What I read in August 2019

I had a good reading month in August. I read mostly mysteries, although I read one excellent classic novel. I completed my 20 Books of Summer reading list. I read books from three more countries for the European Reading Challenge.

Classic Fiction

Cold Comfort Farm (1932) by Stella Gibbons

This book is a parody of rural novels written in the early 1900s. I had heard so much about it I had to try it, but I was hesitant. Flora Poste moves in with her country relatives, the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm. I loved it, from the first page. Introduction by Lynne Truss.

Crime Fiction

If The Dead Rise Not (2009) by Philip Kerr

The 6th book in the Bernard Gunther series. The series jumps all over the place in time. The first four novels are set  between 1936 and 1949, then the fifth book is set in Argentina in 1950. This book takes the reader back to 1934 Berlin. At the beginning of the story, Bernie has resigned from his job as a policeman, and is working as house detective at the Adlon. Berlin has been chosen as the site for the 1936 Olympics and there are illegal maneuverings by powerful men to make money out of that situation. Later, the novel hops to Cuba in 1954. Coincidence brings the same players from the first part of the book together but the story has an interesting ending.

Death Knocks Three Times (1949) by Anthony Gilbert

This is the second book I have read featuring Arthur Crook, criminal lawyer. I liked this one a lot, even with its complicated plot and plethora of characters. See my thoughts here.

Champagne for One (1958) by Rex Stout

I enjoy rereading the Nero Wolfe mysteries. Here Archie is invited to attend an annual dinner party and dance for unwed mothers, and one of the mothers ends up dead. This is one of my favorite books in the series.

City of Shadows (2006) by Ariana Franklin

A rich Russian emigré in 1922 Berlin believes he has discovered Anastasia, the last surviving heir to the murdered czar of Russia. (Or at least sometimes he does.) His secretary, a poor Russian emigré, helps him, unwillingly, as they prepare to announce her identity. Very complicated and interesting story. See my thoughts here.

Innocence; or, Murder on Steep Street (1985) by Heda Margolius Kovály

Set in the 1950s in the early days of Communist Czechoslovakia, this novel portrays the paranoia and pain of that time when no one knew who to trust, and policemen and State Security agents were looking for traitors at the slightest excuse. See my thoughts here.

Death in Amsterdam (1962) Nicolas Freeling

This a police procedural where we see less of the detective than we do of the suspected murderer, who is being held in jail. The novel was originally published in 1962 in the UK with the title Love in Amsterdam. See my thoughts here.

The Axeman's Jazz (1991) by Julie Smith

Skip Langdon, a police detective in New Orleans, is new to her job, uncertain of her skills, and eager to prove herself, and she gets her opportunity when a serial killer names himself after the historical serial killer, the Axeman. The New Orleans setting is very well done. This is the second in the series, following New Orleans Mourning.

Death Knocks Three Times: Anthony Gilbert

This is the second book I have read featuring Arthur Crook, criminal lawyer. The author of the series is Anthony Gilbert, a pseudonym of Lucy Beatrice Malleson.

As the story  begins, Crook is driving home to London, over an isolated moor in a pelting rain, and the road is becoming impassable. When he sees a light he turns off the road down a drive to a large old house, inhabited by Colonel Sherren and his retainer, Bligh, both very old men. Colonel Sherren allows Crook to stay overnight, and Crook leaves the next morning. Colonel Sherren's nephew, John Sherren, is coming to visit that same morning, but he doesn't stay long either. A day or two later, Crook learns that the Colonel has died and both he and John Sherren are required to attend the inquest. Only Bligh was around when the Colonel died, and he does inherit all his money. The inquest returns a verdict of death by misadventure, with no evidence of anyone being responsible.

The rest of the story focuses on John Sherren and his other older relatives, who seem to have a habit of dying shortly after he has visited.  And everywhere John goes, he runs into Arthur Crook in the same place. John is an author, and although he doesn't make much money at it, he does love to write. He hopes to eventually inherit money to supplement his small income so he can continue writing.

What did I like about this story? Just about everything.

• There were lots of quirky characters. And all of them were very-well developed. Some of them were not so likable, but still interesting to read about. So many good characters: Bligh, Miss Pettigrew. Arthur Crook doesn't show up that much, just here and there. But I liked him in this book and he and John Sherren held the story together.
• The story was paced well and kept me interested. I was always wondering where the book was going and what the solution was. I was surprised at the end but it did make perfect sense. 

I did not go into lots of detail here, but here are lots of other blogger's thoughts on this book...

See reviews at A Hot Cup of Pleasure, My Reader's Block, Beneath the Stains of Time, Pretty Sinister Books, Do You Write Under Your Own Name?, Clothes in Books, crossexaminingcrime, and Mysteries Ahoy!

I have also reviewed two other books by Lucy Beatrice Malleson:
Portrait of a Murderer  (writing as Anne Meredith)
A Case for Mr. Crook  (writing as Anthony Gilbert)


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Publisher:  Random House, 1950 (orig. publ. 1949)
Length:     244 pages
Format:    Hardcover
Series:     Arthur Crook series
Setting:    UK
Genre:     Mystery
Source:    I purchased my copy

A Case for Mr. Crook: Anthony Gilbert

To be honest, I bought this book for the cover. It is a Green Door mystery published by Pyramid Books and it has a skeleton's hand on the cover (and a tiny skull on the door).

Anthony Gilbert is one of the pseudonyms used by Lucy Beatrice Malleson. She was a prolific author, writing from the mid-1920's into the early 1970's. Her first mysteries featured Scott Egerton, a British political leader. Later she started a long series featuring Arthur C. Crook, a Cockney solicitor.

Here is a description of Crook at Thrilling Detective:

Part of Crook's appeal is surely that he's so much clearly not just one of the people, and so for the people. No snooty Lord Mucky-muck pretensions here -- he's a lower-class Cockney, with questionable taste in clothing, and a weakness for vulgar, gaudy cars and beer. He's loud, obnoxious (and cheerfully sexist), but clearly devoted to his clients. One wag describes him as "a bright red face, bright red hair and a bright red car," and that about sums him up.

The original title of this book was Miss Pinnegar Disappears. Miss Pinnegar is an elderly nurse living with another retired nurse. She runs into Arthur Crook on the way home on a Sunday morning. He offers her a ride, and it turns out she knows of him and his work in helping the less fortunate who have problems with the law. Weeks later, she gets involved in a situation where she needs his advice. The wife of her nephew. thought to have died during an air raid in World War II, turns up at her doorstep out of the blue seeking help. 

There is not much of a mystery in this book. It seems pretty clear who the villains are; the story is more about whether Miss Pinnegar will be found, and there are no twists. There is much quirky humor in this book, a lot of which I did not fully understand, and one does have to suspend disbelief. I guess I would call this a light entertainment. On the plus side, one of the joys of this book is the characterizations. Both Miss Pinnegar and her nephew are entertaining. All of the characters seem a bit eccentric.

I read a  couple of reviews of other books featuring Arthur Crook in 1001 Midnights by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller. In at least one (Mr. Crook Lifts the Mask), the plot and characters sounded very similar to the one I read. The person in peril is an elderly spinster, and Mr. Crook calls her "Sugar".

Several other bloggers have reviewed mysteries by Anthony Gilbert and really liked them, so I think I just ran into one with less substance. I will try more of Anthony Gilbert's books.

• See a review of The Musical Comedy Crime at a hot cup of pleasure. That posts includes links to other reviews.
• Also this overview of the author at The Passing Tramp.