lyzard's list: Borrowing surcease of sorrow from books in 2022 - Part 6

"Peacock spider" is the collective name for the genus Maratus, and a reference not only to their extraordinary range of colours and patterns, but to the extendable flap(s) on the abdomen of the male, which is raised and spread during courtship. To attract a mate, a male will spread his flaps, raise his third pair of legs, vibrate his abdomen, and do a little dance.

If the female is insufficiently impressed, she may try to eat him.

Though found all over the country, from the tropics to the desert, peacock spiders are most common in coastal areas to the east and south. They are tiny, reaching a maximum body size of 5mm, but with some no bigger than a grain of rice. They pose no danger at all to human beings.

New species of peacock spiders are still being discovered. Australians have taken them to their hearts, and you can get peacock spider children's toys and peacock spider stuffies.


  

  

As was the case last time, my thread-title is taken from Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven (the full text of which may be found here).

I was really hoping that by the time 2022 rolled around, this wouldn't be an appropriate quote...but here we are:

    Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
    Eagerly I wished the morrow;---vainly I had sought to borrow
    From my books surcease of sorrow---sorrow for the lost Lenore---
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore---
        Nameless here for evermore...

*************************

Currently reading:



Inspector Frost And The Waverdale Fire by H. Maynard Smith (1931)

2022 reading

January:

1. Tom Cringle's Log by Michael Scott (1833)
2. The Heroine; or, Adventures Of A Fair Romance Reader by Eaton Stannard Barrett (1813)
3. And Now Tomorrow by Rachel Field (1942)
4. The Island Of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1941)
5. The Mystery Of The Fiery Eye by Robert Arthur (1967)
6. Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach (1970)
7. Royal Escape by Georgette Heyer (1938)
8. The Gutenberg Murders by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning (1931)
9. The Box Office Murders by Freeman Wills Crofts (1929)
10. Wheels Within Wheels by Carolyn Wells (1923)
11. The Mystery Of The Burnt Cottage by Enid Blyton (1943)
12. Elsie At The World's Fair by Martha Finley (1894)
13. The Marquis Of Carabas by Elizabeth Brodnax (1991)
14. Hotel Bosphorus by Esmahan Aykol (2001)
15. Roseanna by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1965)
16. The Looking-Glass War by John le Carré (1965)

February:

17. The Song Of The Lark by Willa Cather (1915)
18. Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb (1816)
19. Mr Midshipman Easy by Frederick Marrat (1836)
20. Elsie's Journey On Inland Waters by Martha Finley (1895)
21. The Teeth Of The Tiger by Maurice Leblanc (1914)
22. Castle Skull by John Dickson Carr (1931)
23. Dancing Death by Christopher Bush (1931)
24. The Girl In The Cellar by Patricia Wentworth (1961)
25. Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout (1934)
26. Dangerous Cargo by Hulbert Footner (1934)

March:

27. The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant (1864)
28. The Tunnel Mystery by J. C. Lenehan (1929)
29. Elsie At Home by Martha Finley (1897)
30. My Lord John by Georgette Heyer (1974)
31. Centennial by James A. Michener (1974)
32. The Mystery Of The Silver Spider by Robert Arthur (1967)
33. Rally Round The Flag, Boys! by Max Shulman (1957)
34. A Man Could Stand Up by Ford Madox Ford (1926)
35. The Casino Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine (1934)
36. Sir John Magill's Last Journey by Freeman Wills Crofts (1930)
37. Rory O'More by Samuel Lover (1837)
38. The Puzzle Of The Pepper Tree by Stuart Palmer (1933)

2022 reading:

April:

39. From Man To Man; or, Perhaps Only... by Olive Schreiner (1926)
40. The Red-Haired Girl by Carolyn Wells (1926)
41. Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow (1974)
42. Harrington by Maria Edgeworth (1817)
43. Elsie On the Hudson And Elsewhere by Martha Finley (1898)
44. The Crooked Furrow by Jeffery Farnol (1937)
45. Nemesis At Raynham Parva by J. J. Connington (1929)
46. The Lost Gallows by John Dickson Carr (1931)
47. The Grey Rat by Ottwell Binns (1931)
48. Poison by Lee Thayer (1926)
49. Mr Fortune Objects by H. C. Bailey (1935)
50. Murder Makes Murder by Harriette Ashbrook (1937)
51. Ben Sees It Through by J. Jefferson Farjeon (1934)
52. A Murder Of Quality by John le Carré (1962)
53. When The Bough Breaks by Lewis Padgett (1944)

May:

54. Jack Brag by Theodore Hook (1837)
55. The Mystery Of The Glass Bullet by Bertram Atkey (1931)
56. Dead Man's Music by Christopher Bush (1931)
57. Snowbird by Ottwell Binns (1931)
58. Trinity by Leon Uris (1976)
59. Elsie In The South by Martha Finley (1899)
60. Synnøve Solbakken by Bjornstjerne Bjornson (1857)
61. The Idea Of The Gentleman In The Victorian Novel by Robin Gilmour (1981)
62. The Mystery Of Villa Sineste by Walter Livingston (1931)
63. Murder In The Fisher Library by Stephen Knight (1980)
64. Burglars In Bucks by George and Margaret Cole (1930)
65. The Trailing Of The Picaroon by Herman Landon (1930)
66. The League Of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (1935)
67. The Video Nasties: Freedom And Censorship In The Media by Martin Barker (ed.) (1984)
68. The Mystery Of The Screaming Clock by Robert Arthur (1968)

June:

69. Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope (1865)
70. Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock (1818)
71. Maid In Waiting by John Galsworthy (1931)
72. The Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkein (1977)
73. Elsie's Young Folks In Peace And War by Martha Finley (1900)
74. The Crime Conductor by Philip MacDonald (1931)
75. Blanche Among The Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely (1994)
76. The Mystery Of The Twin Rubies by Armstrong Livingston (1922)
77. Baksheesh by Esmahan Aykol (2003)
78. Last Post by Ford Madox Ford (1928)

2022 reading:

July:

79. Mosquitoes by William Faulkner (1927)
80. Chesapeake by James A. Michener (1978)
81. Fardorougha The Miser; or, The Convicts Of Lisnamona by William Carleton (1839)
82. Elsie's Winter Trip by Martha Finley (1902)
83. Mystery In The Channel by Freeman Wills Crofts (1931)
84. The Rubber Band by Rex Stout (1936)
85. For Love Of Imabelle by Chester B. Himes (1957)
86. Divorce Turkish Style by Esmahan Aykol (2007)
87. The Man Who Went Up In Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1966)
88. The Mystery Of The Moaning Cave by William Arden (1968)

August:

89. The Matarese Circle by Robert Ludlum (1979)
90. Clue For Mr Fortune by H. C. Bailey (1936)
91. The Case Against Andrew Fane by Anthony Gilbert (1931)
92. Inspector Frost And Lady Brassingham by H. Maynard Smith (1930)
93. Little God Ben by J. Jefferson Farjeon (1935)
94. Death Of Mr Gantley by Miles Burton (1932)
95. Who Spoke Last? by John Victor Turner (1932)
96. The Man Who Killed Fortescue by John Stephen Strange (1928)
97. The Double-Thirteen Mystery by Anthony Wynne (1926)
98. Elsie And Her Loved Ones by Martha Finley (1903)
99. Wolf In Man's Clothing by Mignon G. Eberhart (1942)
100. The Vampyre by John William Polidori (1819)
101. Incognita; or, Love And Duty Reconcil'd by William Congreve (1692)

September:

102. The Covenant by James A. Michener (1980)
103. Elsie And Her Namesakes by Martha Finley (1905)
104. The Corpse In The Waxworks by John Dickson Carr (1932)
105. The Misty Harbour by Georges Simenon (1932)
106. Blanche Cleans Up by Barbara Neely (1998)
107. The Forsaken Inn by Anna Katharine Green (1890)
108. The Red Box by Rex Stout (1937)
109. The Mystery Of The Talking Skull by Robert Arthur (1969)

2022 reading:

October:

110. Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant (1866)
111. Noble House by James Clavell (1981)
112. Murder By Nail by Jeffery Farnol (1942)
113. The Crazy Kill by Chester B. Himes (1959)
114. The Hand In The Glove by Rex Stout (1937)
115. The After House by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1914)
116. The Golden Triangle by Maurice Leblanc (1917)
117. Shadow Of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer (1948)
118. Alfred Dudley; or, The Australian Settlers by Sarah Porter (1830)
119. Blanche Passes Go by Barbara Neely (2000)
120. Paint It Black by Nancy A. Collins (1995)
121. Histoire de Babar, le Petit Éléphant by Jean de Brunhoff (1931)

November:

122. With Fire And Sword by Henryk Sienkiewicz (1884)
123. The Life And Adventures Of Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist by Henry Cockton (1840)
124. The Old Engagement by Julia Day (1851)
125. The Cat And The Corpse by R. A. J. Walling (1935)
126. All At Sea by Carolyn Wells (1927)
127. Fifteen Keys by W. Carlton Daw (1932)
128. The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow by William Arden (1969)
129. Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout (1938)
130. Shot In The Dark by Gerard Fairlie (1932)
131. Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin (1927)
132. E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial Storybook by William Kotzwinkle (1982)
133. Corrupt Relations: Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, Collins and the Victorian Sexual System by Richard Barickman, Susan MacDonald and Myra Stark (1982)

December:

134. Don't Stop The Carnival by Herman Wouk (1965)
135. The Four False Weapons by John Dickson Carr (1937)
136. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré (1974)
137. The Man On The Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1967)
138. Flowering Wilderness by John Galsworthy (1932)
139. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901)
140. Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi Storybook by Joan D. Vinge (1983)
141. Over The River by John Galsworthy (1933)
142. The Twister by Edgar Wallace (1928)
143. Gay Go Up by Anne Hepple (1931)
144. Inspector Frost And The Waverdale Fire by H. Maynard Smith (1931)

Books in transit:

To borrow:
The Recess by Sophia Lee {Fisher Library / missing??}
Gains And Losses by Robert Lee Wolff {Fisher storage}
Gosta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf {Fisher storage}
Cut Throat by Christopher Bush {Fisher storage}

On interlibrary loan / branch transfer / storage / stack / Rare Book request:

Possible requests:
Sudden Death by Freeman Wills Crofts {ILL}

On loan:

*Kim by Rudyard Kipling (12/01/2023)
End Of The Chapter by John Galsworthy (12/01/2023)
*The Four False Weapons by John Dickson Carr (19/01/2023)
*Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré (19/01/2023)
*The Man On The Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (19/01/2023)
*Blanche Passes Go by Barbara Neely (19/01/2023)
*Shot In The Dark by Gerard Fairlie (23/01/2023)
*Don't Stop The Carnival by Herman Wouk (15/03/2023)
*Flowering Wilderness by John Galsworthy (15/03/2023)
*The Harlem Cycle Vol. 1 by Chester Himes (15/03/2023)
*Corrupt Relations by Richard Barickman (15/03/2023)
World's End by Upton Sinclair (16/03/2023)
Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol (16/03/2023)
The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope (16/03/2023)
Old St. Paul's by William Harrison Ainsworth (16/03/2023)

NB: Library card renewals!

Purchased and shipped:

Ongoing reading projects:

Blog reads:
Chronobibliography: The Penitent Hermit by "A Lady" / The Post-Boy Rob'd Of His Mail by Charles Gildon
Authors In Depth:
- Adelaide; or, The Countercharm by Catherine Cuthbertson
- Shannondale (aka "The Three Beauties; or, Shannondale: A Novel") by E.D.E.N. Southworth
- Lady Audley's Secret / The White Phantom by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
- Anecdotes Of The Altamont Family by "Gabrielli"
- The Cottage by Margaret Minifie
- The Old Engagement by Julia Day
- The Abbess by Frances Trollope
Reading Roulette: Pique by Frances Notley / Our Mr Wrenn by Sinclair Lewis
Australian fiction: Narrative of the capture, sufferings, and miraculous escape of Mrs. Eliza Fraser by Eliza Fraser
Gothic novel timeline: Anecdotes Of A Convent by Anonymous
Early crime fiction: The Mysteries Of London by G. W. M. Reynolds
Silver-fork novels: Sayings And Doings; or, Sketches From Life (First Series) by Theodore Hook
Related reading: Gains And Losses by Robert Lee Wollf / The Man Of Feeling by Henry Mackenzie / Le Loup Blanc by Paul Féval / Theresa Marchmont; or, The Maid Of Honour by Catherine Gore

Group reads:

COMPLETED: The Perpetual Curate by Margaret Oliphant {thread here}
COMPLETED: Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope (thread here)
COMPLETED: Miss Marjoribanks by Margaret Oliphant (thread here

Next up: The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope

Virago chronological reading project:
Next up: Aurora Floyd by Mary Elizabeth Braddon / Phoebe Junior by Margaret Oliphant

General reading challenges:

America's best-selling novels (1895 - ????):
Next up: The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub (1984)

Nobel Prize / fiction challenge:
Next up: Gösta Berling's Saga by Selma Lagerlöf (1909 winner)

The C.K. Shorter List of the Best 100 Novels:
Next up: Old St. Paul's by William Harrison Ainsworth

A Century Of Reading:
Next up: 1825 - Tremaine; or, The Man Of Refinement by Robert Plumer Ward

Mystery League publications:
Next up: The Hunterstone Outrage by Seldon Truss

Banned In Boston!: (here)
Next up: Horizon by Robert Carse

Rex Stout - Nero Wolfe series (shared reads):
Next up: Some Buried Caesar (#6)

"The Three Investigators" (shared reads):
Next up: The Secret Of The Crooked Cat by William Arden

The evolution of detective fiction:
Next up: Clement Lorimer by Angus B. Reach

Random reading 1940 - 1969:
Next up: World's End by Upton Sinclair (1940)

Potential decommission / re-shelving:
Next up: ????

Completed challenges:
- Georgette Heyer historical romances in chronological order
- Agatha Christie mysteries in chronological order
- Agatha Christie uncollected short stories
- Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver series
- Georgette Heyer historical fiction

Possible future reading projects:
- Daily Telegraph's 100 Best Novels, 1899
- James Tait Black Memorial Prize
- Berkeley "Books Of The Century"
- Collins White Circle Crime Club / Green Penguins
- Dell paperbacks
- "El Mundo" 100 best novels of the twentieth century
- 100 Best Books by American Women During the Past 100 Years, 1833-1933
- 50 Classics of Crime Fiction 1900–1950 (Jacques Barzun and Wendell Hertig Taylor)
- The Guardian's 100 Best Novels
- Life Magazine "The 100 Outstanding Books of 1924 - 1944" (Henry Seidel Canby)
- "40 Trashy Novels You Must Read Before You Die" (Flavorwire)
- best-novel lists in Wikipedia article on The Grapes Of Wrath
- Pandora 'Mothers Of The Novel'
- Newark Library list (here)
- "The Story Of Classic Crime In 100 Books" (here)
- Dean's Classics series
- "Fifty Best Australian Novels" (here)
- "The Top 100 Crime Novels Of All Time" (here)
- Haycraft Queen Cornerstones (here)

TBR notes:

Rare Books:
Secret Judges by Francis D. Grierson (Sims and Wells #2)
Dead Men At The Folly by John Rhode (Dr Priestley #13)
The Rum Row Murders by Charles Reed Jones
The Torch Murder by Charles Reed Jones (Leighton Swift #2)
The Crooked Lip by Herbert Adams (Jimmie Haswell #2)
Death By Appointment by Francis Bonnamy (Peter Utley Shane #1)
The Inconsistent Villains by N. A. Temple-Ellis {Montrose Arbuthnot #1)
The Unexpected Legacy by E. R. Punshon (Carter and Bell #1)
Rope To Spare by Philip MacDonald (Anthony Gethryn #9)

State Library NSW, held:
The White-Faced Man (aka "The Praying Monkey") by Gavin Holt (Luther Bastion #2)
Pitiful Dust by Vernon Knowles
The Brink (aka "The Swaying Rock") by Arthur J. Rees
The Black Joss by John Gordon Brandon
This Way To Happiness (aka "Janice") by Maysie Greig
The Top Step by Nelle Scanlan

Interlibrary loan:
McLean Investigates by George Goodchild {JFR}
The Solange Stories by F. Tennyson Jesse {JFR}
Captain Nemesis by F. Van Wyck Mason {JFR}
The Vagrant Heart by Deirdre O'Brien {JFR}
Jinks by Oliver Sandys {JFR}
Storms And Tea-Cups by Cecily Wilhelmine Sidgwick (Mrs Alfred Sidgwick) {JFR}
Pawns & Kings (aka "Pawns And Kings") by Seamark (Austin J. Small) {JFR}
The Agent Outside by Patrick Wynnton {JFR}

Online:
The Wedding March Murder by Monte Barrett (Peter Cardigan #2) {newspapers.com}
The Whisperer by J. M. Walsh {online; possibly abridged? / Mitchell Lbrary}
About The Murder Of A Night Club Lady by Anthony Abbot {serialised}

CARM / National Library / academic loan:
The Black Death by Moray Dalton {CARM}
The Click Of The Gate by Alice Campbell {CARM}
Storm by Charles Rodda {National Library}
The Trail Of The Lotto by Anthony Armstrong {CARM}

Series back-reading:
Where's Emily? by Carolyn Wells {Rare Books / fadedpage.com}
The Creeping Jenny Mystery by Brian Flynn {Kindle / ZLibrary}
The Net Around Joan Ingilby by A. Fielding {Rare Books}
Corpse In Canonicals (aka "The Corpse In The Constable's Garden") by George and Margaret Cole {Rare Books}
Alias Dr Ely by Lee Thayer {Rare Books}
Murder On The Bus by Cecil Freeman Gregg {Rare Books / Kindle}
The Case Of The Marsden Rubies by Leonard Gribble {Rare Books}
The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen {Rare Books / ILL / Internet Archive / ZLibrary}
A Family That Was by Ernest Raymond {State Library NSW, JFR}
The Cancelled Score Mystery by Gret Lane {Kindle}
Jalna by Mazo de la Roche {State Library NSW, JFR / ILL}

Completist reading:
Thieves' Nights by Harry Stephen Keeler (#5) {Rare Books}
The Old Stone House And Other Stories by Anna Katharine Green (#11) {Project Gutenberg}
Dangerous Days by Mary Roberts Rinehart (#0) {Project Gutenberg}
The White Cockatoo by Mignon Eberhart {Rare Books}

A Century (And A Bit) Of Reading:

At least one book a year from 1800 - 1900!

