Reading Summary for April 2021

I read ten books in April, although some of the books were ones I had started in February or March and finished at the end of April. I was happy with the mix. I read six crime fiction books, and five of those were published before 1970. 

Nonfiction / Essays

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader (1998) by Anne Fadiman

This is a wonderful book of essays, especially for people who love books, language and words. The author's family were all serious readers (her father was Clifton Fadiman), and her husband too, so many of the essays are related to books and reading. The first essay was titled "Marrying Libraries", and talks about when she and her husband combined their libraries after five years of marriage, rather than having some shelves for her books and some shelves dedicated to his books (and duplication of books).

General Fiction

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955) by Brian Moore

The setting is Belfast in Northern Ireland, in the 1950s. Judith Hearne, plain and in her late thirties,  has just moved to a new room in a boarding house.   My full review is here.

The Pursuit of Love (1945) by Nancy Mitford

This was my book for the Classics Club Spin in April. Nancy Mitford was one of the Mitford sisters, and the characters in the family are based on members of her family. I haven't read much about that family yet so I had no idea of who was based on who, or how accurate it might be. The story is humorous but there are also serious moments and I was quite invested in the ending of the book. I liked it a lot, and thus will seek out others in the three book series.

Historical Fiction

Post Captain (1972) by Patrick O'Brian

This is the second novel in the highly acclaimed historical fiction series about Jack Aubrey (a naval officer during the Napoleonic Wars) and his friend Stephen Maturin (physician and naturalist). I enjoyed this one even more than the first book, probably because I had gotten used to the nautical jargon. Also, Jack and Stephen spend more time on land this time, and get involved with several women looking for husbands. I look forward to further adventures in this series.

Crime Fiction

Case for Three Detectives (1936) by Leo Bruce

This was one of the four books that I reviewed for the 1936 Club this month. It is a humorous mystery, poking fun at the Golden Age detectives created by Sayers, Christie, and Chesterton. Set in a country house, and surrounding villages, it is a lot of fun. My review is here.

Murder in Piccadilly (1936) by Charles Kingston

This was another book that I reviewed for the 1936 Club this month. Murder in Piccadilly tells the story of a young man, Bobbie Cheldon, who has expectations of inheriting the family estate and a large income when his uncle dies. The hitch is that his uncle, Massy Cheldon, is healthy and he could easily live another 20 years. This book provided a good picture of London in the 1930s, especially the less well-to-do London environments. My review is here.

The Clocks (1963) by Agatha Christie

This month I read two later books in the Hercule Poirot series, published in the 1960s. In general they are not as good as earlier books but I still found them to be entertaining reads.

In The Clocks, a good number of the chapters are told via first person narration by Colin Lamb, a secret agent, who gets involved with a case of murder while following up on an espionage assignment. Colin visits his friend Hercule Poirot, and describes the crime. An older man was found dead in the sitting room of a blind woman's home, and the body was discovered by a young woman who had an appointment to do some stenographic work for the blind woman, Miss Pebmarsh. Colin challenges Poirot to solve the crime without talking to any witnesses himself, but just based on the facts of the case as brought to him by the investigators. So Poirot makes suggestions and Colin continues to visit him and discuss the case.

Hallowe'en Party (1969) by Agatha Christie

Overall Hallowe'en Party was less satisfying for me than most other mysteries by Christie, but I do love it when Ariadne Oliver shows up. Again she involves Poirot in a mystery by asking him to come help out.  One unusual thing in this story is that the murder victim was a child and children play a big part in the story.  

The Meaning of Night (2006) by Michael Cox

This is a Gothic tale of revenge, set in the 1850s, mostly in London but with a good bit of time spent at a lavish country estate, Evenwood. Edward Glyver is the main character and he believes he is rightful heir to the estate. Many readers loved this book; I did not. It took me two months to finish reading it, and I considered not finishing it many times. But after 400 pages (out of 700) I wanted to see if it would improve and how it all ended. I did like the last third of the novel, and I think that was because finally more is shared about the story and it is no longer a mystery as to what the whole thing is about.

Sunset over Soho (1943) by Gladys Mitchell

I read this book between April 5th and April 26th, and that is a long time for such a short book (192 pages). But this was a read along and I am very glad I read it that way. It was quite confusing, with a very complex structure, and having a group commenting on that element was very helpful. I loved the book because it was both written and set during World War II, mostly in or near London, with some seafaring scenes, including a chapter about Dunkirk. Just fantastic, and I will surely read it again. Unfortunately, it is only really affordable in the e-book edition. There are four posts at Jason Half's blog about this book and the group's thoughts, all in April 2021.

READING NEXT?

I started The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel on April 28th. I think it may be a long slow read, because it is hard for me to follow the large number of characters and it is about 750 pages long. I am enjoying it so far.

I may be blogging a bit less for a while, and spending more time on gardening and other home maintenance tasks. Below is a photo of one of my geraniums in bloom this month. The photo at the top features a geranium in my front area with curly variegated leaves and multicolored flowers. Click on the images to enlarge.

