Vintage Mystery Challenge 2014

This is the third year that I am joining in the Vintage Mystery Challenge. For 2014, Bev at My Reader's Block has decided to have a Vintage Bingo challenge. The bingo challenge will include a lot of categories similar to the 2013 challenge, but the goal will be scoring a Bingo. That will mean completing categories that result in 6 across, 6 vertical, 6 diagonal or a special 4 corners Bingo.

For me the most exciting news is that there will be two levels. The range of Vintage books will be broken into "Golden" and "Silver" Age books, with a separate Bingo card for each level. The Silver Age books cover the thirty years following the Golden Age books, and that is a period with lots of mystery authors that I like.

Per Bev's rules:

Challengers may play either the Silver Age or Golden Age Card—or both.  For the purposes of this challenge, the Golden Age Vintage Mysteries must have been first published before 1960. Golden Age short story collections (whether published pre-1960 or not) are permissible provided all of the stories included in the collection were originally written pre-1960.  Please remember that some of our Golden Age Vintage authors wrote well after 1959--so keep an eye on the original publication date and apply them to the appropriate card.  Silver Age Vintage Mysteries may be first published any time from 1960 to 1989 (inclusive).  Again, Silver Age short story collections published later than 1989 are permissible as long as they feature stories first published during the declared Silver Age years and include no stories first published later than 1989.

Here is an example of the bingo card. The cards for Gold and Silver have the same categories.

There are other rules and guidelines. Check them out and sign up HERE.

I plan to join both challenges, Golden Age and Silver Age. I don't have a plan. I have been participating in a perpetual Agatha Christie reading challenge and aiming at reading one Christie mystery a month, so probably I will have more books by Christie than by other authors. 

Several authors I want to read more of are: Rex Stout, Elizabeth Daly, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ed McBain, Anthony Gilbert, Stuart Palmer, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald. I could go on and on. Some of these authors wrote books beginning in the Golden Age and moving into the Silver Age.

As for Silver Age authors...
Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö wrote in the 60's and the 70's. William Deandrea wrote in the late 70's and the 80's. Howard Fast's mysteries written as E. V. Cunningham were written in the 70's and the 80's. Also, Janwillem van Wetering, Nicolas Freeling, and William Marshall wrote many of their books in that period. And how could I forget two of my favorite authors, Emma Lathen, whose first book was published in 1961, and Patricia Moyes, whose first book came out in 1959.