1800: Juliania; or, The Affectionate Sisters by Elizabeth Sandham
1801: Belinda by Maria Edgeworth
1802: The Infidel Father by Jane West
1803: Thaddeus Of Warsaw by Jane Porter
1804: The Lake Of Killarney by Anna Maria Porter
1805: The Impenetrable Secret, Find It Out! by Francis Lathom
1806: The Wild Irish Girl by Sydney Owenson
1807: Corinne; ou, l'Italie by Madame de Staël
1808: The Marquise Of O. by Heinrich Von Kleist
1809: The Scottish Chiefs by Jane Porter
1810: Forest Of Montalbano by Catherine Cuthbertson / Zastrozzi by Percy Bysshe Shelley / St. Irvyne; or, The Rosicrucian by Percy Bysshe Shelley
1811: Self-Control by Mary Brunton
1812: The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth
1813: The Heroine; or, Adventures Of A Fair Romance Reader by Eaton Stannard Barrett
1814: The Wanderer; or, Female Difficulties by Frances Burney
1815: Headlong Hall by Thomas Love Peacock
1816: Glenarvon by Lady Caroline Lamb
1817: Harrington by Maria Edgeworth
1818: Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock
1819: The Vampyre by John William Polidori
1820: The Sketch Book Of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. by Washington Irving
1821: The Ayrshire Legatees; or, The Pringle Family by John Galt / Valerius: A Roman Story by J. G. Lockhart / Kenilworth by Walter Scott
1822: Bracebridge Hall; or, The Humorists by Washington Irving
1823: The Two Broken Hearts by Catherine Gore
1824: The Adventures Of Hajji Baba Of Ispahan by James Justinian Morier
1826: Lichtenstein by Wilhelm Hauff / The Last Of The Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
1827: The Epicurean by Thomas Moore / The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni
1828: The Life Of Mansie Wauch, Tailor In Dalkeith by David Moir
1829: Wilhelm Meister's Travels by Johann Goethe / The Collegians by Gerald Griffin / Louisa Egerton; or, Castle Herbert by Mary Leman Grimstone / Richelieu: A Tale Of France by G. P. R. James
1830: Alfred Dudley; or, The Australian Settlers by Sarah Porter
1832: The Refugee In America by Frances Trollope
1833: Tom Cringle's Log by Michael Scott
1836: Mr Midshipman Easy by Frederick Marrat / The Tree And Its Fruits; or, Narratives From Real Life by Phoebe Hinsdale Brown
1837: Rory O'More by Samuel Lover / Jack Brag by Theodore Hook
1839: Fardorougha The Miser; or, The Convicts Of Lisnamona by William Carleton
1840: The Life And Adventures Of Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist by Henry Cockton
1845: Zoe: The History Of Two Lives by Geraldine Jewsbury / The Mysteries Of London (Volume I) by G. W. M. Reynolds
1846: The Mysteries Of London (Volume II) by G. W. M. Reynolds
1847: Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë / The Macdermots Of Ballycloran by Anthony Trollope / The Mysteries Of London: Volume III by G. W. M. Reynolds
1848: The Kellys And The O'Kellys by Anthony Trollope / The Mysteries Of London: Volume IV by G. W. M. Reynolds
1850: Pique by Frances Notley
1851: The Mother-In-Law; or, The Isle Of Rays by E.D.E.N. Southworth
1856: Recollections Of A Detective Police-Officer by "Waters"
1857: The Three Clerks by Anthony Trollope / Synnøve Solbakken by Bjornstjerne Bjornson
1859: The Semi-Detached House by Emily Eden / The Bertrams by Anthony Trollope
1860: The Semi-Attached Couple by Emily Eden / Castle Richmond by Anthony Trollope
1861: The Executor by Margaret Oliphant / The Rector by Margaret Oliphant
1862: Orley Farm by Anthony Trollope / The Struggles Of Brown, Jones, And Robinson by Anthony Trollope
1863: The Doctor's Family by Margaret Oliphant / Marian Grey; or, The Heiress Of Redstone Hall by Mary Jane Holmes / Salem Chapel by Margaret Oliphant
1865: Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope
1869: He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope
1873: Had You Been In His Place by Lizzie Bates
1874: Chaste As Ice, Pure As Snow by Charlotte Despard
1877: Elsie's Children by Martha Finley
1880: The Duke's Children: First Complete Edition by Anthony Trollope / Elsie's Widowhood by Martha Finley
1881: Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen / The Beautiful Wretch by William Black / The Autobiography Of Mark Rutherford by William Hale White
1882: Grandmother Elsie by Martha Finley
1883: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson / Elsie's New Relations by Martha Finley / X Y Z: A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green
1884: Elsie At Nantucket by Martha Finley
1885: The Two Elsies by Martha Finley / Two Broken Hearts by Robert R. Hoes
1886: The Mill Mystery by Anna Katharine Green / Elsie's Kith And Kin by Martha Finley
1887: Elsie's Friends At Woodburn by Martha Finley
1888: Christmas With Grandma Elsie by Martha Finley
1889: Under False Pretences by Adeline Sergeant / Elsie And The Raymonds by Martha Finley
1890: Elsie Yachting With The Raymonds by Martha Finley
1891: Elsie's Vacation And After Events by Martha Finley
1892: The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman / Elsie At Viamede by Martha Finley / Blood Royal by Grant Allen
1893: Elsie At Ion by Martha Finley
1894: Martin Hewitt, Investigator by Arthur Morrison / The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen / Elsie At The World's Fair by Martha Finley
1895: Chronicles Of Martin Hewitt by Arthur Morrison / Elsie's Journey On Inland Waters by Martha Finley
1896: The Island Of Dr Moreau by H. G. Wells / Adventures Of Martin Hewitt by Arthur Morrison
1897: Penelope's Progress by Kate Douglas Wiggin
1898: A Man From The North by Arnold Bennett / The Lust Of Hate by Guy Newell Boothby / Elsie On The Hudson And Elsewhere by Martha Finley
1899: Agatha Webb by Anna Katharine Green / Dr Nikola's Experiment by Guy Newell Boothby / Elsie In The South by Martha Finley
1900: The Circular Study by Anna Katharine Green / Elsie's Young Folks In Peace And War by Martha Finley

Timeline of detective fiction:

An examination of the roots of modern crime and mystery fiction:

Pre-history:
Things As They Are; or, The Adventures Of Caleb Williams by William Godwin (1794)
Mademoiselle de Scudéri by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1819); Tales Of Hoffmann (1982)
Richmond: Scenes In The Life Of A Bow Street Officer by Anonymous (1827)
Memoirs Of Vidocq by Eugene Francois Vidocq (1828)
Le Pere Goriot by Honore de Balzac (1835)
Passages In The Secret History Of An Irish Countess by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1838); The Purcell Papers (1880)
The Murders In The Rue Morgue: The Dupin Tales by Edgar Allan Poe (1841, 1842, 1845)

Serials:
The Mysteries Of Paris by Eugene Sue (1842 - 1843)
The Mysteries Of London by Paul Feval (1844)
The Mysteries Of London by George Reynolds (1844 - 1848)
- The Mysteries Of London: Volume I
- The Mysteries Of London: Volume II
- The Mysteries Of London: Volume III
- The Mysteries Of London: Volume IV
The Mysteries Of The Court Of London by George Reynolds (1848 - 1856)
John Devil by Paul Feval (1861)

Early detective novels:
Recollections Of A Detective Police-Officer by "Waters" (William Russell) (1856)
The Widow Lerouge by Emile Gaboriau (1866)
Under Lock And Key by T. W. Speight (1869)
Checkmate by J. Sheridan LeFanu (1871)
Is He The Man? by William Clark Russell (1876)
Devlin The Barber by B. J. Farjeon (1888)
Mr Meeson's Will by H. Rider Haggard (1888)
The Mystery Of A Hansom Cab by Fergus Hume (1889)
The Queen Anne's Gate Mystery by Richard Arkwright (1889)
The Ivory Queen by Norman Hurst (1889) (Check Julius H. Hurst 1899)
The Big Bow Mystery by Israel Zangwill (1892)

Female detectives:
The Diary Of Anne Rodway by Wilkie Collins (1856)
Ruth The Betrayer; or, The Female Spy by Edward Ellis (1862-1863)
The Female Detective by Andrew Forrester (1864)
Revelations Of A Lady Detective by William Stephens Hayward (1864)
The Law And The Lady by Wilkie Collins (1875)
Madeline Payne; or, The Detective's Daughter by Lawrence L. Lynch (Emma Murdoch Van Deventer) (1884)
Mr Bazalgette's Agent by Leonard Merrick (1888)
Moina; or, Against The Mighty by Lawrence L. Lynch (Emma Murdoch Van Deventer) (sequel to Madeline Payne?) (1891)
The Experiences Of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective by Catherine Louisa Pirkis (1893)
When The Sea Gives Up Its Dead by Elizaberth Burgoyne Corbett (Mrs George Corbett)
Dorcas Dene, Detective by George Sims (1897)
- Amelia Butterworth series by Anna Katharine Grant (1897 - 1900)
Hagar Of The Pawn-Shop by Fergus Hume (1898)
The Adventures Of A Lady Pearl-Broker by Beatrice Heron-Maxwell (1899)
Miss Cayley's Adventures by Grant Allan (1899)
Hilda Wade by Grant Allan (1900)
Dora Myrl, The Lady Detective by M. McDonnel Bodkin (1900)
The Investigators by J. S. Fletcher (1902)
Hagar's Daughter by Pauline Hopkins (1902)
Lady Molly Of Scotland Yard by Baroness Orczy (1910)
Constance Dunlap, Woman Detective by Arthur B. Reeve (1913)
Miss Madelyn Mack, Detective by Hugh C. Weir (1914)

Related mainstream works:
Adventures Of Susan Hopley by Catherine Crowe (1841)
Men And Women; or, Manorial Rights by Catherine Crowe (1843)
Hargrave by Frances Trollope (1843)
Clement Lorimer by Angus Reach (1849)
Clara Vaughan by R. D. Blackmore (1864)

True crime:
Clues: or, Leaves from a Chief Constable's Note Book by Sir William Henderson (1889)
Dreadful Deeds And Awful Murders by Joan Lock

Series and sequels, 1866 - 1919:

(1866 - 1876) **Emile Gaboriau - Monsieur Lecoq - The Widow Lerouge (1/6) {ManyBooks}
(1878 - 1917) **Anna Katharine Green - Ebenezer Gryce - The Mystery Of The Hasty Arrow (13/13)
(1896 - 1909) **Melville Davisson Post - Randolph Mason - The Corrector Of Destinies (3/3)
(1894 - 1903) **Arthur Morrison - Martin Hewitt - The Red Triangle (4/4)
(1895 - 1901) **Guy Newell Boothby - Dr Nikola - Farewell, Nikola (5/5)
(1897 - 1900) **Anna Katharine Green - Amelia Butterworth - The Circular Study (3/3)
(1899 - 1917) **Anna Katharine Green - Caleb Sweetwater - The Mystery Of The Hasty Arrow (7/7)
(1899 - 1909) **E. W. Hornung - Raffles - Mr Justice Raffles (4/4)
(1900 - 1974) Ernest Bramah - Kai Lung - Kai Lung: Six / Kai Lung Raises His Voice (7/7)
(1903 - 1904) **Louis Tracy - Reginald Brett - The Albert Gate Mystery (2/2)
(1905 - 1925) **Baroness Orczy - The Old Man In The Corner - Unravelled Knots (3/3)}
(1905 - 1928) **Edgar Wallace - The Just Men - Again The Three Just Men (6/6)
(1907 - 1942) R. Austin Freeman - Dr John Thorndyke - The Jacob Street Mystery (26/26)
(1907 - 1941) *Maurice Leblanc - Arsene Lupin - The Secret Of Sarek (aka "The Island Of Thirty Coffins") (9/25) {Project Gutenberg}
(1909 - 1942) *Carolyn Wells - Fleming Stone - Where's Emily? (23/49) {Rare Books / fadedpage.com}
(1909 - 1929) *J. S. Fletcher - Inspector Skarratt - Marchester Royal (1/3) {Kindle}
(1910 - 1936) *Arthur B. Reeve - Craig Kennedy - The Film Mystery (14/24) {Project Gutenberg}
(1910 - 1946) A. E. W. Mason - Inspector Hanaud - The House In Lordship Lane (7/7)
(1910 - 1917) Edgar Wallace - Inspector Smith - Kate Plus Ten (3/3)
(1910 - 1930) **Edgar Wallace - Inspector Elk - The India-Rubber Men (5/6) {Roy Glashan's Library}
^^^^^(1910 - 1932) *Thomas, Mary and Hazel Hanshew - Cleek - The Amber Junk (aka Riddle Of The Amber Ship (9/12) {rare, expensive}
(1910 - 1918) **John McIntyre - Ashton-Kirk - Ashton-Kirk: Criminologist (4/4)
^^^(1910 - 1928) **Louis Tracy - Winter and Furneaux - The Black Cat (8/9) {Rare Books}

(1911 - 1935) G. K. Chesterton - Father Brown - The Scandal Of Father Brown (5/5)
^^^(1911 - 1940) Bertram Atkey - Smiler Bunn - Arsenic And Gold (10/11) {Rare Books}
(1912 - 1919) **Gordon Holmes (Louis Tracy) - Steingall and Clancy - The Bartlett Mystery (3/3)
(1913 - 1973) Sax Rohmer - Fu Manchu - Re-Enter Fu Manchu (12/14) {Rare Books / Internet Archive / ZLibrary}
(1913 - 1952) Jeffery Farnol - Jasper Shrig - Heritage Perilous (7/9) {owned}
(1914 - 1950) Mary Roberts Rinehart - Hilda Adams - Episode Of The Wandering Knife (5/5)
(1914 - 1934) Ernest Bramah - Max Carrados - The Bravo Of London (5/5)
(1915 - 1936) *John Buchan - Richard Hannay - The Thirty-Nine Steps (1/5) {Fisher Library / Project Gutenberg / branch transfer / Kindle}
(1916 - 1917) **Carolyn Wells - Alan Ford - Faulkner's Folly (2/2) {owned}
^^^(1916 - 1927) **Natalie Sumner Lincoln - Inspector Mitchell - The Moving Finger (3/10) {ManyBooks / Kindle}
^^^^^(1916 - 1917) **Nevil Monroe Hopkins - Mason Brant - The Strange Cases Of Mason Brant (1/2) {expensive}
(1918 - 1923) **Carolyn Wells - Pennington Wise - Wheels Within Wheels (8/8)
(1918 - 1939) Valentine Williams - The Okewood Brothers - The Fox Prowls (5/5)
(1918 - 1944) Valentine Williams - Clubfoot - Courier To Marrakesh (7/7)
(1918 - 1950) *Wyndham Martyn - Anthony Trent - The Mysterious Mr Garland (3/26) {Rare Books / CARM}
(1919 - 1966) *Lee Thayer - Peter Clancy - Alias Dr Ely (8/60) {Rare Books}
(1919 - 1922) **Octavus Roy Cohen - David Carroll - Midnight (4/4)

^^^^^ Remainder of series unavailable
^^^ Incompletely available series
** Series complete pre-1931
* Present status pre-1931

Series and sequels, 1920 - 1927:

(1920 - 1948) H. C. Bailey - Reggie Fortune - Black Land, White Land (12/23) {Rare Books}
(1920 - 1975) Agatha Christie - Hercule Poirot - Curtain (38/38)
(1920 - 1921) **Natalie Sumner Lincoln - Ferguson - The Unseen Ear (2/2)
(1920 - 1937) *"Sapper" (H. C. McNeile) - Bulldog Drummond - The Third Round (3/10 - series continued) {Roy Glashan's Library}

(1921 - 1929) **Charles J. Dutton - John Bartley - Streaked With Crimson (9/9)
(1921 - 1925) **Herman Landon - The Gray Phantom - Gray Magic (5/5)

(1922 - 1973) Agatha Christie - Tommy and Tuppence - Postern Of Fate (5/5)
^^^^^(1922 - 1927) *Alice MacGowan and Perry Newberry - Jerry Boyne - The Seventh Passenger (4/5) {Amazon}
(1922 - 1931) Valentine Williams - Inspector Manderton - Death Answers The Bell (4/4)
(1922 - ????) *Armstrong Livingston - Jimmy Traynor - The Doublecross (aka "The Double-Cross") (2/?) {AbeBooks}

