Reading in April and Crime Fiction Pick of the Month

I finished the month of April having read more books than I expected. In the first 13 days of April, I finished only two books. In the remaining 17 days of the month, I finished an additional seven books. For a total of 9 books in April.

My usual reading is mysteries, but I did include one non-fiction book in that group: Your Flying Car Awaits: Robot Butlers, Lunar Vacations, and Other Dead-Wrong Predictions of the Twentieth Century. The subtitle of the book implies that it focuses on ridiculous predictions and how wacky they were. Many of the "failed" predictions were actually not so wacky. The author put the predictions in the context of the time and who was making the prediction, and where possible explained why the prediction did not pan out. It was an interesting and educational read.

These are the crime fiction books I read this month:

A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey

White Heat by M. J. McGrath

Wall of Eyes by Margaret Millar

Accounting for Murder by Emma Lathen

G is for Gumshoe by Sue Grafton

Where Memories Lie by Deborah Crombie

The Dark Side of the Road by Simon R. Green

Double Indemnity by James M. Cain

I enjoyed all of my mystery reads this month, and especially the ones from the Golden Age period. For my favorite book this month, I will pick A Shilling for Candles, the second mystery novel published by Josephine Tey, and the second book in the Inspector Grant series. I re-read this book for the Past Offences Crime Fiction of the Year Challenge for 1936 and I enjoyed it so much I want to re-read all of her mysteries. Inspector Grant is a wonderful character, but there is a secondary character in this mystery who is especially interesting. That is Erica Burgoyne, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the Chief Constable.

The Crime Fiction Pick of the Month meme is hosted at Mysteries in Paradise. See this month's post for links to other Picks of the Month.