted:
Didn't Kira say he was going to start killing the Elderly and other "leeches" once he was done with criminals? Second Courage gets word of that in Nowhere Kira is hosed
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 00:55
|
|
|
The_Other posted:I have to go through my "Death Note: How to Use It" booklet, but iirc in case the writer tries to specify a mode of death that is not possible the notebook defaults to a heart attack, which may or may not work on the Major. You probably could use the Death Note to kill the Major by either; A) Attacking her brain with an aneurysm or cancer, or B) causing a malfunction in her cyberbody. I don't think a heart attack would work because she doesn't have a heart, and I'm presumably the Death Note doesn't default to "attack her most heart-like cyberorgan" because a mean-sprited magical object that loves pixelbitching. You can do things like "hit by a truck", but being hit by a truck won't kill the Major. There are probably things you can specify that will kil the Major, but you have to know you need to do that beforehand. Can you write a name twice if your first murder doesn't work?
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 05:30
|
|
|
Someone post the chart please TIA.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 06:00
|
|
|
3D Megadoodoo posted:Someone post the chart please TIA. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 10:32
|
|
|
Man, on what planet could Miss Marple not crack Kira over her knee like a dry branch There have probably been like three Death Note cases in St Mary Mead
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 11:15
|
|
|
Given her MURDER AURA she should be the one being investigated.
|
|
#
?
Oct 17, 2023 11:45
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:
He's canonically incompetent, there's no way he's solving anything. Psych would definitely intuit the death note rules in the first five minutes of the episode, but in any reasonable universe would absolutely end up dying before he could prove it due to non-kira shenanigans gone wrong.
|
|
#
?
Oct 19, 2023 08:42
|
|
|
I just finished The Three Tiers of Fantasy by Norman Berrow after seeing it on several blogs, and found it pretty good! I'll be looking into more stuff by Berrow. In order to actually get it, I wound up actually emailing the publisher (Ramble House) and finding out that everything they have is available on EPUB if you do this even if their individual entries don't say so and they aren't on any ebook stores, and managed to get my hands on a few more E. C. R. Loracs.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2023 06:26
|
|
|
Magnetic North posted:Okay so I've gotten partway through in my Golden Age Mystery readings. I'm talking in broad low-spoilery terms as best I can. These thoughts are pretty disorganized since I read some of these books a while back. Fer-De-Lance is very atypical in terms of Nero Wolfe books. It's like, say, watching the first season of DS9 and thinking that's what it's all going to be like (or getting a feel for the Holmes canon based solely on A Study in Scarlet). I'd say it's likely the worst full-length in the series. I'd recommend The Silent Speaker, Some Buried Caesar, The Doorbell Rang, or Death of a Doxy to get a better sense of how things work when he gets his characters and story telling down. Xotl fucked around with this message at 08:59 on Nov 17, 2023 |
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2023 08:51
|
|
|
Xotl posted:Fer-De-Lance is very atypical in terms of Nero Wolfe books. It's like, say, watching the first season of DS9 and thinking that's what it's all going to be like (or getting a feel for the Holmes canon based solely on A Study in Scarlet). I'd say it's likely the worst full-length in the series. I'm reading them in order because I don't want to know for a fact that they are going to get worse as I go along. I've got enough that I can get to them eventually. Still, it's nice to know that this one was atypical. I might make an exception in this case and try one of these to see if I get on better. Since I'm here, might as well post what I read in the last month or so: Black Coffee is the "next" Poirot book in my list. Well, my list apparently included it here because this is when the play it was based on was written, and it was novelized in 1999. I didn't realize this and I saw it very early refer to the building tensions in Europe and Hitler being bad which is quite different to the casual antisemetism in the previous books. I don't know if this was a 90s addition, or if new of the 1930s election made waves at the time, but it feels like the former. The book is very, very obviously a play, primarily taking place in a single room with multiple entrances and exits. It's the most Sherlock-y of the Poirots so far to my memory, involving a lot more direct deception on the part of the protagonist. It is perfectly serviceable and a brisk read. I don't think the intolerably chatting and vapid character worked as well in book as it probably on stage where you could have someone mug with a sense of dramatic irony, even compared to some of the prattle in the Lord Peter book. It's good enough. A Man Lay Dead is next, first of the Rodrick Alleyn series. I can see how this one attracted attention; the hook of using these parlor games to stage a homicide is both obvious and clever. The pov character being a trashy journalist was interesting because of the things he knew and could understand were less scientific. The detective character seemed like a complete cipher to me though. It reads like a thriller but with the aloofness of a mystery, which was weird, but I enjoyed the systematic way it went through people's appearances and locations. It was the first time I was reminded of the Square One mystery episodes. However, some sequences were parsimonious to the point that I lost what was happening, and it has an odd third act. The brief sequences involving the fast and dangerous driving made me chuckle; I like the idea of the author being "hehehe you think you're tough, eh?" This was overall good but didn't really elevate. Lord Edgware Dies is next, because Peril at the End House has a much MUCH longer wait. This one is interesting because unlike something like The Mystery of the Blue Train where everyone is pretending to be decent, so many of the characters are inherently