(1923 - 1937) Dorothy L. Sayers - Lord Peter Wimsey - In The Teeth Of The Evidence (14/14)
(1923 - 1924) **Carolyn Wells - Lorimer Lane - The Fourteenth Key (2/2)
(1923 - 1927) Annie Haynes - Inspector Furnival - The Crow's Inn Tragedy (3/3)

(1924 - 1959) Philip MacDonald - Colonel Anthony Gethryn - Rope To Spare (8/24) {Rare Books}
(1924 - 1957) Freeman Wills Crofts - Inspector French - Sudden Death (8/30) {Rare Books / ILL}
^^^(1924 - 1935) *Francis D. Grierson - Inspector Sims and Professor Wells - Secret Judges (2/13) {Rare Books}
(1924 - 1940) *Lynn Brock - Colonel Gore - The Mendip Mystery (aka "Murder At The Inn") (5/12) {Kindle}
(1924 - 1933) *Herbert Adams - Jimmie Haswell - The Crooked Lip (2/9) {Rare Books}
(1924 - 1944) *A. Fielding - Inspector Pointer - The Net Around Joan Ingilby (5/23) {Rare Books}
(1924 - 1936) *Hulbert Footner - Madame Storey - The Richest Widow (10/11) {Roy Glashan's Library}
^^^^^(1924 - 1931) R. Francis Foster - Anthony Ravenhill - The Missing Gates (1/7) {unavailable}

(1925 - 1961) ***John Rhode - Dr Priestley - Dead Men At The Folly (13/72) {Rare Books}
(1925 - 1953) *G. D. H. Cole / M. Cole - Superintendent Wilson - Corpse In Canonicals (aka "Corpse In The Constable's Garden") (8/?) {Rare Books}
(1925 - 1932) Earl Derr Biggers - Charlie Chan - Keeper Of The Keys (6/6)
(1925 - 1944) Agatha Christie - Superintendent Battle - Towards Zero (5/5)
(1925 - 1934) *Anthony Berkeley - Roger Sheringham - The Second Shot (6/10) {academic loan / Rare Books / Internet Archive}
(1925 - 1950) *Anthony Wynne (Robert McNair Wilson) - Dr Eustace Hailey - The Mystery Of The Ashes (3/27) {Trove}
^^^(1925 - 1939) *Charles Barry (Charles Bryson) - Inspector Lawrence Gilmartin - The Detective's Holiday (2/15) {Rare Books / GooglePlay}
(1925 - 1929) **Will Scott - Will Disher - Disher--Detective (aka "The Black Stamp") (1/5) {HathiTrust}
(1925 - 1927) **Francis Beeding - Professor Kreutzemark - The Hidden Kingdom (2/2)
(1925 - ????) *Livingston Armstrong - Peter Creighton - On The Right Wrists (1/?) {AbeBooks}

(1926 - 1968) Christopher Bush - Ludovic Travers - Cut Throat (7/63) {Kindle / ZLibrary / Fisher Library storage}
(1926 - 1939) S. S. Van Dine - Philo Vance - The Garden Murder Case (9/12) {fadedpage.com}
(1926 - 1952) J. Jefferson Farjeon - Ben the Tramp - Detective Ben (6/8) {interlibrary loan / Kindle / ZLibrary}
(1926 - ????) *G. D. H. Cole / M. Cole - Everard Blatchington - Burglars In Bucks (aka "The Berkshire Mystery") (2/6) {Fisher Library}
(1926 - ????) *Arthur Gask - Gilbert Larose - The Lonely House (3/27) {Roy Glashan's Library}
(1926 - 1931) *Aidan de Brune - Dr Night - The Green Pearl (2/3) {Roy Glashan's Library}

^^^(1927 - 1933) *Herman Landon - The Picaroon - The Picaroon: Knight Errant (7/8) {State Library NSW, JFR}
(1927 - 1932) *Anthony Armstrong - Jimmie Rezaire - The Trail Of The Lotto (3/5) {CARM / AbeBooks}
(1927 - 1937) *Ronald Knox - Miles Bredon - The Body In The Silo (3/5) {Kindle / Rare Books}
(1927 - 1958) *Brian Flynn - Anthony Bathurst - The Creeping Jenny Mystery (7/54) {Kindle / ZLibrary}
(1927 - 1947) J. J. Connington - Sir Clinton Driffield - The Boathouse Riddle (6/17) {Kindle / mobilereads / ZLibrary}
(1927 - 1935) *Anthony Gilbert (Lucy Malleson) - Scott Egerton - Mystery Of The Open Window (4/10) {Rare Books}
^^^^^(1927 - 1932) *William Morton (aka William Blair Morton Ferguson) - Kirker Cameron and Daniel "Biff" Corrigan - Masquerade (1/4) {expensive}
^^^^^(1927 - 1929) **George Dilnot - Inspector Strickland - The Crooks' Game (1/2) {AbeBooks / Amazon}
(1927 - 1949) **Dornford Yates - Richard Chandos - Blood Royal (3/8) {State Library, JFR / Kindle / ZLibrary}

^^^^^ Remainder of series unavailable
^^^ Incompletely available series
** Series complete pre-1931
* Present status pre-1931

Series and sequels, 1928 - 1930:

(1928 - 1961) Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver - The Girl In The Cellar (32/32)
(1928 - 1936) *Gavin Holt - Luther Bastion - The White-Faced Man (aka "The Praying Monkey") (2/17) {academic loan / State Library NSW, held}
(1928 - 1936) Kay Cleaver Strahan - Lynn MacDonald - The Meriwether Mystery (5/7) {Kindle / ZLibrary}
^^^^^(1928 - 1937) John Alexander Ferguson - Francis McNab - Death Of Mr Dodsley (5/5) {unavailable}
^^^(1928 - 1960) *Cecil Freeman Gregg - Inspector Higgins - Murder On The Bus (3/35) {Rare Books / Kindle}
(1928 - 1959) *John Gordon Brandon - Inspector Patrick Aloysius McCarthy - The Black Joss (2/53) {State Library NSW, held / JFR}
^^^^^(1928 - 1935) *Roland Daniel - Wu Fang / Inspector Saville - The Society Of The Spiders (1/6)
(1928 - 1946) *Francis Beeding - Alistair Granby - Pretty Sinister (2/18) {academic loan}
(1928 - 1930) **Annie Haynes - Inspector Stoddart - The Crystal Beads Murder (4/4)
(1928 - 1930) **Elsa Barker - Dexter Drake and Paul Howard - The Cobra Candlestick (aka "The Cobra Shaped Candlestick") (1/3) {AbeBooks / Rare Books}
^^^(1928 - ????) Adam Broome - Denzil Grigson - The Queen's Hall Murder (4/10) {Trove}
(1928 - 1931) **John Stephen Strange (Dorothy Stockbridge Tillet) - Van Dusen Ormsberry - The Clue Of The Second Murder (2/3) {GooglePlay / Rare Books}

(1929 - 1947) Margery Allingham - Albert Campion - The Case Of The Late Pig (8/35) {SMSA / interlibrary loan / Kindle / fadedpage.com}
(1929 - 1984) Gladys Mitchell - Mrs Bradley - The Devil At Saxon Wall (6/67) {interlibrary loan / Kindle}
(1929 - 1937) Patricia Wentworth - Benbow Smith - Down Under (4/4)
^^^(1929 - 1954) Mignon Eberhart - Nurse Sarah Keate - Dead Yesterday And Other Stories (6/8) (NB: multiple Eberhart characters) {expensive / limited edition} / Man Missing (8/8) {Internet Archive}
^^^(1929 - ????) Moray Dalton - Inspector Collier - The Belgrave Manor Crime (5/14) {Kindle}
^^^(1929 - 1930) * / ***Charles Reed Jones - Leighton Swift - The Torch Murder (1/3) {Rare Books}
(1929 - 1931) Carolyn Wells - Kenneth Carlisle - The Skeleton At The Feast (3/3) {Kindle}
(1929 - 1967) *George Goodchild - Inspector McLean - McLean Investigates (2/65) {State Library NSW, JFR}
(1929 - 1979) *Leonard Gribble - Anthony Slade - The Case Of The Marsden Rubies (1/33) {AbeBooks / Rare Books / re-check Kindle}
(1929 - 1932) *E. R. Punshon - Carter and Bell - The Unexpected Legacy (1/5) {Rare Books}
(1929 - 1971) *Ellery Queen - Ellery Queen - The Roman Hat Mystery (1/40) {interlibrary loan / Internet Archive}
(1929 - 1966) *Arthur Upfield - Bony - The Mystery Of Swordfish Reef (7/29) {SMSA}
(1929 - 1937) *Anthony Berkeley - Ambrose Chitterwick - The Piccadilly Murder (2/3) {interlibrary loan / Internet Archive}
^^^^^(1929 - 1940) *Jean Lilly - DA Bruce Perkins - The Seven Sisters (1/3) {rare, expensive}
(1929 - 1935) *N. A. Temple-Ellis (Nevile Holdaway) - Montrose Arbuthnot - The Inconsistent Villains (1/4) {Rare Books}
(1929 - 1943) *Gret Lane - Kate Clare Marsh and Inspector Barrin - The Cancelled Score Mystery (1/9) {Kindle}
(1929 - 1961) Henry Holt - Inspector Silver - The Necklace Of Death (3/16) {Rare Books}
(1929 - 1930) **J. J. Connington - Superintendent Ross - The Two Tickets Puzzle (2/2)
(1929 - 1941) *H. Maynard Smith - Inspector Frost - Inspector Frost In Crevenna Cove (5/7) {Kindle}
(1929 - 1932) Clemence Dane and Helen Simpson - Sir John Saumarez - Re-Enter Sir John (3/3)
(1929 - 1940) *Rufus King - Lieutenant Valcour - Murder By The Clock (1/11) {Rare Books / Kindle / ZLibrary}
(1929 - 1933) *Will Levinrew (Will Levine) - Professor Brierly - For Sale - Murder (4/5) {AbeBooks}
(1929 - 1932) *Nancy Barr Mavity - Peter Piper - The Body On The Floor (1/5) {AbeBooks / Rare Books / State Library NSW, JFR}
(1929 - 1934) *Charles J. Dutton - Professor Harley Manners - The Circle Of Death (4/6) {newspapers.com}
(1929 - 1932) Thomas Cobb - Inspector Bedison - Who Closed The Casement? (4/4)
(1929 - ????) * J. C. Lenehan - Inspector Kilby - The Silecroft Case (2/?) {Kindle}
(1929 - 1936) *Robin Forsythe - Anthony "Algernon" Vereker - The Polo Ground Mystery (2/5) {Kindle}
^^^^^(1929 - 1931) */***David Frome (Zenith Jones Brown) - Major Gregory Lewis - The Murder Of An Old Man (1/3) {rare, expensive}

(1930 - ????) Moray Dalton - Hermann Glide - The Strange Case Of Harriet Hall (4/?) {Kindle}
^^^(1930 - 1960) Miles Burton - Desmond Merrion - Death At Low Tide (16/57) {Internet Archive}
^^^(1930 - 1960) Miles Burton - Inspector Arnold - Death At Low Tide (16/57) {Internet Archive}
(1930 - 1933) Roger Scarlett - Inspector Kane - Murder Among The Angells (4/5) {expensive}
(1930 - 1941) Harriette Ashbrook - Philip "Spike" Tracy - Murder Comes Back (6/7) {Kindle}
(1930 - 1943) Anthony Abbot - Thatcher Colt - About The Murder Of The Night Club Lady (3/8) {AbeBooks / serialised}
^^^^^(1930 - ????) ***David Sharp - Professor Fielding - I, The Criminal (4/?) {unavailable?}
(1930 - 1950) *H. C. Bailey - Josiah Clunk - Garstons (aka The Garston Murder Case) (1/11) {HathiTrust}
(1930 - 1968) *Francis Van Wyck Mason - Hugh North - The Vesper Service Murders (2/41) {Kindle}
(1930 - 1976) Agatha Christie - Miss Jane Marple - Miss Marple's Final Cases (14/14)
(1930 - 1939) Anne Austin - James "Bonnie" Dundee - Murdered But Not Dead (5/5)
(1930 - 1950) *Leslie Ford (as David Frome) - Mr Pinkerton and Inspector Bull - The Hammersmith Murders (1/11) {AbeBooks / Rare Books}
^^^^^(1930 - 1935) *"Diplomat" (John Franklin Carter) - Dennis Tyler - Murder In The State Department (1/7) {Amazon / Abebooks}
(1930 - 1962) *Helen Reilly - Inspector Christopher McKee - The Diamond Feather (1/31) {Rare Books}
(1930 - 1933) *Mary Plum - John Smith - The Killing Of Judge MacFarlane (1/4) {AbeBooks / Rare Books}
(1930 - 1945) *Hulbert Footner - Amos Lee Mappin - The Nation's Missing Guest (3/10) {fadedpage.com}
^^^(1930 - 1933) *Monte Barrett - Peter Cardigan - The Wedding March Murder (2/3) {serialised}
(1930 - 1931) Vernon Loder - Inspector Brews - Death Of An Editor (2/2)
^^^^^(1930 - 1931) *Roland Daniel - John Hopkins - The Rosario Murder Case (1/2) {unavailable?}
^^^(1930 - 1961) *Mark Cross ("Valentine", aka Archibald Thomas Pechey) - Daphne Wrayne and her Four Adjusters - The Grip Of The Four (1/53) {Rare Books}
^^^(1930 - 1937) Elaine Hamilton - Inspector Reynolds - Peril At Midnight (6/9) {Kindle}
(1930 - 1932) *J. S. Fletcher - Sergeant Charlesworth - The Borgia Cabinet (1/2) {fadedpage.com / Kindle}
(1930 - ????) *Carolyn Keene - Nancy Drew - The Bungalow Mystery (3/?) {original text unavailable}
(1930 - 1937) John Dickson Carr - Henri Bencolin - The Four False Weapons (5/5) {SMSA / Fisher Library}

^^^^^ Remainder of series unavailable
^^^ Incompletely available series
** Series complete pre-1931
* Present status pre-1931

Series and sequels, 1931 - 1932:

^^^(1931 - 1940) Bruce Graeme - Superintendent Stevens and Pierre Allain - Not Proven (5/8) {Trove}
(1931 - 1951) Phoebe Atwood Taylor - Asey Mayo - The Tinkling Symbol (6/24) {Rare Books / academic loan}
(1931 - 1955) Stuart Palmer - Hildegarde Withers - The Puzzle Of The Silver Persian (5/18) {Kindle / ILL / ZLibrary}
(1931 - 1933) Sydney Fowler - Inspector Cleveland - Arresting Delia (4/4)
(1931 - 1934) J. H. Wallis - Inspector Wilton Jacks - The Capital City Mystery (2/6) {Rare Books}
(1931 - ????) Paul McGuire - Inspector Cummings - Daylight Murder (aka "Murder At High Noon") (3/5) {academic loan / State Library NSW, held}
(1931 - 1936) Carlton Dawe - Leathermouth - Leathermouth's Luck (5/6) {Trove / State Library NSW, held}
(1931 - 1947) R. L. Goldman - Asaph Clume and Rufus Reed - Death Plays Solitaire (3/6) {Kindle}
^^^(1931 - 1959) E. C. R. Lorac (Edith Caroline Rivett) - Inspector Robert Macdonald - The Affair On Thor's Head (2/46) {State Library NSW, JFR}
(1931 - 1935) Clifton Robbins - Clay Harrison - Methylated Murder (5/5)
(1931 - 1972) Georges Simenon - Inspector Maigret - Le Fou de Bergerac (16/75) {ILL / ZLibrary}
^^^(1931 - 1942) R. A. J. Walling - Garstang - Murder At Midnight (2/3) {Rare Books}
(1931 - ????) Francis Bonnamy (Audrey Boyers Walz) - Peter Utley Shane - Death By Appointment (1/8) {AbeBooks / Rare Books}
(1931 - 1937) J. S. Fletcher - Ronald Camberwell - Murder In The Squire's Pew (3/11) {Kindle / State Library NSW, held}
(1931 - 1933) Edwin Dial Torgerson - Sergeant Pierre Montigny - The Murderer Returns (1/2) {Rare Books)
(1931 - 1933) Molly Thynne - Dr Constantine and Inspector Arkwright - He Dies And Makes No Sign (3/3)
(1931 - 1935) Valentine Williams - Sergeant Trevor Dene - The Clue Of The Rising Moon (4/4)
(1931 - 1942) Patricia Wentworth - Frank Garrett - Pursuit Of A Parcel (5/5)
(1931 - 1931) Frances Shelley Wees - Michael Forrester and Tuck Torrie - The Mystery Of The Creeping Man (2/2)
(1931 - 1948) Alice Campbell - Tommy Rostetter - The Click Of The Gate (1/?) {CARM}
^^^(1931 - 1939) Roland Daniel - Inspector Walk - The Stool Pigeon (4/8) {Rare Books}