#1936Club: Case for Three Detectives

I read this book for the 1936 Club hosted by Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings. I have had this book on my TBR for eight years so I am glad I got around to it now. 

This book by Leo Bruce was reviewed in 1001 Midnights, ed. by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller and described thusly:  

Case for Three Detectives is at once a locked room mystery worthy of John Dickson Carr and an affectionate spoof of the Golden Age detectives created by Sayers, Christie, and Chesterton.

Dr. Thurston and his wife Mary are entertaining four younger men at a weekend party: Alec Noriss; Sam Williams; Mr. Townsend, and David Strickland. At dinner the first night, the vicar, Mr. Rider, is also a guest. Later in the evening, Mrs Thurston and two of the guests have gone up to bed, the vicar has gone home, and Townsend, Williams, and Dr. Thurston are still downstairs talking. While they are talking, a scream is heard from above, and the men rush upstairs to find Mary Thurston's door locked. Once they break the door down, they find her lying in the bed, covered with blood. Her throat has been slit.

Due to the nature of the crime, it is deemed prudent that Scotland Yard be called in. The local policeman, Sergeant Beef, is offended by this. He says that he has already solved the crime. However, the next morning three "indefatigably brilliant private investigators who seem to be always handy when a murder has been committed, began to arrive." The first is Lord Simon Plimsoll, a parody of Lord Peter Wimsey; his man, Butterfield, is with him. Next is Monsieur Amer Picon, representing Hercule Poirot. Last is Monsignor Smith, a comic depiction of Father Brown.

One of the guests at the Thurman's house, Townsend, is the narrator of this book. That works really well for telling the story, because he is fascinated with how the detectives work, and follows them around as they work. 

My Thoughts:

I did not find this story quite as comical or the parodies as convincing as many other reviewers. I am very familiar with the Peter Wimsey series and the Hercule Poirot series, but I have read only one Father Brown story. The spoof of Hercule Poirot seemed the best of the three detectives to me; Lord Plimsoll as Wimsey seemed overdone. One thing that all of the detectives shared was an insistence that they know who did the crime, but each refuses to share that information with anyone. That does happen often in classic mysteries, and it often irritates me when they do that.

However, I did enjoy the storytelling and I was committed to staying with the story to see how the three consulting detectives (plus the local detective, Sergeant Beef) would pull it all together. I found the ending to be very satisfying. 

This is also a nice variation on the country house mystery, and I enjoyed the depictions of the Thurston's servants: a butler, a chauffeur, a cook, and a housemaid.

Case for Three Detectives is the first book featuring Sergeant Beef, and there are seven more books in the series. I have learned that Townsend narrates all of the mysteries in this series. As I enjoyed him immensely as narrator of this book, I will be seeking out more books in this series.

 -----------------------------

Publisher:    Academy Chicago Publishers, 1997 (orig. pub. 1936)
Length:        240 pages
Format:       Trade Paperback
Series:        Sergeant Beef, #1
Setting:       UK
Genre:        Mystery
Source:       On my TBR since 2012.

Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times No. 11

I am participating in the Bookshelf Traveling For Insane Times meme, hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness.

This week I am looking at a section of (mostly) unread books from the built-in bookshelf. I will focus on a few of them that are first in series for authors that I have never read. If you click on the image of the shelf, you will be able to read more of the titles.

Case for Three Detectives (1936) by Leo Bruce is the first book in the Sergeant Beef series. On my shelf since 2012. 

Of the four books I am featuring, this is the one I know the most about. The book is a parody of the Golden Age mystery, and the three detectives in the title are versions of Hercule Poirot, Peter Wimsey, and Father Brown. I have probably avoided reading this because in the past I haven't enjoyed mystery mixed with comedy, but my tastes are changing and I should give it a try.

Check out the review at crossexamingcrime.


Death Angels is the first of a series of police procedurals by Åke Edwardson, featuring Chief Inspector Erik Winter. On my shelf since 2013.

Published in 1997, the setting is Sweden. I bought this book when I was acquiring a lot of Scandinavian mysteries, and I don't know why I let it sit so long.

See the review at Internation Noir Fiction.


A Carrion Death (2008) by Michael Stanley introduces Assistant Superintendent David Bengu of the Botswana Police Department. On my shelf since 2009.

He is known as Kubu due to his size, comparing him to a hippopotamus. Michael Stanley is a pseudonym used by South Africans Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip. I haven't read many mysteries set in Africa. 

This has been reviewed at MURDER by TYPE.



Wife of the Gods (2009) by Kwei Quartey is the first book in a series set in Ghana. On my shelf since 2011. 

As with A Carrion Death, I think I would enjoy reading this book to get more familiar with different parts of Africa. This series currently has five books and the author has started a new series starring a female private detective, Emma Djan. The first book in that series is The Missing American.

From the Publisher's Weekly review:

The murder of a young med student brings Det. Insp. Darko Dawson from his police department in Ghana’s capital, Accra, to the small town of Ketanu, where some dark secrets of his own lie buried.