outwardly loving bastards. They keep needing to find ways to get poor retired Poirot back in the game where he keeps appearing in the background of scenes. I enjoyed reading it perfectly fine, but without the chapters establishing anything ahead of time like Blue Train, the mystery is structured in a way where I found it to be super extremely obvious. This is the first one where I basically knew the plot toe-to-tip very early, though that did not undermine the peril of proving it. I suspect it's sort of meant to be that way, but there's a certain inference that should be obvious to make that I don't recall anyone calling out specifically. At the same point there are often quite reasonable questions being raised with thoughtful answers. Also, Wikipedia says this is the last book to get real anti-semetic, thank loving GOD. (non-specific very broad late-book spoilers for certain Poirot works) Okay, what I said above being the first one I knew the plot ahead of time is a lie but that's because for reasons known only to the publisher and god, one of the books spoils the ending in the loving forward. A Murder At The Vicarage: This coincided with a lack of desire to read. I got 2 chapters in and stopped reading for a few weeks. I'll pick it back up eventually.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2023 11:08
|
|
|
I finished So Many Doors by E. R. Punshon today, and I think this is the last time I'll try one of the reprinted Punshons. I laughed at the joke about Bobby Owen being proud of his first-aid skills, and he does at least come across as a character, but he spent a lot of the book talking about how citizens have rights and he can't just arrest people without evidence, but I'm pretty sure police do have the authority to bring people in for questioning, and I can't help feeling like if the police had spent more time keeping track of the various people who are clearly not on the up-and-up, they could have saved several lives.
|
|
#
?
Dec 17, 2023 03:25
|
|
|
Read a few more: Murder on the Orient Express: Was looking forward to this one for obvious reasons. It did not disappoint. My only issue was I had trouble keeping the non-passenger characters apart, and I didn't understand what was physically happening with an early clue upon which the rest hinged. A classic, nothing more really needs to be said. Mystery Mile: It has some atmosphere and dread of Black Dudley, though less personal from the 3rd person perspective. It feels a little 'world-building' which I don't know if I cared for when it became somewhat involved. The mystery was satisfying, the locales were interesting, the cast of characters were very different. It moved along well and I was never bored. Clouds of Witness: This one was 2/3s of a good book. It was structurally good enough, but there were long stretches where nothing interesting happens. I don't know if legal fiction potboilers were a thing when this was written, but all the legal blather is woefully uninteresting. I'm actually someone with a casual interest in law, but I guess I am more interested in what laws mean and do than the actual legal argumentation to appeal to a jury. Apparently in the first Poirot book, the editors suggested changing the ending from the courtroom to an assembled panel in the house, which I believe to be the correct decision. It allows the argument to be more appealing to a deductive mind instead of featuring the adversarial coercion. Outside of that, the mystery structure is good and interesting. The other downside is the very occasional and typically quite gentle but still weird talk about minorities.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2024 11:48
|
|
|
After finishing five or six of Mary Fitt's books, it honestly seems crazy that she's not better-known.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2024 20:47
|
|
|
Just read Peril at the End House which I read out of order because it had an unusually long wait, longer than even Murder on the Orient Express. I really liked it, and it put into stark relief how much more I enjoy these Poirot books than the others I've tried so far. That is, except for the Allingham books, which I like even if I don't think I like Campion as much. I really like her prose, the atmosphere, the dread. Except that my library system only has the first two books, so gently caress me I guess? Looking back over the OP, among the listings Sarah Caudwell sounded the best to me. However, as I mentioned upthread, I am squeamish so I don't want to read something with a graphic description of blood and gore. Since her books were from the 80s, I feel there is a better chance of that. Can anyone confirm that before I get started? I also wanted to look at the Elizabeth Daly books but they also aren't in the library system.  Only the first two Caudwells are, but when it's only 4 it's a bit less of a big deal I guess.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 11:59
|
|
|
I don't really remember anything like that personally. The thing that stands out to be me that might be rough for some is jokes about rape. For the most part its done in a, we are referencing the greeks, style that is in line with the snobbery of the cast that doesn't really bother me too much but its notable enough I make sure to bring it up when recommending it. It really is a fantastic series though and I was shocked by just how queer it was. And in a layered way too, there is the ambiguity of Hilary's gender, the multiple gay characters throughout the series. And then there is everything involving Julia. She is constantly being mistaken as a lesbian, getting doted on by other women, and accidentally doing the gayest poo poo. None of this is being played as a gay panic joke, its some of the most self indulgent, wink wink nudge nudge, stuff I read in a book. Snooze Cruise fucked around with this message at 12:48 on Feb 4, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 12:31
|
|
|
Neither Daly nor Caudwell has blood. Incidentally, Daly and Allingham are both public domain in Canada, so they can be found on sites like Faded Page if you happen to live there.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 18:49
|
|
|
Rand Brittain posted:Incidentally, Daly and Allingham are both public domain in Canada, so they can be found on sites like Faded Page if you happen to live there. Sadly I live in FreedomTown.
|
|
#
?