(1932 - 1954) Sydney Fowler - Inspector Cambridge and Mr Jellipot - The Bell Street Murders (1/11) {AbeBooks / Rare Books}
^^^^^(1932 - 1935) Murray Thomas - Inspector Wilkins - Buzzards Pick The Bones (1/3) {AbeBooks, expensive}
(1932 - ????) R. A. J. Walling - Philip Tolefree - Mr Tolefree's Reluctant Witnesses (aka "The Corpse In The Coppice") (7/22) {Kindle}
(1932 - 1962) T. Arthur Plummer - Detective-Inspector Andrew Frampton - Frampton Of The Yard! (3/50) {Rare Books}
(1932 - 1946) David Hume - Mick Cardby - Bullets Bite Deep (1/29) {Rare Books}
(1932 - 1936) John Victor Turner (David Hume) - Amos Petrie - Amos Petrie's Puzzle (3/7) {Kindle}
(1932 - 1944) Nicholas Brady (David Hume) - Ebenezer Buckle - The House Of Strange Guests (1/4) {Kindle}
(1932 - 1933) Barnaby Ross (aka Ellery Queen) - Drury Lane - Drury Lane's Last Case (4/4)
^^^(1932 - ????) Richard Essex (Richard Harry Starr) - Jack Slade - Slade Scores Again (2/?) {Rare Books}
(1932 - 1933) Gerard Fairlie - Mr Malcolm - Mr Malcolm Presents (2/3) (unavailable?}
(1932 - 1934) Paul McGuire - Superintendent Fillinger - Murder By The Law (2/5) {State Library, held}
^^^^^(1932 - 1946) Roland Daniel - Inspector Pearson - The Crackswoman (1/6) {unavailable}
(1932 - 1951) Sydney Horler - Tiger Standish - Tiger Standish (1/11) {Rare Books}

^^^^^ Remainder of series unavailable
^^^ Incompletely available series

Series and sequels, 1933 onwards:

(1933 - 1959) John Gordon Brandon - Arthur Stukeley Pennington - West End! (1/?) {AbeBooks / State Library, held}
(1933 - 1940) Lilian Garis - Carol Duncan - The Ghost Of Melody Lane (1/9) {fadedpage.com / Internet Archive}
^^^^^(1933 - 1934) Peter Hunt (George Worthing Yates and Charles Hunt Marshall) - Allan Miller - Murders At Scandal House (1/3) {AbeBooks / Amazon}
(1933 - 1968) John Dickson Carr - Gideon Fell - Hag's Nook (1/23) {Better World Books / State Library NSW, interlibrary loan}
^^^^^(1933 - 1939) Gregory Dean (Jacob D. Posner) - Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Simon - The Case Of Marie Corwin (1/3) {AbeBooks / Amazon}
(1933 - 1956) E. R. Punshon - Detective-Sergeant Bobby Owen - Information Received (1/35) {academic loan / State Library NSW, held / Rare Books}
(1933 - 1934) Jackson Gregory - Paul Savoy - A Case For Mr Paul Savoy (1/3) {AbeBooks / Rare Books}
(1933 - 1957) John Creasey - Department Z - The Death Miser (1/28) {State Library NSW, held}
^^^^^(1933 - 1940) Bruce Graeme - Superintendent Stevens - Body Unknown (2/2) {expensive}
(1933 - 1952) Wyndham Martyn - Christopher Bond - The Denmede Mystery (3/8) {State Library NSW, JFR}

^^^^^(1934 - 1949) Richard Goyne - Paul Templeton - Strange Motives (1/13) {unavailable?}
^^^^^(1934 - 1941) N. A. Temple-Ellis (Nevile Holdaway) - Inspector Wren - Three Went In (1/3) {unavailable?}
(1934 - 1953) Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr) - Sir Henry Merivale - The Plague Court Murders (1/22) {Fisher Library}
(1934 - 1953) Leslie Ford (Zenith Jones Brown) - Colonel Primrose - The Strangled Witness (1/17) {Rare Books}
(1934 - 1975) Rex Stout - Nero Wolfe - Some Buried Caesar (6/?) {ILL / Internet Archive}
(1934 - 1935) Vernon Loder - Inspector Chace - Murder From Three Angles (1/2) {Kindle / ????}

(1935 - 1939) Francis Beeding - Inspector George Martin - The Norwich Victims (1/3) {Roy Glashan's Library}
(1935 - 1976) Nigel Morland - Palmyra Pym - The Moon Murders (1/28) {State Library NSW, held}
(1935 - 1941) Clyde Clason - Professor Theocritus Lucius Westborough - The Fifth Tumbler (1/10) {HathiTrust}
(1935 - ????) G. D. H. Cole / M. Cole - Dr Tancred - Dr Tancred Begins (1/?) (AbeBooks, expensive / State Library NSW, held / Rare Books}
(1935 - ????) George Harmon Coxe - Kent Murdock - Murder With Pictures (1/22) {ebook? / AbeBooks}
^^^(1935 - 1959) Kathleen Moore Knight - Elisha Macomber - The Tainted Token (6/16) {Rare Books}

(1936 - 1974) Anthony Gilbert (Lucy Malleson) - Arthur Crook - Murder By Experts (1/51) {Kindle / interlibrary loan}
(1936 - 1940) George Bell Dyer - The Catalyst Club - The Catalyst Club (1/3) {Rare Books}
^^^(1936 - 1956) Theodora Du Bois - Anne and Jeffrey McNeil - Death Dines Out (4/19) {Rare Books}
(1936 - 1945) Charles Kingston - Chief Inspector Wake - Murder In Piccadilly (1/7) {Kindle}
(1937 - 1953) Leslie Ford (Zenith Jones Brown) - Grace Latham - Ill Met By Moonlight (1/16) {Kindle / Internet Archive}
(1938 - 1944) Zelda Popkin - Mary Carner - Time Off For Murder (2/6) {Kindle}
^^^^^(1938 - 1939) D. B. Olsen (Dolores Hitchens) - Lt. Stephen Mayhew - The Clue In The Clay (1/2) {expensive}
(1939 - 1953) Patricia Wentworth - Inspector Lamb - Vanishing Point (11/11)
^^^(1939 - 1940) Clifton Robbins - George Staveley - Death Forms Threes (2/2) {Rare Books}
(1939 - 1956) D. B. Olsen (Dolores Hitchens) - Rachel Murdock (check Stephen Mayhew) - The Cat Saw Murder (1/12) {Kindle / ZLibrary}

^^^(1940 - 1943) Bruce Graeme - Pierre Allain - The Corporal Died In Bed (1/3) {CARM}
(1941 - 1951) Bruce Graeme - Theodore I. Terhune - Seven Clues In Search Of A Crime (1/7) {Kindle / GooglePlay}
(1943 - 1961) Enid Blyton - Five Find-Outers - The Mystery Of The Disappearing Cat (2/15) {fadedpage}
(1945 - 1952) D. B. Olsen (Dolores Hitchens) - Professor Pennyfeather - Bring The Bride A Shroud (aka "A Shroud For The Bride") (1/6) {Rare Books / National Library}
(1947 - 1953) Michael Gilbert - Inspector Hazelrigg - They Never Looked Inside (2/6) {State Library NSW, JFR / ZLibrary}
(1955 - 1991) Patricia Highsmith - Tom Ripley - Ripley's Game (3/5) {SMSA}
(1957 - 1993) Chester B. Himes - The Harlem Cycle - The Big Gold Dream (4/9) {Fisher Library}
(1961 - 2017) - John le Carré - George Smiley - The Honourable Schoolboy (6/9) {Sutherland Library / Fisher Library / SMSA}
(1964 - 1987) Robert Arthur / William Arden - The Three Investigators - The Secret Of The Crooked Cat (13/43) {freebooklover / Internet Archive}
(1965 - 1975) Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö - Martin Beck - The Laughing Policeman (4/10) {SMSA}
(1992 - 2000) Barbara Neely - Blanche White - Blanche Passes Go (4/4)
^^^^^(2001 - 2012) Esmahan Aykol - Kati Hirschel - Divorce Turkish Style (3/4)

^^^^^ Remainder of series unavailable
^^^ Incompletely available series

Non-crime series and sequels:

(1861 - 1876) **Margaret Oliphant - Carlingford - Phoebe Junior (7/7) {Fisher storage}
(1867 - 1905) **Martha Finley - Elsie Dinsmore - Elsie And Her Namesakes (28/28)
(1867 - 1872) **George MacDonald - The Seaboard Parish - Annals Of A Quiet Neighbourhood (1/3) {ManyBooks}
(1893 - 1915) **Kate Douglas Wiggins - Penelope - Penelope's Postscripts (4/4)
(1894 - 1898) **Anthony Hope - Ruritania - Rupert Of Hentzau (3/3)
(1898 - 1918) **Arnold Bennett - Five Towns - Tales Of The Five Towns (3/11) {Fisher storage / Project Gutenberg / Internet Archive}

(1901 - 1919) **Carolyn Wells - Patty Fairfield - Patty And Azalea (17/17)
(1901 - 1927) **George Barr McCutcheon - Graustark - Beverly Of Graustark (2/6) {Project Gutenberg}
(1906 - 1933) John Galsworthy - The Forsyte Saga - Over The River (12/12)
(1907 - 1912) **Carolyn Wells - Marjorie - Marjorie's Vacation (1/6) {ManyBooks}
(1908 - 1924) **Margaret Penrose - Dorothy Dale - Dorothy Dale: A Girl Of Today (1/13) {ManyBooks}
(1909 - 1912) **Emerson Hough - Western Trilogy - 54-40 Or Fight (1/3) {Project Gutenberg}
(1910 - 1931) Grace S. Richmond - Red Pepper Burns - Red Pepper Returns (6/6)
(1910 - 1933) Jeffery Farnol - The Vibarts - The Way Beyond (3/3) {Fisher Library storage / fadedpage.com}

(1911 - 1937) Mary Roberts Rinehart - Letitia Carberry - Tish Marches On (5/5)
^^^(1911 - 1919) **Alfred Bishop Mason - Tom Strong - Tom Strong, Lincoln's Scout (5/5)
(1913 - 1934) *Alice B. Emerson - Ruth Fielding - Ruth Fielding In The Far North (20/30) {expensive}
(1916 - 1941) John Buchan - Edward Leithen - Sick Heart River (5/5)
(1915 - 1923) **Booth Tarkington - Growth - The Magnificent Ambersons (2/3) {Project Gutenberg / Fisher Library / Kindle}
(1917 - 1929) **Henry Handel Richardson - Dr Richard Mahony - Australia Felix (1/3) {Fisher Library / Kindle}

(1920 - 1939) E. F. Benson - Mapp And Lucia - Trouble For Lucia (6/6)
(1920 - 1952) William McFee - Spenlove - The Adopted - (7/7)
(1920 - 1932) *Alice B. Emerson - Betty Gordon - Betty Gordon At Bramble Farm (1/15) {ManyBooks}
^^^(1923 - 1931) *Agnes Miller - The Linger-Nots - The Linger-Nots And The Secret Maze (5/5)
(1924 - 1928) **Ford Madox Ford - Parade's End - Last Post (4/4)
(1926 - 1936) *Margery Lawrence - The Round Table - Nights Of The Round Table (1/2) {Kindle}
(1927 - 1960) **Mazo de la Roche - Jalna - Jalna (1/16) {State Library NSW, JFR / fadedpage.com}

(1928 - ????) Trygve Lund - Weston of the Royal North-West Mounted Police - The Vanished Prospector (6/9) {AbeBooks}
(1929 - 1931) *Ernest Raymond - Once In England - A Family That Was (1/3) {State Library NSW, JFR}

(1930 - 1932) Hugh Walpole - The Herries Chronicles - Vanessa (4/4)
(1930 - 1932) Faith Baldwin - The Girls Of Divine Corners - Myra: A Story Of Divine Corners (4/4)
(1930 - 1940) E. M. Delafield - The Provincial Lady - The Provincial Lady In Wartime (4/4)
(1930 - 1937) *Nina Murdoch - Miss Emily - Miss Emily In Black Lace (1/3) {State Library, held}

(1931 - 1951) Olive Higgins Prouty - The Vale Novels - Fabia (5/5)
(1931 - 1934) T. S. Stribling - The Vaiden Trilogy - The Store (2/3) {Internet Archive / academic loan / State Library, held}
(1931 - 1935) Pearl S. Buck - The House Of Earth - A House Divided (3/3)
(1932 - 1932) Lizette M. Edholm - The Merriweather Girls - The Merriweather Girls At Good Old Rockhill (4/4)
(1932 - 1952) D. E. Stevenson - Mrs Tim - Mrs Tim Flies Home (5/5) {interlibrary loan}

(1933 - 1970) Dennis Wheatley - Duke de Richlieu - The Forbidden Territory (1/11) {Fisher Library}
(1934 - 1936) Storm Jameson - The Mirror In Darkness - Company Parade (1/3) {Fisher Library}
(1934 - 1968) Dennis Wheatley - Gregory Sallust - Black August (1/11) {interlibrary loan / omnibus}
(1936 - 1952) Helen Dore Boylston - Sue Barton - Sue Barton, Student Nurse (1/7) {interlibrary loan}

(1947 - 1974) Dennis Wheatley - Roger Brook - The Launching Of Roger Brook (1/12) {Fisher Library storage}
(1948 - 1971) E. V. Timms - The Gubbys - Forever To Remain (1/12) {Fisher Library / interlibrary loan}
(1953 - 1960) Dennis Wheatley - Molly Fountain and Colonel Verney - To The Devil A Daughter (1/2) {Fisher Library storage}
(1955 - 1956) D. E. Stevenson - The Ayrton Family - Summerhills (2/2) {interlibrary loan}
(1989 - ????) Nancy A. Collins - Sonja Blue - A Dozen Black Roses (4/7) {Internet Archive / Kindle / ZLibrary}

*** Incompletely available series
** Series complete pre-1931
* Present status pre-1931

Unavailable series works (Part 1: series partially available):

Esmahan Aykol - Kati Hirschel
Istanbul Tango (#4) {untranslated}

John Rhode - Dr Priestley
The Hanging Woman (#11) {rare, expensive}

Miles Burton - Desmond Merrion / Inspector Arnold
The Three Crimes (#2 Merrion / #1 Arnold) {rare, expensive}
The Menace On The Downs (#2 Arnold) {rare, expensive}
Fate At The Fair (#4 Merrion / #4 Arnold) {unavailable}
Tragedy At The Thirteenth Hole (#5 Merrion / #5 Arnold) {unavailable}
Death At The Cross-Roads (#6 Merrion / #6 Arnold) {unavailable}
The Charabanc Mystery (#7 Merrion / #7 Arnold) {unavailable}
To Catch A Thief (#8 Merrion / #8 Arnold) {unavailable}
The Devereux Court Mystery (#9 Merrion / #9 Arnold) {unavailable}
Murder Of A Chemist (#11 Merrion / #11 Arnold) {unavailable}
Where Is Barbara Prentice? (aka "The Clue Of The Silver Cellar") (#13 Merrion / #13 Arnold) {rare, expensive}
Death At The Club (aka "The Clue Of The Fourteen Keys") (#14 Merrion/ #14 Arnold) {unavailable}
Murder In Crown Passage (aka "The Man With The Tattoed Face") (#15 Merrion / #15 Arnold) {unavailable}

Natalie Sumner Lincoln - Inspector Mitchell
The Nameless Man (#2) {expensive}

Louis Tracy - Winter and Furneaux
The Park Lane Mystery (#6) {unavailable}

John Alexander Ferguson - Francis McNab
Death Of Mr Dodsley (#5) {unavailable}

Moray Dalton - Inspector Collier
The Harvest Of Tares (#4) {unavailable}

E. C. R. Lorac - Inspector Robert MacDonald
The Murder On The Burrows (#1) {unavailable}
The Greenwell Mystery (#3) {unavailable}

R. A. J. Walling - Garstang
Stroke Of One (#1) {unavailable}

T. Arthur Plummer - Inspector Frampton
Shadowed By The C.I.D. (#1) {unavailable}
Shot At Night (#2) {unavailable}

Bruce Graeme - Superintendent Stevens
Body Unknown (#?) {unavailable}

Charles Barry (real name: Charles Bryson) - Inspector Gilmartin
The Smaller Penny (#1) {expensive}

Francis D. Grierson - Inspector Sims and Professor Wells
The Double Thumb (#3) {unavailable}

Cecil Freeman Gregg - Inspector Higgins
The Murdered Manservant (aka "The Body In The Safe") (#1) {HathiTrust/not accessible}
The Three Daggers (#2) {HathiTrust/not accessible}

Charles J. Dutton - Harley Manners
The Shadow Of Evil (#2) {rare, expensive}

Elaine Hamilton - Inspector Reynolds
Murder In The Fog (#2) {unavailable}
The Chelsea Mystery (#3) {unavailable}
The Green Death (Reynolds #4?) {unavailable}
The Silent Bell (Reynolds #5?) {unavailable}

Herman Landon - The Picaroon
The Picaroon Does Justice (#2) {CARM}
Buy My Silence! (#3) {rare, expensive}
The Picaroon Resumes Practice (#5) {unavailable}
The Picaroon In Pursuit (#6) {CARM}

Bertram Atkey - Smiler Bunn
The Smiler Bunn Brigade (#2) {rare, expensive}
Smiler Bunn, Man-Hunter (#3) {unavailable}
Smiler Bunn, Gentleman Crook (#4) {unavailable}
The Man With Yellow Eyes (#5) {unavailable}
Smiler Bunn: Byewayman (#6) {unavailable}
Smiler Bunn, Gentleman-Adventurer (#7) {unavailable}
Smiler Bunn, Crook (#8) {unavailable}
The House Of Clystevill (#11) {unavailable}

Charles Reed Jones - Leighton Swift
The King Murder (#1) {unavailable}
The Van Norton Murders (#3) {Complete Detective Novel Magazine}

