Overview of the British taste for true crime and crime novels. I say British: Worsley makes a big deal of how it's a super special national obsession Overview of the British taste for true crime and crime novels. I say British: Worsley makes a big deal of how it's a super special national obsession while not actually drawing comparisons with any other countries' taste for true crime and detective novels to indicate what makes it 'British'.
It's also a bit sloppy with a taste for random assertions and odd turns of phrase. My copy is dog eared with ??? notes. Points for the reference to 'William Coleridge', though at least it's not paired with Samuel Taylor Wordsworth. And mostly it just rubbed me the wrong way with the extremely dismissive attitude towards the subject matter. Worsley makes it clear that melodrama was shit and we clever moderns would now see it as absurd, public murder obsessions were creepy, most of the Golden Age writers weren't very good, etc etc, like we have to be told that she's more intellectual than this nonsense.
Pulp thriller by the exceedingly variable Wallace. This is one of the ones with a plot and characters (good) including a female lead who stays the leaPulp thriller by the exceedingly variable Wallace. This is one of the ones with a plot and characters (good) including a female lead who stays the lead and doesn't go all wifey (excellent) but sadly no murderous chimpanzees, lost Anglo Saxon legions, secret underground guillotines, vengeful archers, armies of villainous blind beggars, or exploding death contraptions (shame).
It's a fun collection of stories about super-thief Four Square Jane who runs rings round the law in order to rob the rich and give to the poor. Entertaining. ...more
Solid account of the writers of the Detection Club, which comprised most of the top mystery authors of the Golden Age, led by Sayers and Christie. IntSolid account of the writers of the Detection Club, which comprised most of the top mystery authors of the Golden Age, led by Sayers and Christie. Interesting stuff with some illustrious writers and many (justly) forgotten ones. I have a lot of titles to pursue now. ...more
A Mrs Bradley mystery, which is to say combines a classic English situation--here a village with vicar and fete--with some fairly baroque behaviour, FA Mrs Bradley mystery, which is to say combines a classic English situation--here a village with vicar and fete--with some fairly baroque behaviour, Freudian psychology, and murdering.
This one is mostly entertaining until the depiction of the black character which Jesus wept. I found it interesting that the author's creation Mrs Bradley is on page a great deal less racist than the actual author seems to be. Not sure how you manage that....more
I'm not a huge Lorac fan but this one was highly entertaining. A very weird family seething with mutual hate, set in a crumbling manor house, with a rI'm not a huge Lorac fan but this one was highly entertaining. A very weird family seething with mutual hate, set in a crumbling manor house, with a ridiculously over-complicated murder. This is what I go to golden age pulp for. ...more
Mostly highly entertaining Golden Age read, with a very sprightly concept: hero is a posh young man who burns through his capital in high living and eMostly highly entertaining Golden Age read, with a very sprightly concept: hero is a posh young man who burns through his capital in high living and ends up taking a job as a footman. This is handled with great brio and fun. The heroine has a proper spine and the romance is lovely, very few of the women in the book behave as you might expect from 1920s pulp, there's a real acknowledgement of privilege even though the book is clearly bang alongside class structure and 'sahibs', and the mystery is good fun.
Unfortunately marred by casual antisemitism in that the stock dodgy financier has a very Jewish name, which is a shame because otherwise this would be an unqualified rec....more
An almost Wodehousian effort from Edgar Wallace. There's a very cheerful if slightly dodgy racing hero and a fun romance, along with a well sketched tAn almost Wodehousian effort from Edgar Wallace. There's a very cheerful if slightly dodgy racing hero and a fun romance, along with a well sketched thriller element and a convincing racing background (as it should be considering how much he blew on the gee-gees). One of his better efforts....more
Highly entertaining Edwardian pulp nonsense. English wastrel baronet encounters German exiled nobleman in Africa (immense racism in this bit). German Highly entertaining Edwardian pulp nonsense. English wastrel baronet encounters German exiled nobleman in Africa (immense racism in this bit). German decides to kill Englishman and take his place as a spy because obviously they look identical, went to school together, and know each other's language perfectly. But the Englishman overhears! The Englishman then turns up in London, except he's the German posing as the Englishman, unless he's the Englishman posing as the German posing as the Englishman! WHICH IS IT?