Feb 4, 2024 19:35
|
|
|
Hopped on the Sarah Caudwell train, really good. I think one of the more underrated things is that they’re written and set in the 90s in British high end corporate law offices and therefore are like novels written and set in America in the 80s, awkwardly straddling technological transition. In Sibyl, Caudwell solves the cellphone problem by noting that they’re thought ungentlemanly; in Sirens, a guy getting unseemly addicted to telex machines lets her keep an epistolary style without having to jump through hoops about the mail being uncommonly quick. It’s interesting to see. They’re really good, too! I’d kind of held off on them because of posters here talking about how much of an rear end in a top hat Hilary Tamar is but I reallly don’t find that to be true - rather, everybody in the novel expresses affection through insult, Tamar included. I also expected things to be a little more Gideon Fell but really Tamar is the ultimate armchair detective - they’re usually not on the same continent where the action is happening, with epistolary conveying the day to day. It’s a fun style, big fan.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2024 15:10
|
|
|
Has anyone read Five Decembers by James Kestrel (actually Jonathan Moore)? Won an Edgar award apparently.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2024 20:18
|
|
|
OptionalPirate posted:Has anyone read Five Decembers by James Kestrel (actually Jonathan Moore)? Won an Edgar award apparently. I read it after seeing it on the Edgar site. it's excellent, but I liked fellow 2022 nominee Razorblade Tears even more. EDIT: incidentally of the ~10 hard case crime novels I've read so far I've enjoyed each immensely. Fate Accomplice fucked around with this message at 20:45 on Feb 8, 2024 |
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2024 20:42
|
|
|
Got through a few more. I'd tried to read something more modern with Thus Was Adonis Murdered but I couldn't get anywhere. Not sure if it was my mood at the time or just because I didn't like it. Enter a Murderer by Marsh: I actually read this before Peril but forgot to post about it. Similar to A Man Lay Dead, it has a clever simple premise. The physicality of some of these actions and locations made it hard to follow at times. The rest are all Poirot books: Three Act Tragedy: Been a while since I read it, it didn't leave a huge impression on me. Murder in Mesopotamia: I had a little trouble following this one because there were so many characters and more spacial stuff. It was okay. Cards on the Table: I liked this one more than I was expecting. One way to take the genre and say "Okay, here it is, as simple as possible, now let's make it as complicated as possible." Dumb Witness: This was was very simple. Easy to follow, fairly easy to figure out. Also, we're adding even more racial slurs to the list  Death on the Nile: Obviously very good, very readable. The other one everyone has heard of. After the first chapter I was a little afraid, but it picks up quick. This and Dumb Witness play with 'When does the murder happen' and 'What does the audience know to establish dramatic irony' a lot, which I don't remember being quite so extensive outside of The Big Four of all things. Murder in the Mews: For some reason, I liked the prose in these short stories more than I have the others. Not that they're typically bad, but this was the closest I've seen to Doyle, but perhaps the short story format somehow lends to that.
|
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2024 09:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 3, 2024 05:10 |
|
|
Magnetic North posted:Got through a few more. I'd tried to read something more modern with Thus Was Adonis Murdered but I couldn't get anywhere. Not sure if it was my mood at the time or just because I didn't like it. For those reading I tried this and loved it, I've devoured 2 of the other books as well, and starting the last in the series this week (wish there were more!) Hilary Tamar is a delight. If you don't mind Poitot dunking on Hastings while he's oblivious you won't mind Tamar. Some of the quotes had me chuckling out loud at how they try to put their best foot forward, like someone asks them to research family history and they respectfully decline, but then they are offered $600 for the job and Tamar starts saying "declining such a fine offer would be quite unseemly, and I certainly didn't want to seem mercenary and make her think I was holding out for more money". There's tons of great moments like this, where Hilary Tamar is clearly a cheap-as-hell Oxford Don who is always bumming glasses of wine off their former students at the Corkscrew and then getting miffed when their deductions are not lauded. Does anyone have any good mystery recommendations in this vein? Really enjoyed them. Tom Tucker fucked around with this message at 13:34 on Apr 25, 2024 |
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2024 13:31
|
|