Monte Barrett - Peter Cardigan
Murder Off Stage (aka "Knotted Silk") (#2) {expensive shipping}

Roland Daniel - Inspector John Walk
Dead Man's Vengeance (#1) {unavailable}
Ann Turns Detective (#2) {unavailable}
Ruby Of A Thousand Dreams (#3) {Ramble House} (NB: Wu Fang)

George Dilnot - Inspector Strickland
Crooks' Game (#1) {expensive}
The Black Ace (#2) {expensive}

Richard Essex (aka ) - Jack Slade
Slade Of The Yard (#1) {expensive}

Mark Cross aka Archibald Thomas Pechey aka Valentine - Daphne Wrayne and the Four Adjusters
The Shadow Of The Four (#1) {rare, expensive}

Bruce Graeme - Stevens and Allain
Satan's Mistress (#4) {unavailable}

Wyndham Martyn - Christopher Bond
Christopher Bond, Adventurer (#1) {unavailable}
Spies Of Peace (#2) {unavailable}

Clifton Robbins - George Staveley
Six Sign-Post Murder (#1) {expensive}

Unavailable series works (Part 2: series effectively unavailable):

R. Francis Foster - Anthony Ravenhill
The Missing Gates (#1) {unavailable}
Anthony Ravenhill, Crime Merchant (#2) {expensive}
The Music Gallery Murder (#3) {unavailable}
The Moat House Mystery (#4) {unavailable}
The Dark Night (#5) {unavailable}

David Sharp - Professor Fielding
When No Man Pursueth (#1) {unavailable}
I, The Criminal (#4) {rare, expensive}
The Inconvenient Corpse (#5 rare, expensive}
Marriage And Murder (#6) {unavailable}

Adam Broome - Denzil Grigson
Crowner's Quest (#2) {rare, expensive}
The Island Of Death (#3) {rare, expensive}
The Crocodile Club (#5) {unavailable}
The Black Mamba (#6) {rare, expensive}
Snakes And Ladders (#7) {unavailable}
The Red Queen Club (#8) {unavailable}
Flame Of The Forest (#9) {rare, expensive}

Roger Scarlett - Inspector Kane
Murder Among The Angells (#4) {expensive}
In The First Degree (#5) {expensive}

Alice MacGowan and Perry Newberry - Jerry Boyne
The Seventh Passenger (#4) {expensive}
Who Is This Man? (#5) {available, expensive shipping}

Roland Daniel - Wu Fang
The Society Of The Spiders (#1) {Ramble House}
Wu Fang (#2) {unavailable}
Ruby Of A Thousand Dreams (#3) {Ramble House}
Wu Fang's Revenge (#4) {unavailable}
The Son Of Wu Fang (#5) {Ramble House}
The Return Of Wu Fang (#6) {Ramble House}

The Hanshews - Cleek
The Amber Junk (aka "Riddle Of The Amber Ship") (#9) {rare, expensive}
The House Of Seven Keys (#10) {rare, expensive}
The Riddle Of The Winged Death (#11) {unavailable}
Murder In The Hotel (#12) {unavailable}

William Morton (aka William Blair Morton Ferguson) - Daniel "Biff" Corrigan / Police Commissioner Kirker Cameron
Masquerade (#1) {expensive}
The Mystery Of The Human Bookcase (#2) {expensive}
The Murderer (aka "The Pilditch Puzzle") (#3) {expensive}
The Case Of Casper Gault ????

Jean Lilly - DA Bruce Perkins
The Seven Sisters (#1) {rare, expensive}
False Face (#2) {rare, expensive}
Death In B-Minor (#3) {rare, expensive}
Death Thumbs A Ride (#4) {rare, expensive}

David Frome (Zenith Jones Brown) - Major Gregory Lewis
Murder Of An Old Man (#1) {rare, expensive}
In At The Death (#2) {rare, expensive}
The Strange Death Of Martin Green (#3) {rare, expensive}

John Franklin Carter (aka "Diplomat") - Dennis Tyler
Murder In The State Department (#1) {unavailable}
Murder In The Embassy (#2) {unavailable}
Scandal In The Chancery (#3) {unavailable}
The Corpse On The White House Lawn (#4) {unavailable}
Death In The Senate (#5) {unavailable}
Slow Death At Geneva (#6) {unavailable}
Brain Trust Murder (#7) {unavailable}

Murray Thomas - Inspector Wilkins
Buzzards Pick The Bones (#1) {unavailable}
Inspector Wilkins Sees Red (#2) {rare, expensive}
Inspector Wilkins Reads The Proofs (#3) {unavailable}

Roland Daniel - John Hopkins
The Rosario Murder Case (#1) {unavailable}
The Shooting Of Sergius Leroy (#2) {unavailable}

Roland Daniel - Inspector Pearson
The Crackswoman (#1) {unavailable}
The Green Jade God (#2) {unavailable}
White Eagle (#3) {unavailable}
The Crimson Shadow (#4) {expensive}
The Gangster's Last Shot (#5) {unavailable}
Murder At Little Malling (#6) {CARM}

Kathleen Moore Knight - Elisha Macomber
Death Blew Out The Match (#1) {expensive}
The Clue Of The Poor Man's Shilling (aka "The Poor Man's Shilling") (#2) {CARM / expensive}
The Wheel That Turned (#3) {expensive}
Seven Were Veiled (#4) {expensive}
Acts Of Black Night (#5) {expensive}

Peter Hunt (aka George Worthing Yates and Charles Hunt Marshall) - Alan Miller
Murders At Scandal House (#1) {expensive}
Murder For Breakfast (#2) {expensive}
Murder Among The Nudists (#3) {expensive}

Gregory Dean (aka Jacob D. Posner) - Benjamin Simon
The Case Of Marie Corwin (#1) {unavailable}
The Case Of The Fifth Key (#2) {unavailable}
Murder On Stilts (#3) {unavailable}

N. A. Temple-Ellis (aka Nevile Holdaway) - Inspector Wren
Three Went In (#1) {unavailable}
Dead In No Time (aka "Murder In The Ruins") (#2) {expensive}
Death Of A Decent Fellow (#3) {unavailable}

Richard Goyne - Paul Templeton
Strange Motives (#1) {unavailable}
Murder At The Inn (#2) {unavailable}
Produce The Body (#3) {unavailable}
Death By Desire (#4) {expensive}
Hanged I'll Be! (#5) {CARM}
Death In Harbour (#6) {unavailable}
Seven Were Suspect (#7) {unavailable}
The Merrylees Mystery (#8) {unavailable}
Who Killed My Wife? (#9) {unavailable}
Fear Haunts The Fells (#10) {unavailable}
Five Roads Inn (#11) {unavailable}
Murder Made Easy (#12) {unavailable}
Murderer's Moon (#13) {expensive}

Theodora du Bois - Anne and Jeffrey McNeill
Armed With A New Terror (#1) {unavailable}
Death Wears A White Coat (#2) {unavailable}
Death Tears A Comic Strip (#3) {expensive}

D. B. Olsen (aka Dolores Hichens) - Stephen Mayhew (overlaps with Rachel Murdock)
The Clue In The Clay (#1) {expensive}
Death Cuts A Silhouette (#2) {expensive}

Alfred Bishop Mason - Tom Strong
Tom Strong, Boy-Captain (#2) {unavailable}
Tom Strong, Junior (#3) {unavailable}
Tom Strong, Third (#4) {unavailable}

Agnes Miller - The Linger-Nots
The Linger-Nots And The Secret Maze (#5) {unavailable}

Books currently on loan:

      

        

      

    

Reading projects:

Blog:

        

        

Other projects:

        

        

Group read news:

We have pencilled in the dates for our next two projects:

We will be reading Anthony Trollope's The Belton Estate in January, and wrapping up Margaret Oliphant's 'Chronicles of Carlingford' with Phoebe Junior in April.

Hope to see you there!

Ruminations:

The touchstones may yet be the death of me...

(Yes, yes, I know it's my own fault!)

My hope with this thread is to get my reviews caught up and not have them run into next year, as happened this year. Chunkster reading is keeping my numbers lower than usual, which (theoretically, anyway) should make that do-able.

We'll see.

I'd also like to catch up a bit more book-blogging before the end of the year, though given I've neglected that to the point of having to re-read most of the works I want to write about, it's a more time-consuming exercise than it sounds like.

Otherwise, I'm hopeful of catching up my challenge reading this month, as planned. The current chunkster is a gruelling read for more reasons than just it's length, but I remain optimistic. (And I will, definitely, get to our two shared reads!)

All right, you brave souls who can deal with my thread-toppers, come on in! :)

Happy new thread, Liz. The peacock spider is quite the looker.

Happy new thread, Liz!

I like spiders, and those peacock spiders look adorable!

>1 lyzard: OK, those are actually pretty cute.

the extendable flap(s) on the abdomen of the male, which is raised and spread during courtship

Is that a spider or a 747?

To attract a mate, a male will spread his flaps, raise his third pair of legs, vibrate his abdomen, and do a little dance.

*Yawn.* Nothing I haven't seen on a random Saturday night down at the pub.

>1 lyzard: Thats quite a spider!

Happy new thread

>1 lyzard: Well goodness me. That's some outfit for attracting the ladies.

>27 rosalita: *snort* I hear ya!

Happy new thread, Liz.

>1 lyzard: My that is attractive and sinister looking at the same time.

Happy new one!

>25 NinieB:, >26 FAMeulstee:, >27 rosalita:, >28 figsfromthistle:, >29 Helenliz:, >30 PaulCranswick:, >31 drneutron:

Thanks for visiting, everyone! :)

>25 NinieB:

I think so! There are so many varieties it was hard to just pick these four.

>26 FAMeulstee:

Good for you, Anita! I think so too. :)

>27 rosalita:

I hope your pub nights don't end in the same way if the females are unimpressed!?

>28 figsfromthistle:

Thank you!

>29 Helenliz:

Yeah, female humans definitely got the short end of the stick.

>30 PaulCranswick:

Are they sinister-looking? They look like they're doing Hands in the air like you just don't care! to me! And the purple one cracks me up, it looks like it's waiting to apologise for something!

>31 drneutron:

Thanks, Jim!

Well! - that's why you keep poking around, I guess.

I was hunting up one of my more obscure series, the 'Leathermouth' stories by Australian author, Carlton Dawe, and discovered that (i) I had overlooked an earlier work in the series, Fifteen Keys, and (ii) that it would require an in-library read, groan.

But a bit more poking revealed that the novel was originally serialised in one of our papers under an alternative title, "The Man Of Many Faces", so I can read it online instead---score!

>32 lyzard: I hope your pub nights don't end in the same way if the females are unimpressed!?

Let's just say I never go home hungry. :-0

>34 rosalita:

Yike! :D

Finished The Life And Adventures Of Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist for TIOLI #13---

---as anticipated, the relentless ventriloquism scenes in the Elsie Dinsmore series did this book no favours whatsoever---

Now reading The Old Engagement by Julia Day.

Best-selling books in the United States for 1980:

1. The Covenant by James A. Michener
2. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
3. Rage of Angels by Sidney Sheldon
4, Princess Daisy by Judith Krantz
5. Firestarter by Stephen King
6. The Key to Rebecca by Ken Follett
7. Random Winds by Belva Plain
8. The Devil's Alternative by Frederick Forsyth
9. The Fifth Horseman by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
10. The Spike by Arnaud de Borchgrave and Robert Moss

Though the espionage thriller and the trashy novel fought hard for supremacy, in 1980 historical fiction finally won out yet again.

Belva Plain's Random Winds is an anomaly here, a novel about a brilliant surgeon who discovers that the absolutes of the operating room do not apply to the messy business of real life.

Stephen King's Firestarter is about a little girl who, due to her parents' involvement in a secret government experiment, has frightening powers.

Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels is about an ambitious who becomes romantically entangled with a presidential aspirant and a Mafia boss. As you do. Judith Krantz's Princess Daisy is about the personal travails of an aristocratically connected but impoverished young woman fighting to support herself and her mentally challenged twin sister.

In The Fifth Horseman, by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, New York is held to ransom by Muammar Gaddafi, who threatens to set off a nuclear bomb. In The Spike, co-authored by journalists Arnaud de Borchgrave and Robert Moss, a reporter stumbles across a wide-ranging blackmail plot with the ultimate goal of Soviet dominance, but must fight the indifference and disbelief of, sigh, "the liberal media".

Ken Follett's The Key To Rebecca is a WWII-set thriller based on the true story of Nazi spy, Johannes Eppler,, and "Operation Salaam". Frederick Forsyth's The Devil's Alternative is about warring US-Soviet plots both put on hold when Ukrainian nationalists threaten to blow up the world’s largest oil tanker. In Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, a man suffering retrograde amnesia is targeted by assassins as he tries to discover who he is and why his life is in danger.

However, 1980's best-selling book was The Covenant, James A. Michener's novel about South Africa.

This was James A. Michener's fourth time at the top of the best-seller lists, after 1965's The Source (reviewed here), 1974's Centennial (reviewed here), and 1978's Chesapeake (reviewed here.)

A sketch of Michener's life and career may be found here).

Publication date: 1980
Genre: Historical drama
Read for: Best-seller challenge

The Covenant - Following his usual procedure, in this 1980 novel James A. Michener traces the history of South Africa from pre-Colonial through to contemporary times, and divides his narrative into historical blocks by tracing the experiences of three families: the Nxumalos, who over centuries suffer the consequences of white settlement; the Saltwoods, British colonists who find themselves on the fringes of a frightening new face of white supremacy; and the van Doorns, Dutch settlers who, in the belief that they are fulfilling God's will, cut a ruthless and bloody swathe across the southern part of Africa... Though Michener employs his standard formula in The Covenant, ultimately this is an unbalanced book---which in context would not be a problem if it had been intended, but which feels instead like Michener's subject matter getting away from him. Not only does he not succeed in making his black characters real and present in the narrative, but the British Saltwoods do not and cannot offset the van Doorns (as, for example, the Quaker Paxmores offset the slave-owning Steeds in Chesapeake); and while this situation is valid in terms of the subject matter, what it means in practice is that the reader is doomed to spend hundreds of pages trapped inside the consciousness of the people who will at length become the architects of apartheid. Furthermore, Michener is so intent upon being "fair", on showing how sincere the van Doorns and those like them were in their religious convictions, how profoundly they believed that they had a covenant with God and were doing His will, that at times he almost becomes their apologist. Ultimately, there is insufficient acknowledgement that the belief, the sincerity, does not matter, let alone excuse, the consequences, if these happen to be a regime based upon bigotry, segregation and violent suppression of opposition; only rarely is there any suggestion that God might have His own ideas about the nature of the supposed covenant between Himself and the white settlers. All this said, the novel's central irony is given full weight: that this is yet another painfully depressing example of human beings fleeing religious persecution, whose first action upon re-establishing themselves in their new "freedom" to to turn around and persecute someone else in the name of God. After addressing the black pre-history of the areas that would become South Africa and Zimbabwe, the narrative of The Covenant traces the movements of the people who would become the first white settlers---French Huguenots who escaped first to the Netherlands, then to the islands of south-east Asia, and then to the newly founded Cape Colony in Africa. From these people would arise the Afrikaaners, Protestant Dutch-Africans who, in their determination to hold to their interpretation of the Old Testament, moved away from the coast with its mingled colonial, religious, political and racial groups, and spread across the interior of the country: a move which brought them into violent conflict with the native tribes and culminated in slaughter. Efforts to force the Afrikaaners back under the umbrella of the Reformed Dutch church, to abolish slavery and to submit to British rule lead to the Boer Wars---which in turn give rise to a new national identity and an awareness of the white South Africans that holding to their way of life will require not only conviction and a willingness to fight, but political power. In this, the events of the 20th century play into their hands: in the wake of WWII, the Herenigde Nasionale seize power and use it to enforce a new social system of segregation known as apartheid...

    At the end of two hours the black generals sought to rally their regiments by gathering in one spot all White Shield survivors and giving them the simple command: "Break through and slay the wizards." Without hesitaton these splendid warriors adjusted the shields, borrowed extra assegais, and began a stately march right at the spot from which Ou Grietje had been removed. They came in panoply, they fought in glory. Wave after wave marched almost to the wagons and fell to the blazing guns. Yet on they came, men trained all their lives to obey, but when the final ranks hit the wagons, they accomplished nothing. Silently the generals signaled retreat and the punished regiments withdrew, defeated but still obedient to command. A new power had replaced them in Zululand, and it had come to stay.
    What can be said of a battle in which the casualties were over four thousand dead on one side and a cut hand on the other? Not one man in the Voortrekker laager was killed; not one was seriously injured; counting even the scratches, only three were touched in this incredible battle. Four-thousand-to-nothing, what kind of warfare is that? The answer would come years later from a troubled Dutch Reformed minister: "It was not a battle. It was an execution..."
    The real victor at Blood River was not the Voortrekker commando, but the spirit of the covenant that assured their triumph. As Tjaart said when he led prayers after the battle: "Almighty God, only You enabled us to win. We were faithful to You, and You fought at our side. In obedience to the covenant You offered us and You honoured, we shall henceforth abide as Your people in the land You have given us."
    What the Voortrekkers failed to realise in their moment of victory was that they had offered the covenant to God, not He to them... Nevertheless, in obedience to the covenant as they understood it, they had won a signal victory, which confirmed their belief that He had accepted their offer and had personally intervened on their behalf. No matter what happened henceforth, men like Tjaart van Doorn were convinced that whatever they did was done in consonance with His wishes. The Boer nation had become a theocracy, and would so remain.