Complications are added by the Englishman's discarded wife and discarded mistress *and* the German's lost love, all of them determined to get our frankly overworked protagonist, and also there's an unsolved murder and at least three Secret Spies knocking about and it's enormous fun (except, as noted, the opening racism, general xenophobia, strongly pro-massive-Euro-war views, mild misogyny, and sodding weird obsession with one of the women looking like a child because that's apparently hot. Which is to say, pretty standard Edwardian pulp.)...more
Probably the best of the British Library crime collections I've read, doubtless because of the near-infinite supply of country house murders. This is Probably the best of the British Library crime collections I've read, doubtless because of the near-infinite supply of country house murders. This is a really good selection of which I had only read a couple before. Lovely for a sense of place and time....more
A series of linked shorts where a Noble Man attempts to foul an Evil Female Criminal Mastermind and gets comprehensively shafted. Like, I think he winA series of linked shorts where a Noble Man attempts to foul an Evil Female Criminal Mastermind and gets comprehensively shafted. Like, I think he wins about once, and the body count is startlingly high with some very unexpected deaths. One gets the impression the author was firmly on the side of the Evil Lady. (She also wrote school stories and clearly needed the break.) Good old fashioned fun....more
Rather good crime novel set in a law office. Set and written in the 1950s though it feels rather more 1930s in spirit, with a delightfully unpleasant Rather good crime novel set in a law office. Set and written in the 1950s though it feels rather more 1930s in spirit, with a delightfully unpleasant initial murder and a breezy feel throughout....more
British Library reprint. Intriguing premise, though focusing more on the "wtf is going on" than the detection, and a largish chunk of the murder basicBritish Library reprint. Intriguing premise, though focusing more on the "wtf is going on" than the detection, and a largish chunk of the murder basically doesn't make any sense. Still, pulp fun....more
Well plotted & entertaining 50s murder mystery. Satisfying to have two female sleuths, the elderly Mrs Bradley and her trusty gym-teacher type sidekicWell plotted & entertaining 50s murder mystery. Satisfying to have two female sleuths, the elderly Mrs Bradley and her trusty gym-teacher type sidekick. Not as bananas as the 60s/70s entries in this series....more
I don't know why I keep reading these books, they're always irritating. This one promised me rural witchcraft, is why, which needless to say was not aI don't know why I keep reading these books, they're always irritating. This one promised me rural witchcraft, is why, which needless to say was not a promise well fulfilled. Weird and uneasy combination of sub-Wodehouse flippancy and some genuinely horrific stuff in the crimes and terrors. Author never saw an adverb he didn't like....more
The usual Wallace tosh though quite an enjoyable example of ludicrous pulp plotting. Refreshingly, the heroine is acknowledged by the hero to be damn The usual Wallace tosh though quite an enjoyable example of ludicrous pulp plotting. Refreshingly, the heroine is acknowledged by the hero to be damn good at detectiving. The "blind criminals gang" theme is as offensive to modern ears as you might expect but doesn't end up being the big plot part you might think from the title, what with Wallace was so clearly winging the whole thing to meet word count....more
A pretty good detective novel with some engaging characters and lots of plausible suspects, well paced. Not setting the world on fire but an enjoyableA pretty good detective novel with some engaging characters and lots of plausible suspects, well paced. Not setting the world on fire but an enjoyable read....more
Henrietta Clandon seems to divide neatly between "good books" and "books sleuthed by Mr and Mrs Mercer". I don't actually get how someone could write Henrietta Clandon seems to divide neatly between "good books" and "books sleuthed by Mr and Mrs Mercer". I don't actually get how someone could write something as witty and as clever in its use of the murder mystery structure as Good by Stealth and also produce these books where the solution depends on tediously laid-out forensic nitpicking, surrounded by self-conscious banter. Yes, this one annoyed me, particularly as I liked the solicitor-detective Power in Good by Stealth. ...more
Pulp tosh. In this case slightly Gothic tosh, with a surprisingly weird and disturbing 'evil science' backstory.Pulp tosh. In this case slightly Gothic tosh, with a surprisingly weird and disturbing 'evil science' backstory....more
An absolute stormer - dark comedy of manners/unreliable narrator with an inverted detective-novel structure. The plot is that an English village is toAn absolute stormer - dark comedy of manners/unreliable narrator with an inverted detective-novel structure. The plot is that an English village is tormented by poison pen letters, the twist is that the first person narrator is the sender, and we see her self-righteous justification for everything as she goes along, as well as watching the inexorable detection of the crime from the criminal's POV (executed by one of the author's series detectives).
It's enormously entertaining in a thoroughly nasty way and the portrait of Miss Alice is a masterpiece of comic monstrosity, not to mention psychologically note-perfect. Much tighter and less reliant on minutiae than the author's conventional detective books....more
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