Michener always liked to end in his novels with a Where Are We Now? statement of greater or lesser length; and while in most cases this just feels like piling on, The Covenant's greatest value today may lie in the 200-page-long almost-contemporary depiction of apartheid with which it concludes.

In fact, for this reader the novel almost redeems itself a mere 40 pages from the end (of 873 pages, in this edition), when the modern van Doorns get some stunning news:

    A few days later Saltwood observed his arrogant young Afrikaners knocked flat by a much different kind of foreign intervention. He was alone in the Van Doorn kitch, waiting for Sannie, when her father and Jopie burst into the room, looking ghastly. Without speaking, they fiddled with the radio, located a Pretoria station, and listened as the awful news was reported: "There is an unconfirmed report out of Auckland that the governments of Australia and New Zealand will be forced to cancel the scheduled tour of those countries by a rugby team from South Africa."
    "Good God!" Marius said, looking at Jopie as if the latter's arms had been amputated. "This would mean you wouldn't get your Springbok blazer."
    "Wait, wait! This can't be serious."
    But it was. A different newscaster announced in tremulous Afrikaans, his voice near breaking: "We have nothing definite yet, but governments of Australia and New Zealand have explained that rioting in the streets protesting the tours have made cancellation advisable..."
    The three rugby players huddled at the radio, shaken by the urgent bulletins flooded the air, and when the ugly story was fully verified, Saltwood was amazed by the violence of the men's reactions.
    "It's criminal!" Marius shouted. "Using sport as a weapon of confrontation. A game's a game, and politics should have nothing to do with it."

America doesn't generally participate in international sport in the way that most other nations do, and possibly this explains the feeling I got in this section of the novel that Michener didn't really understand the significance of what was happening; his American character, looking on, certainly doesn't. Perhaps this was one of those times that his hired researchers had to do the heavy lifting.

It is worth remembering, though, that while many countries would eventually impose economic sanctions on South Africa, the sporting sanctions were there first---and, in the long term, arguably had more effect in bringing apartheid to and end.

That's something to keep in mind whenever someone tries to argue - as Marius van Doorn does here - that "sport and politics shouldn't mix" (which is usually just a euphemism for, "I personally disagree with this, but I don't have the guts to out myself as racist / homophobic / misogynistic").

>39 lyzard: ... the reader is doomed to spend hundreds of pages trapped inside the consciousness of the people who will at length become the architects of apartheid.

Yes, very much "at length."

>40 lyzard: Perhaps because I'm an American, perhaps because I care less about sport than the average American, never mind international sport, I did not understand the significance of this either and probably still don't. Thanks for pointing it out.

>41 swynn:

I guess "at length" is redundant at this point. :D

The intensity of the response I'm sure I can't explain to you, but the take-home point here is that it was the sporting community - the supporters - who first said 'no'; government came later. It see-sawed through the 70s but basically by the end of the decade South Africa was banned from international competition, which had more impact than the diplomatic and economic sanctions that followed.

I'm guessing you haven't seen Invictus? You might want to give it a try. It's the coda to this, and the flip-side---sport being used to try and put the nation back together.

Kookaburra outside my bedroom window this morning! Pity about the light, but---


  

Finished The Old Engagement for TIOLI #1.

Now reading The Cat And The Corpse by R. A. J. Walling.

>43 lyzard: Well, that's cool!

>45 drneutron:

They're around all the time but I haven't had that sort of encounter before. :)

Publication date: 1932
Genre: Mystery / thriller
Series: Inspector Maigret #15
Read for: Series reading / TIOLI (originally written in French by a citizen of member state of "La Francophonie")

The Misty Harbour (original title: Le Port des Brumes; alternative titles: The Port Of Shadows, Death Of A Harbour Master, Maigret And The Death Of A Harbour Master) - A man is found wandering in Paris with no identification, but significant money in his pocket. He cannot speak, and seems to have no memory: an examination reveals he had surgery for a bullet wound in the head not many weeks before. Subtle clues allow the police to identify the man as Yves Joris, the harbour master of Ouistreham in Normandy; his devoted young housekeeper, Julie Legrand, is summoned to formalise the identification, and take him home: she can tell the police only that Joris disappeared six weeks before. Inspector Maigret accompanies Joris and Julie to Ouistreham, to the small cottage on the harbour at the far end of the village. Julie is disturbed when she finds the cat inside, as she it sure she put it out before leaving the cottage. At her request, Maigret searches the house, but there is no sign of disturbance; and he declines Julie's offer - or request - that he stay the night. It is a decision he is to regret, however, as the next morning Joris dies in an apparent poisoning... The Maigret novels of Georges Simenon are always a balancing act between the mystery at their heart and the surroundings in which the inspector finds himself, but in The Misty Harbour the latter almost overwhelms the narrative---so that it sometimes feels that Maigret is more interested in absorbing the atmosphere of the fog-shrouded harbour village, and in unravelling the relationships that exist within its tightly knit, rather insular community, than in the murder of Yves Joris. Furthermore, though Simenon's style is always oblique, Maigret's ability to reconstruct a crime from the tiniest threads of clues seems overstretched here; and though he solves the murder, there are other crimes interwoven with it to which the inspector effectively turns a blind eye. All this said, the descriptions of the waterfront and its ships, and the atmosphere created here, are indeed powerful; and Maigret's sense that the network of loyalties that weaves its complicated way through the community is the crux of the matter is absolutely correct. Suspicion in the death of Yves Joris initially falls upon Julie Legrand, who was alone in the house with him---especially after it is revealed that she has inherited his estate, including a large sum of money recently deposited in his bank account for which no-one has an explanation. However, as Maigret is well aware, none of this explains the bullet wound that suggests a first, unsuccessful attempt upon Joris's life---nor the surgery that evidently saved it. Trying to reconstruct the events surrounding Joris's disappearance, Maigret is brought into conflict with the local mayor, Grandmaison: a pompous, self-satisfied individual now inexplicably under the thumb of the crude, intimidating "Big Louis" Legrand, Julie's brother. As Maigret tries to find a way through the stubborn silence that greets him at every turn, he becomes vividly aware that more conspiracies than one are at work within Ouistreham...

    The inspector knew where he was going. He kept speaking in a low voice, giving each word its due. And there wasn't much play-acting in it, for he was caught up in the mood himself. He too felt the nostalgia of that atmosphere in which he conjured up the sturdy form of the late harbourmaster.
    "Dead, he has only one friend left... Me! A lone man who is fighting to find out the truth, to prevent Joris' murderer from living happily ever after..."
    Overwhelmed by her sorrow, Julie was sobbing as Maigret went on, "The thing is, everyone around the dead man keeps silent, everyone lies, as if everyone had some reason to feel guilty, as if they were all accomplices in what happened."
    "That's not true!" wailed Julie.
    Big Louis, growing more and more uncomfortable, poured himself more calvados and refilled the inspector's glass.
    "Big Louis, first of all, remains silent."
    Julie looked at her brother through her tears, as if struck by the true meaning of those words.
    "He knows something," continued Maigret. "He knows many things. Is he afraid of the murderer? Is he in danger in some way?"
    "Louis!" cried his sister. And Louis looked away with a face made of stone...
    "Louis is the biggest liar of the bunch! He claims not to know the Norwegian but he does! He claims not to have any dealing with the mayor, but I find him in the man's house, beating him to a pulp..."

Finished The Cat And The Corpse for TIOLI #12.

Now reading All At Sea by Carolyn Wells.

Oh, here we go:

R. A. J. Walling is yet another exasperatingly prolific author, and it turns out that he wrote four books in 1936.

So now I have to work out (i) which ones are part of his Philip Tolefree series, and (ii) what order they were published in...

>49 lyzard: Some people, right? Maybe he should have spent some of that writing time figuring out at least one of this three names.

>50 rosalita:

Robert Alfred John. :D

>49 lyzard: Don't forget: (iii) most of his books had different US titles!

>52 NinieB:

Many a true word, yada-yada... :D

First indications:

The Mystery Of Mr Mock (UK) = The Corpse With The Floating Foot (US)
Mr Tolefree's Reluctant Witnesses (UK) = The Corpse In The Coppice (US)
The Crime In Cumberland Court (UK) = The Corpse With The Dirty Face (US)
The Corpse In The Crimson Slippers (one title? - getouddahere!)

There's also something called Brocklebank's Adventure that seems to have been serialised here in 1936, though of course that tells me nothing about OPD.

>53 lyzard: All those Corpses! I was going to take a wild, uninformed guess that Robert Alfred John didn't get published in the US until the fourth book was released, and with its success his US publisher subsequently went back and released the first three with similar titles to play up the connection. But these aren't the first books in the series, are they, so maybe it's just that the British threw up their hands after books kept getting "corpsed" and said, "Fine, have it your way, you damn Yankees!"

>54 rosalita:

Actually I think what I have here is a similar situation to that with Philip MacDonald (which I've bitched about before!), where the American publishers were happy to keep churning them out while the British publishers tried to space things out more: at some point we slip into the books being published first in the US and then the gap between the US and UK editions starts getting wider.

The explanation for The Corpse In The Crimson Slippers seems to be that by that time there was a two-year gap (!) and the Brits just threw up their hands and kept the American title. :D

Even weirder is that while Tolefree does, apparently, appear in Brocklebank's Adventure. at the moment I can't find that this novel has any existence outside of the Australian newspapers. Probably it was retitled for serialisation but that doesn't help with discovering its alternate identity.

Anyway!---the order seems to be:

#7: Mr Tolefree's Reluctant Witnesses (1935)
#8: The Corpse In The Crimson Slippers (1936 / 1938)
#9: The Crime In Cumberland Court (1936)
#10: The Mystery Of Mr Mock (1936)

...with Brocklebank's Adventure still to be placed.

>55 lyzard: Is RAJ an American author, or a British one?

>57 rosalita:

British. Very British. :D

>58 lyzard: I figured the name could go either way. :-)

>59 rosalita:

True! No, Walling is an absolutely typical second-tier British mystery writer who churned them out year after year, rarely being brilliant but always being serviceable. :)

>40 lyzard: I thought that your appraisal was very interesting, Liz.

I'm not certain just how much the cricket and rugby boycotts made a difference but it did signify that sometimes sport simply cannot transcend all. The D'Oliveira affair in 1968 certainly helped focus attention on the basic injustice of their system (a few short years after segregation was ended in the USA) but it would be three decades before it fell. About Michener's own views, I have no idea, but the South African regime was not put under undue pressure politically by most of the Western powers who put their anti-communist sentiments above the dignity of racial equality.

>61 PaulCranswick:

I think it did; I think the persistent efforts to arrange rebel tours and pay whatever they cost were indicative that this was hitting where and how it was intended to.

Obviously we're talking the removal of a "non-essential", but the cutting off of a sporting nation by other sporting nations spoke as loudly, or louder, as anything you got from government precisely because it wasn't tainted with politically expediency. It was a spontaneous, non-political 'no', and I think it played its part in bringing things to an end.

Finished All At Sea for TIOLI #11.

Now reading Fifteen Keys by W. Carlton Dawe.

...and a cockatoo out the front yesterday evening. :)

>64 lyzard: Kitties and kookaburras and cockatoos, oh my!

>65 rosalita:

The weather is finally giving us a break and the birds have started to reappear: I've had lorikeets and magpies begging for food on the front porch for the first time in ages. :)

Still reading Fifteen Keys by Carlton Dawe, but! - need a bath book; so---

Now also reading The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow by William Arden.

>67 lyzard: I'm one behind you with Jupiter and the boys — just started The Mystery of the Talking Skull last night.

>68 rosalita:

Boo! :)

>69 lyzard: I hope you are not comparing yourself to a talking skull with that remark!

>70 rosalita:

Not me, I wouldn't have the nerve to tangle with Aunt Mathilda. :D

Finally! - got a chance today to run into the State Library and get my long-stalled Banned In Boston! challenge moving again, by making a start on Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin.

It's a longer, quite dense novel, though, so to get it done by the end of the month I'll have to squeeze in two more visits.

Meanwhile---still reading Fifteen Keys by Carlton Dawe, and The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow by William Arden.

>71 lyzard: She is a formidable woman indeed!

Thought you might be interested ...

There is some disagreement among Internet sources about the next read for our Bestseller project.

Wikipedia says it's William Kotzwinkle's E.T., the Extraterrestrial

But the Books of the Century list at UC-Berkeley says it's Kotzwinkle's E.T., the Extraterrestrial Storybook

Hoping to find an authoritative answer, I checked issues from my library's archive of Publisher's Weekly at the end of 1982 and beginning of 1983, but did not find a definitive list of annual bestsellers. But I did find a chart ranking the year's bestsellers by the number of weeks spent on the weekly lists. (Which, they are careful to clarify, does not reflect a ranking by volumes sold.) On those lists, the Storybook appears in the hardcover fiction list, while the novelization appears in the paperback fiction list. My reading is that the Books of the Century list is correct, and Wikipedia is mistaken.

I'm inclined to read the storybook, but since it's not 120,000 pages I'd read the novelization too if that were your call.

>74 swynn:

Good grief. :D

That didn't come up on my radar at all, but since it turns out I have access to both I'm happy to go with your call here (not least because we're talking 58 pages rather than 250, and November is slipping away).

So yeah, by all means the Storybook!

Hmm, yes: slipping away indeed, and I still have to wrap up---

- Fifteen Keys by Carlton Dawe {series reading / TIOLI}
- The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow by William Arden {shared read}
- Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin {Banned In Boston! challenge}
- Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout {shared read}

...and NOW, apparently...

- E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial Storybook by William Kotzwinkle {best-seller challenge}

I had better get my reading-butt in gear...

Finished Fifteen Keys for TIOLI #8.

I don't usually do this for books of this length but REALLY---





Still reading The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow by William Arden, and Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin.

Finished The Mystery Of The Laughing Shadow for TIOLI #6.

Now reading Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout; still reading Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin.

So obviously I should be thinking about December.

A relatively light month ahead, particularly given our reassessment of the books that are actually required reading for the best-seller challenge (see below). I might try to work through a couple more of my online reads, though my eyes are not very happy with me just now. I'd also like to get another in-library read done (and must check when my academic library closes for Christmas / New Year!).

At the moment it looks like this:

Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi Storybook by Joan D. Vinge {best-seller challenge}
Old St. Paul's by William Harrison Ainsworth {C. K. Shorter challenge}
Kim by Rudyard Kipling {Nobel Prize challenge}
The Hunterstone Outrage by Seldon Truss {Mystery League challenge}

Otherwise, I really need to focus on working through my remaining library books. Hopefully TIOLI will be cooperative. :)

So, yes: Steve's research has determined that it is not in fact the novelisation of the screenplay of E. T. The Extra Terrestrial that was the #1 best-seller in 1982, it was the E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial Storybook...and 58 pages of it, including illustrations.

I am so there!

And to fellow up, the best-seller in 1983 was Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi Storybook...a crippling 64 pages.

I'd like to think that this was the result of America suffering a violent and wholly justified reaction to its previously steady diet of Michener and Clavell, but it's probably just a brief respite rather than a total escape.

But very welcome all the same.

>80 lyzard: Especially welcome considering that James Michener had the #2 spot in both 1982 and 1983. And after The Covenant I am ready for a long respite from Mr. M

>81 swynn:

OMG really!? I didn't look down any further!

My man, I think you and I just redefined 'dodging a bullet'! :D

Needed a new bath book, so---

Now reading Shot In The Dark by Gerard Fairlie; still reading Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout, and Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin.

Poop.

I actually remembered this time to try and check the Christmas / New Year closure dates for my academic library in advance. They don't have that up yet---but they do have notices about ongoing refurbishment that means (among other things) loss of access to Rare Books. AGAIN.

So it looks like The Hunterstone Outrage won't be getting read next month. It's, well, an outrage!

Finished Too Many Cooks for TIOLI #1.

Still reading Shot In The Dark by Gerard Fairlie, and Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin.

>84 lyzard: More refurbishment?! Are they turning the Rare Books Room into a day spa or something?

>86 rosalita:

I wish! (Speaking of bath books...)

Nah, it's not RB specifically this time, they're making over Level 1 and RB just got caught in the crossfire.

What I don't know is how long this is supposed to take...

>87 lyzard: Maybe they could temporarily move a handful of books you're most interested in to another part of the library so you could still access them? Have you explained to them that you have Lists you're working through?

>88 rosalita:

Ehh, I think it will be just me and the specialist librarians crying on each other's shoulders.

>89 lyzard: Do they get re-assigned to another part of the library while Rare Books is closed? I mean, how hard would it be for them to "accidentally" take a couple of books along?

Also, I know you're a rugby league girl yourself, but congrats to the Socceroos for their big WC win. Well done, mates!

>90 rosalita:

I don't know! I suppose they must but it's hard on them to be doing this again when their section was closed so long during lockdown.

Thank you! In our usual perverse way we don't excel at "the world game" (or rather, it's one of those sports where our women regularly outperform the men), so when a win like this comes along it's party time.

Actually yesterday ended up being one long party: it was the Victorian state election and despite the most appallingly vicious Murdoch media campaign (worse than in the lead-up to the Federal election, which is saying something) our RWNJs further imploded and rendered themselves still more irrelevant. AND it was so one-sided it was all over in time for people to turn off the election coverage and turn on the soccer. :D

>91 lyzard: Our women's national soccer team is also superior to the men — the women have won multiple World Cups while the men couldn't even make the field 4 years ago. And that exhausts my knowledge of "the beautiful game" — possibly the one sport I have zero interest in.

Congrats on seeing your local RWNJs implode — I do think that while there is a distressingly large number of people who are attracted to such policies (here in the US, I mean) it seems their increasing lunges toward greater and greater insanity are finally causing people to say, "Now wait a minute here." Fingers crossed they are in the process of overplaying their hand worldwide but the sane among us must remain vigilant.

>92 rosalita:

I'm rather like that too: I do enjoy the Matildas as a team but soccer isn't usually one of the sports I pay much attention to.

We really don't have the extremist element here, just a (sufficiently worrying) fringe. We're also lucky in that the RWNJs have taken themselves down, really: they're currently in a self-perpetuating situation where they're reacting to mainstream rejection by pushing further right---and being further rejected. They openly allied themselves with the worst of the fringe in this state election, but that fringe is much smaller than the Murdoch press would have us believe and the move only did them more damage.

It does get into your head, though: you start thinking, surely the media can't be making ALL of this up? - but as it turned out, they were. :D

Finished Shot In The Dark for TIOLI #3.

Now reading---

---I'm almost embarrassed to say it---

E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial Storybook by William Kotzwinkle; still reading Pilgrims by Ethel Mannin.

Shot In The Dark is the first in Gerard Fairlie's short series featuring private investigator, Mr Malcolm; unfortunately it seems that the second (and middle) book of the series, Mr Malcolm Presents, is not available.

Unfortunate in two ways, as this series seems to be an example of that peculiar British phenomenon, "the golfing mystery".

Herbert Adams' Jimmie Haswell series got there first, with its golf-themed stories appearing from 1924. In Shot In The Dark, golf is only tangential to the main action, but I understand that Mr Malcolm Presents deals with murder in the middle of a major British tournament. (ETA1: At St Andrews!) (ETA2: It's built around the Cyril Tolley / Bobby Jones face-off of 1930!!)

These odd books are the ancestors of today's themed cosy mysteries; and while we might be inclined to ask, "Why golf?", we could with as much justice ask, "Why cupcakes?"

(ETA3: It appears that the third and last book in the Mr Malcolm series, Men For Counters, is available, which is a relief and kind of annoying at the same time.)

Finished Pilgrims for TIOLI #2.

Also finished E. T. The Extra-Terrestrial Storybook for TIOLI #7.

And trying to squeeze in one more before the end of the month (though also in the spirit of tackling my pile of library books):

Now reading Corrupt Relations: Dickens, Thackeray, Trollope, Collins and the Victorian Sexual System by Richard Barickman, Susan MacDonald and Myra Stark.

Pilgrims was read for the Banned In Boston! challenge.

Now noting for the benefit of Steve and myself that the next book on our list, Horizon, is by Robert C*a*rse, not Robert C*o*rse, as given.

My immediate sense that this one was going to be tough to get hold of was underscored by the discovery that it was not listed on LT - I've just added it for the first time - but it turns out it is expensive rather than difficult.

The good news is, there's a copy available here; the bad news is, it's only available through a book depository in Victoria, meaning academic loan fees now pushing $40.00.

Basically I have to work out whether I want to pay loan fees or shipping fees. :(

Finished Corrupt Relations for TIOLI #14.

That is a line under November: a month which turned out to be much more productive than expected, after it started with two chunksters. (A short best-seller was a BIG help!)

That is also one library book off the pile. (Not that I have reviewed it, of course.) The remaining ones are as follows; how cooperative will TIOLI be, I wonder??---

Don't Stop The Carnival by Herman Wouk
Flowering Wilderness by John Galsworthy
Four False Weapons by John Dickson Carr
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré
The Man On The Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Now reading Don't Stop The Carnival by Herman Wouk (which has been on the pile longest!).

Finished Don't Stop The Carnival for TIOLI #10.

A 350-page book that took me as long to get through as a Michener.

So it's getting one of these---

I had a reading plan but that's left me discombobulated.

I think I need a palette cleanser---

Now reading The Four False Weapons by John Dickson Carr.

Meanwhile---

Don't Stop The Carnival was via my Randon Reading challenge; a spin of the random number generator gave me:

Dragon Harvest by Upton Sinclair.

However, this turns out to be a series book; so I have adjusted my selection to the first in that series, World's End.

Finished The Four False Weapons for TIOLI #4, and FINISHED A SERIES---sort of.

I have finished the five novels that officially comprise John Dickson Carr's Henri Bencolin series, however there are a handful of uncollected short stories or novellas out there that also feature Bencolin, including an early dry run for the first novel.

These stories are:
The Shadow Of The Goat
The Fourth Suspect
The Ends Of Justice
The Murder In Number Four
Grand Guignol (the forerunner of It Walks By Night)

There is also something called The New Canterbury Tales, in which some of Carr's characters, including Bencolin, sit around telling each other stories; but no-one seems to consider that "canon".

Evidently these stories are, with a little hunting, available online, so naturally I'm obliged to track them down; so I won't be drawing a line through this series just yet. (So no marmoset for you.)

ETA: Nah, that's mean. Here, have just a little one---

Anyway---

Now reading Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré.

>104 lyzard: The rare book on your thread I've actually read. I hope it's a fun experience for you!

>105 MickyFine:

Hi, Mickey! I don't know about "fun" but definitely gripping. :)

Publication date: 1998
Genre: Mystery / thriller
Series: Blanche White #3
Read for: Series reading / TIOLI (first published in the 1990s or 2000s)

Blanche Cleans Up - When her mother's cousin, Charlotte, asks her to take over the cook-housekeeper position of her friend, Miz Inez, so the two of them can have a short holiday, Blanche White feels she has no choice: it was Charlotte who took in Blanche and the niece and nephew she is raising, Taifa and Malik, when they first moved - or fled - to Boston. Blanche's reluctance becomes hostility as she becomes familiar with the Brindles---or with Allister Brindle, who is running for governor. To her fury, Blanche reads him as a deeply racist man who is nevertheless trying to court the black voters. She is also disturbed by Brindle's relationship with Maurice Samuelson, self-appointed Reverend of the Temple of the Divine Enlightenment, who sets off all of her inner alarms. When everyone else is out, Blanche catches Miz Inez's son, Ray-Ray, in the house. She is soon convinced he stole something, though no explosion follows. Against her better judgement, Blanche allows Ray-Ray to make her the conduit of an anonymous note to Allister Brindle---something she regrets as soon as she does it, and regrets even more when Ray-Ray turns up dead... Like its predecessors, this third entry in Barbara Neely's series featuring sometime amateur detective, Blanche White, is a multi-layered work, with Blanche meddling in murder on one hand while Neely explores various aspects of the black experience in America on the other. However, Blanche Cleans Up is not as balanced a work as the earlier novels: Neely's anger, though entirely justifiable, becomes over-strident here, manifesting in a tendency to tell rather than show---although to be fair, she does that too. In pursuit of her thesis, I feel that Neely over-demonises her villains (if I can put it that way), with every move made by Brindle and Samuelson exposing them as more monstrous than the last. The rest of the novel is almost overcrowded with subplots, though Neely pretty much succeeds in weaving them together. The most successful is her examination of the tendency to homophobia within the black community, and what it means to be black and gay. The pressure to conceal this truth distorts lives and - as Blanche discovers as she begins to look into Ray-Ray's suspicious death - creates time-bombs that can go off at any moment... Putting together scraps of information, Blanche eventually concludes that Ray-Ray took something incriminating from the Brindle household: something that could ruin Allister Brindle's run for governor; something he dare not pursue openly. For that job, he calls upon the Reverend Samuelson and some of his less devout followers---and as Blanche draws closer to exposing the would-be governor's secrets, a second death follows and she finds herself in danger of her own life...

    If Ray-Ray was in the habit of telling Miz Barker all his business, then Miz Barker had had good reason to think Ray-Ray's death was related to something he'd stolen: He'd told her what he'd done. Blanche peeled and began mincing a clove of garlic. She stopped, knife raised two inches from the cutting board, instantly and completely sure not only that Ray-Ray had told Miz Barker about the tape but that he'd given it to her to keep for him. Miz Barker must have made up that business about overhearing Ray-Ray on the phone so she didn't have to admit what she knew.
    Blanche finished mincing the garlic. She lay the knife down and looked out the window into the backyard, giving herself a few more moments free from the knowledge that lay at the end of this trail of thought. She tried to concentrate on the squawk of a nearby blue jay, but her thoughts were like crying children refusing to be ignored. She swept the garlic into a bowl, added low-fat yogurt curd, and blended in some sour cream. Her legs felt like twigs too weak to hold her. She leaned against the counter as the thought that Miz Barker had most likely died because of Brindle's tape seeped through her like poison.
    She closed her eyes and opened them only when she was sure the questions bouncing off the inside of her brain wouldn't make her scream out loud: How would things be different if she'd told Miz Barker about Ray-Ray sneaking into the Brindle house? Or how crazed Allister Brindle had been over his missing tape? Or the tone of his voice when he'd ordered Samuelson to find the tape? Would Miz Barker still be alive? Would Ray-Ray?
    "So sorry, so sorry," she whispered as regret permanently etched those awful questions on her heart.
    She drained the capers and folded them and a bit of their juice into the sauce. The least she could do now was to find the tape they'd died for and try to make somebody pay...

Publication date: 1890
Genre: Mystery / thriller
Read for: Completist reading / TIOLI (part of a college or university's name in the title or author's name)

The Forsaken Inn - A couple arrives at the Happy-Go-Lucky Inn, which lies upon the road between Albany and Poughkeepsie, and it is immediately evident to their hostess, Mrs Truax, that something is wrong. Young Mrs Urquhart seems agitated and ill; but her husband pays more attention to his belongings, in particular a large chest apparently full of books. He also chooses a stuffy ground-floor room rather that the more comfortable and airy ones on the second floor. That night, Mrs Truax's rest is disturbed by a cry of horror, which Urquhart, through the door, explains as his wife having a nightmare. The couple depart the next morning before Mrs Truax wakes: by the servants' account, all seems well---except that Urquhart's chest was much lighter when it was carried out to his carriage. Mrs Truax is unable to shake the feeling of impending tragedy---but sixteen years pass before she learns the horrifying truth... This 1890 thriller is an attempt on the part of Anna Katharine Green to transpose the Gothic novel to America, with her novel set in the mid-18th century, a rural inn standing in for the the more traditional castle in the Alps, and the events leading up to the Revolutionary War impinging upon the narrative. Even by Green's standards, The Forsaken Inn is almost relentlessly melodramatic, with an air of doom and tragedy battling against an implacable sense of Providence in action and murder-will-out. The narrative is presented portmanteau-style, with a framing device of a young traveller coming into possession of a manuscript describing the dark deeds that unfolded at the inn: Mrs Truax's account of her encounter with the Urquharts gives way to her belated discovery that a terrible crime was committed under her roof; this to a description of efforts to bring the guilty parties to justice; and finally to a lengthy explanation of what set the crime in motion. It is a Mr Tamworth who inadvertently sets these latter events in motion: during a conversation many years before, he learned of an inn with a secret chamber, once used to hide smuggled goods; now, purely out of curiosity, his travels having taken him that way, he calls at the inn in order to see it. Tamworth is surprised to learn that the inn's owner had no knowledge of the chamber, and does not understand at first either her emotional reaction to his story, nor her insistence that, if this chamber is to be found and opened, there should be witnesses, including a doctor. Mrs Truax's worst fears are realised, however, when Tamworth and Dr Kenyon discover in the secret chamber the body of a woman---a woman who Mrs Truax is certain is the unfortunate Mrs Urquhart. There is just one problem: not only is there the evidence of the inn's servants that Mrs Urquhart departed the inn with her husband, but subsequent investigation would seem to prove that she is alive and well...

    How he discovered the one movable panel in that old-fashioned wainscoting, I have never inquired. When I saw him turn toward the fireplace and lay his ear to the wall, I withdrew in haste to the window, feeling as if I could not bear to watch him, or be the first to catch a glimpse of the mysterious depths which in another moment must open before his touch... I started with uncontrollable forebodings, when I heard an exclamation of satisfaction behind me, and hardly found courage to turn around, even when I knew that an opening had been effected, and that they were only waiting for my approach to enter it.
    And it took courage, both on my part and on theirs; for the air which rushed from the high and narrow slit of darkness before us was stifling and almost deadly. But in a few minutes, after one or two experiments with a lighted candle, Dr Kenyon stepped through the opening, followed by Mr Tamworth, and, in a long minute afterward, by myself.
    Shall I ever forget my emotions as I looked about me and saw, by the lamp which the doctor carried, nothing more startling than an old oak chest in one corner, a pile of faded clothing in another, and in a third---Heavens! what is it? We all stare, and then a shriek escapes my lips as piercing and terror-stricken as any that ever disturbed those fearful shadows; and I rush blindly from the spot, followed by Mr Tamworth, whose face, as I turn to look at him, gives me another pang of fear, so white and sick it looks in the sudden glare of day.
    Worse than I had thought, worse than I had dreamed! I cannot speak, and fall into a chair, waiting in mortal terror for the doctor, who stayed some minutes behind. When his kindly but not undisturbed countenance showed itself again in the gap at the side of the fireplace, I could almost have thrown myself at his feet.
    "What is it?" I gasped. "Tell me at once. Is it a man or a woman or---"
    "It is a woman..."

>107 lyzard: That entire series is in the Someday Swamp. Thanks for the reminder.

>108 lyzard: ... but her husband pays more attention to his belongings, in particular a large chest apparently full of books.

I can't say I approve, but must confess I understand.

Publication date: 1937
Genre: Mystery / thriller
Series: Nero Wolfe #4
Read for: Shared read

The Red Box - Nero Wolfe is hired by Llewellyn Frost to investigate the death of a model at Boyden McNair Incorporated, a fashion-house, after she ate a poisoned chocolate. It is soon evident that Lew is less concerned about solving Molly Lauck's murder than he is about the safety, or otherwise, of his cousin, Helen Frost, another model; but what he gets for his pains are a quick reading by Wolfe that Molly Lauck was not the intended victim of the murder, and that Helen knows more than she is telling... Wolfe's connection with the police allows him to stage a complicated reenactment that suggests that the target of the poisoned chocolate may have been company head, Boyd McNair. Though Helen herself remains stubbornly silent on this point, when McNair calls upon Wolfe, he is highly agitated but seems almost resigned to the fact that murderer will try again. He reveals that he has made a new will in which Wolfe himself is named, in exchange for carrying out a certain task. His explanation begins with the long history of himself and the Frost family, but before he comes to the point, he dies---crying out in agony about a red box... In the fourth entry in Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe series, there is a sense of the author beginning to hit his stride, particularly with respect to the relationship between Wolfe and his assistant, Archie Goodwin; although that said, The Red Box opens with an almost unprecedented scene of Wolfe leaving his New York brownstone to investigate (albeit belatedly) a crime scene: a move organised by Lew Frost with Archie's secret contrivance. On the other hand, Wolfe's ruthless manipulation of the people who try to stand in the way of his investigation - and a fat fee - is entirely in character. And when someone has the audacity to murder Boyd McNair literally under Wolfe's nose---well, of course this means war... When McNair's will is read, it is discovered that he has appointed Wolfe his executor, and has bequeathed him a certain red leather box, with instructions to use the contents "at his discretion". The problem is---McNair died before revealing where the box is, what its contents are, or why he needs Wolfe to act. It is evident that the mystery has something to do with McNair's long history with the Frost family, and his relationship with Helen: the two were close, he having lost a daughter her age in early childhood, even as she lost her father. From Helen herself, Wolfe has already learned that she is due to inherit her father's fortune in only a few weeks; that her Uncle Dudley, Lew's father, is her trustee; and that her mother was overlooked in her father's will. This situation raises the possibility that there is more than just concern and "fuss" in the Frosts' efforts to run interference between Helen and Wolfe. But without the red box and the secret it contains in his possession, Wolfe must manoeuvre in the dark...

    "Might I inquire, have you turned the case over to Inspector Cramer? Should I go down and ask him for instructions?"
    No response. I waited a decent interval, then went on, "Take this red leather box, for instance. Say Cramer finds it and opens it and learns all the things it would be fun to know, and hitches up his horse and buggy and goes and gets the murderer, with evidence. There would go the first half of your fee from Llewellyn. The second half is already gone, since McNair is dead and of course that heiress won't work there any more. It begins to look as if you not only had the discomfort of seeing McNair die right in front of you, you're not even going to be able to send anyone a bill for it..."
    No response. I said, "And besides, Cramer hasn't really any right to the red box at all. Legally it's yours. But if he gets hold of it he'll plunder it, don't think he won't. Then of course you could have your lawyer right him a letter."
    "Shut up, Archie." Wolfe put down his glass. "You are talking twaddle..."
    I grinned at him... "If I was the kind of man you are, I would just sit calmly in my chair with my eyes shut, and use psychology on it... Then I would say to someone else, Archie, please go at once to such and such a place and get the red box and bring it here. That way you could get hold of it before any of Cramer's men."
    "That will do." Wolfe was positive but unperturbed. "I'll tolerate the goad, Archie, only when it is needed. In the present case, I don't need that, I need facts; but I refuse to waste your energies and mine in assembling a collection of them which may be completely useless once the red box is found..."
    He got a little acid. "I choose to remind you of what my program contemplated yesterday: supervising the cooking of a goose, not watching a man die of poison. And yours for this morning: dricving to Mr Salzenbach's place at Garfield for a freshly butchered kid. Not pestering me with inanities..."

>110 lyzard: Well done! Re-reading this one, I didn't exactly remember who done it but I did remember the outlines of the genealogical plot twist if not the details. I've said before that I agree that this is where the series really starts to take off, and one of the key elements that has finally fallen into place is Archie's sense of humor, both in his narration to the reader and in his conversations with Wolfe. I think finding Archie's voice is really what pulled the whole thing together for Stout. It's handy to have someone on hand to puncture Wolfe's ego (echoing what readers are likely thinking) and saving him from what comes across like a jerk the way he does in the earlier books.

Poirot would have been a more endearing character if Hastings had snapped back once in a while ...

>109 swynn:

It's an important series and though I think she overdoes it a bit in this one the issues are (only too) valid.

It it WAS books, sure... :D

>111 rosalita:

I've never had a problem with Poirot; and actually at the moment I have more of a problem with some of Archie's attitudes than Wolfe's general monstrousness. :D

I think what that boils down to is that I don't have a problem with the detective being a jerk when the author is aware that the detective is being a jerk. It's when we're not supposed to react like that I have a problem. (I'm thinking of some of the more insufferable amateur detectives, like Philo Vance, for whom "jerk" is hardly adequate!)

Finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy for TIOLI #9.

Now reading The Man On The Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö.

>113 lyzard: at the moment I have more of a problem with some of Archie's attitudes
I will not stand for such disparagement of my first and favorite literary boyfriend! ;-)

And actually, I don't have a problem with Poirot, either; but I welcome any chance to get a dig in about Hastings. :D I've never read Philo Vance so I will take your word for that one. Although I am now reminded of a tweet I saw recently wherein someone complained about Dorothy L. Sayers that her Lord Wimsey series had "too much whimsy and not enough peter" which might have made me snort tea out my nose.

>115 rosalita:

Thought that'd get ya. :P

Actually there's a lot more peter in that series than anything else written at the time. :D

But yes, we can blame a lot of jerk detectives of the time on Dorothy and Peter, most of them were attempts to do the same sort of thing without the background and intelligence. Philo Vance is probably the most extreme example but sadly there were plenty of them!

>116 lyzard: there's a lot more peter in that series than anything else written at the time

Stop trying to tempt me to finally read them! :D

Publication date: 1969
Genre: Young adult
Series: The Three Investigators #11
Read for: Shared read

The Mystery Of The Talking Skull - For the experience of it, Jupiter Jones drags Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews to an action, where he ends up buying for a dollar an old trunk that once belonged to someone calling himself 'The Great Gulliver'. Jupiter and his trunk then become objects of great interest, with two different people trying to buy it, someone else trying to steal it, and a reporter telling a story of its former owner and his stage act, which involved a talking skull called Socrates---as did the act of fraud that landed the Great Gulliver in prison. When the boys get the trunk open, they find it full of magician's paraphernalia, in which is nestled the skull and its ivory stand. Their efforts to get the skull to talk are initially fruitless, but as they examine the rest of the Great Gulliver's things, Socrates sneezes... This series entry find The Three Investigators on the trail of a hidden fortune, a convoluted journey taken via a jailhouse letter, a piece of gypsy fortune-telling and of course some prodding from Socrates, who whispers to Jupiter when the two of them are alone. (The skull also teases Jupe's Aunt Mathilda, which is rather like poking the bear.) The boys think they've gotten rid of their problems when they decide to sell the trunk after all, passing it to the eccentric Mr Maximillian who claims to be an old friend of the Great Gulliver. However, they soon learn from Chief Reynolds that Maximillian's car was forced off the road and the trunk stolen; and when the thieves' attention turns back to the boys, they realise that they have to solve the mystery for their own safety. In passing over the trunk, Jupiter kept back a letter found in its lining, a cryptic note written to the Great Gulliver from his former cellmate, which points the way to the unrecovered proceeds of a bank robbery...

    Jupiter took Socrates up to his bedroom and placed him on his ivory base on the bureau. Then he went back downstairs to watch television.
    By the time he went to bed he had decided that Socrates couldn't possibly talk. The answer must be that the Great Gulliver, his owner, had been a very gifted ventriloquist.
    He had almost fallen asleep when a soft whistle roused him. It came again, and it sounded as if it were right in the room with him.
    Suddenly wide awake, Jupiter sat upright in bed.
    "Who's that? Is it you, Uncle Titus?" he asked, thinking for a moment that his uncle might be playing another joke.
    "It is I," came a soft, rather high-pitched voice from the darkness in the direction of the bureau. "Socrates."
    "Socrates?" Jupiter gulped.
    "The time has come...to speak. Do not turn on...the light. Just listen and...do not be frightened. Do you...understand?"

>115 rosalita: ha! I'm a confirmed Peter Wimsey fan, my first real literary crush. Is it any wonder that my favourite Wimseys are the ones that don't feature Harriet???

September stats:

Works read: 8
TIOLI: 8, in 8 different challenges, with 1 shared read

Mystery / thriller: 5
Young adult: 2
Historical drama: 1

Series works: 6
Re-reads: 1
Blog reads: 0
1932: 2
1931: 0
Virago / Persephone: 0
Potential decommission: 0

Owned: 0
Library: 3
Ebooks: 5

Male authors : female authors: 5 : 3

Oldest work: The Forsaken Inn by Anna Katharine Green (1890)
Newest work: Blanche Cleans Up by Barbara Neely (1998)

******

YTD stats:

Works read: 109
TIOLI: 109, in 98 different challenges, with 16 shared reads

Mystery / thriller: 56
Young adult: 14
Classic: 13
Contemporary drama: 7
Historical drama: 7
Non-fiction: 3
Historical romance: 2
Short story: 2
Humour: 2
Fantasy: 2
Children's fiction: 1

Series works: 71
Re-reads: 11
Blog reads: 0
1932: 4
1931: 13
Virago / Persephone: 3
Potential decommission: 0

Owned: 5
Library: 42
Ebooks: 61
Borrowed: 1

Male authors : female authors: 76 : 37 (including 2 using a male pseudonym)

Oldest work: Incognita; or, Love And Duty Reconcil'd by William Congreve (1692)
Newest work: Divorce Turkish Style by Esmahan Aykol (2007)

Only September!? That's...crushing...

>118 lyzard: I liked the talking skull aspect but jeepers! the plot in this one was a labyrinth. I'm impressed you were able to lay it out coherently — probably more coherently than it deserves. :-)

Also, I am sad to report that my ebook has Alfred Hitchcock once again has a famous detective, not a movie director. So annoying. I may have to stop reading the introductions — it's not like they add much if you already know the setup.

>119 Helenliz: That makes perfect sense to me, Helen. Thank heavens Archie only dallied with Lily Rowan; I would have been devastated if he had ever put a ring on it.

>121 lyzard: SLOTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think you snuck him in while I was replying to you and Helen — sneaky!

>117 rosalita:

Well, it's a much shorter series than anything else I've recommended to you (and as far as that goes, vice-versa!).

>119 Helenliz:

(-Harriet / +bell-ringing)?? :D

>122 rosalita:

Yes, much more convoluted than usual. It's funny, I remembered Socrates and I remembered the bit of business at the end with the stamp clue, but I didn't remember them as part of the same narrative.

>124 rosalita:

"The sloth is quicker than the eye", at least if we're talking about my poor eyes. :)

>125 lyzard: I am exactly that predictable. It's a close run thing with that and Murder Must Advertise.

Publication date: 1866
Genre: Classic
Series: Chronicles of Carlingford
Read for: Group read

Miss Marjoribanks - Lucilla Marjoribanks returns to Carlingford from school and travel at nineteen, fully determined to rearrange her father's house and the town to her own liking, and to make herself the leader of her little society. Dr Marjoribanks himself is both dismayed and annoyed by his daughter's managing ways, but when it is made clear Lucilla has more sense than disrupt his pleasures, he gives her her own way. Though she has no immediate thought of marriage, having coolly held off her devoted cousin, Tom, until his reluctant departure for India, Lucilla toys with the notion of Mr Cavendish, who local gossip as singled out as the likely new member for Carlingford, when the time arrives: thus offering a position that Lucilla considers herself qualified to occupy. Lucilla's social campaign begins brilliantly, with her first evening party a great success; but she also receives her first check when, in spite of himself, Mr Cavendish is drawn to the beautiful and talented but socially unsuitable Barbara Lake... The fifth work in Margaret Oliphant's novels set in the country town of Carlingford, Miss Marjoribanks is a curious novel---not least because it is possible to reach the end of it without ever being certain how the reader was expected to react to its heroine. Oliphant's own attitude towards Lucilla shifts throughout---with a definite note of satire in her depiction of Lucilla's social "triumphs' - petty enough, in truth - to a certain disapproval of her managing ways and independence, to a sense that Lucilla has a legitimate grievance against a society that gives her no useful outlet for her energies and talents, and no real option in life but marriage. The latter is underscored by what is, for a novel of this vintage, a strikingly negative attitude towards marriage generally: Carlingford seems filled with unhappily married women, who have done what that were taught they "must" do in securing a husband, but have gained only disappointment and harassing duties in return. It is an unspoken point of resentment of many that Lucilla, a wealthy only daughter, has a choice in the matter of marriage---but does she? As time passes, Lucilla toys with the notion, "trying on" this man and that as husband material; but the reality is, none of them get around to proposing... This darker thread, and the implications of a ten-year hiatus in the narrative, where we are left to assume that Lucilla's life contracts stiflingly into a weekly repetition of the same evening party, underlies what is often a humorous narrative---particularly with respect to Lucilla's talent for reading people and managing them to her own satisfaction...and to be fair, usually theirs too. This is most vividly illustrated by the tense and funny sequence of events that concludes the second volume, wherein Lucilla - having, in her usual manner, "tried on" a visiting religious dignitary as a husband - ends up rather ruefully bringing about his marriage to another woman; as well as spiking Mr Beverley's guns when it emerges he is in possession of a secret that might ruin Mr Cavendish, for whom Lucilla retains a soft spot in spite of his defection to Barbara Lake. But Lucilla will need all her talents, and all her courage, when a double tragedy strikes in her life, and threatens not merely to bring her down from the pinnacle of Carlingford, but to exclude her from society altogether...

    There were a great many reasons why this should be a critical period in Miss Marjoribanks's life. For one thing, it was the limit she had always proposed to herself for her term of young-ladyhood; and naturally, as she outgrew the age for them, she felt disposed to put away childish things. To have the control of society in her hands was a great thing; but still the mere means, without any end, was not worth Lucilla's while---and her Thursdays were almost a bore to her in her present stage of development. They occurred every week, to be sure, as usual; but the machinery was all perfect, and went on by itself, and it was not in the nature of things that such a light adjunct of existence should satisfy Lucilla, as she opened out into the ripeness of her thirtieth year.
    It was this that made Mr Ashburton so interesting to her, and his election a matter into which she entered so warmly, for she had come to an age at which she might have gone into Parliament herself had there been no disqualification of sex, and when it was almost a necessity for her to make some use of her social influence. Miss Marjoribanks had her own ideas in respect to charity, and never went upon ladies' committees, nor took any further share than what was proper and necessary in parish work; and when a woman has an active mind, and still does not care for parish work, it is a little hard for her to find a "sphere." And Lucilla, though she said nothing about a sphere, was still more or less in that condition of mind which has been so often and so fully described to the British public---when the ripe female intelligence, not having the natural resource of a nursery and a husband to manage, turns inwards, and begins to "make a protest" against the existing order of society, and to call the world to account for giving it no due occupation---and to consume itself.
    She was not the woman to make protests, nor claim for herself the doubtful honours of a false position; but she felt all the same that at her age she had outlived the occupations that were sufficient for her youth. To be sure, there were still the dinners to attend to, a branch of human affairs worthy of the weightiest consideration, and she had a house of her own, as much as if she had been half a dozen times married; but still there are instincts which go even beyond dinners, and Lucilla had become conscious that her capabilities were greater than her work. She was a Power in Carlingford, and she knew it; but still there is little good in the existence of a Power unless it can be made use of for some worthy end...

Publication date: 1840
Genre: Classic
Read for: C. K. Shorter challenge

The Life And Adventures Of Valentine Vox, The Ventriloquist - Henry Cockton's 1840 novel is a very strange and often exasperating book, albeit not without a certain interest. It is built around its protagonist's mastery of ventriloquism---at least, of that extreme form of ventriloquism that exists only in fiction, wherein the ventriloquist is able to assume any voice he likes, and have that voice appear from whatever direction or object he likes, without ever moving his lips. Our protagonist, Valentine Vox, acquires this unlikely ability as a young man, and thereafter fully half of this massively overlong novel is comprised of supposedly humorous scenes in which Valentine pranks people---scaring them, angering them, confusing them, starting arguments and fights, as the case may be, while he and the few people in the know chortle delightedly. If you don't happen to find practical joking funny - disclosure: I don't - it's gruelling. Valentine also, courtesy of his author, uses his powers to attack anyone who criticises any aspect of England, or proposes any change to its social arrangements---usually by the all-too-common method of exaggerating absurdly what the critics are supposedly saying and then mocking them for saying it. (Valentine, during this plot-thread, somehow morphs from a feckless young man new to London and bewildered by his surroundings into an insufferable know-it-all capable of delivering didactic lectures on anything.) This aspect of the novel is all the more frustrating and bizarre since Valentine Vox then goes on to expose one of the most horrifying abuses of Victorian society: the private asylums in which, for a fee, inconvenient people could be immured for life. When the first of his "jokes" blows up in his face, the young Valentine is packed off to London to stay with a friend of his great-uncle, a Mr Goodman. Not long after he arrives, however, Mr Goodman disappears. From his family, Valentine receives an unconvincing explanation of unsuccessful speculation, financial ruin, and a need to hide for a time; but the reader is privy to the truth: that Mr Goodman's brother, Walter, and his nephew, Horace, for fear that his growing affection for Valentine might prompt him to leave his fortune to the young man instead of to them, have had him declared insane and confined... The relentless ventriloquism scenes notwithstanding, if you do any reading around Valentine Vox, you will discover that the private-asylum plot, and the novel's depiction of the appalling contemporary treatment of the mentally ill, is the only aspect of the novel people talk about, or even seem to recall---justly enough, from one point of view: this seems to have been the first real protest against these abuses, and in this - and this alone - Valentine Vox is a serious and serviceable work of fiction. The private asylum plot follows two of the system's victims as they attempt to rebuild their shattered lives, and shattered minds---with Valentine's effort's to hold Mr Goodman's family to account running parallel with those of a Mr Whitely (the latter escaping after a twenty-year incarceration) to regain the children he lost when his wife's wealthy lover had him locked up. These grim narratives are woven, not always comfortably, into the much-lighter one of Valentine's romance and move towards marriage, and his dealings with his rather awful prospective father-in-law---with these meandering and seemingly disparate plot-threads finally coming dramatically together...

    "I believe that they have placed him in a madhouse," said Valentine. "I do go so far as to believe that; but I'll no more believe that he is mad than I'll believe that you are mad."
    "But if he's in a madhouse, he must be mad! They can't answer to put a man there unless he is; so that the fact of his being there is proof positive of his madness!---don't you see? The thing is as clear as the sun at noon-day."
    "Uncle," said Valentine, "you have not heard of the system upon which these private lunatic asylums are based; you have not heard that under that villainous system, men - perfectly sane men - can be seized, gagged, chained, and imprisoned for life, to promote the interests or to gratify the malignity of those to whom they are prompted by nature to look for affection; you have not heard that husbands can be incarcerated by wives, wives by husbands, brothers by sisters, sisters by brothers, sons by fathers, and fathers by sons; a system by---"
    "Now, before you go any further," said Uncle John, stopping in his usual manner; "have you?"
    "I have,'' replied Valentine; "and firmly believe that such things are of constant occurrence... What has the law to do with private lunatic asylums? They are virtually placed beyond the pale of the law. The private rules of each establishment absolutely form the constitution under which the inmates live; they are the only laws by which they are governed---the only laws to which they have the power to appeal.''
    "But their friends, my dear boy!---their friends!"
    "How can their friends act in ignorance of the matter? A man is stolen from society---from his home: he is carried away secretly: none but those who have been instrumental, and are interested, perhaps pecuniarily, in his capture, are cognisant of the place of his concealment: how, in such a case, then, can his friends appeal to the law, or act at all, not knowing where he is?"

Valentine Vox was read for the C. K. Shorter challenge; next up---


#46: Old St. Paul's by William Harrison Ainsworth (1841)




This is a good example of why I like the Shorter challenge: though he allowed himself only one book per author, he doesn't always choose the obvious one.

Ainsworth's most popular book (with the public, if not the critics) was Rookwood, which reworked the Dick Turpin story into a multi-generational revenge-plot: I blogged about it ages ago, here.

And it occurs to me I may end up blogging Old St. Paul's, too, since it apparently deals with the Great Plague and the Great Fire of London. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get away from those damned Stuarts!

Best-selling books in the United States for 1981:

1. Noble House by James Clavell
2. The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
3. Cujo by Stephen King
4. An Indecent Obsession by Colleen McCullough
5. Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
6. Masquerade by Kit Williams
7. Goodbye, Janette by Harold Robbins
8. The Third Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders
9. The Glitter Dome by Joseph Wambaugh
10. No Time for Tears by Cynthia Freeman

1981 gives us an increasingly familiar mix of trash, thrillers, and historical fiction.

The main anomaly here is Kit Williams' Masquerade, an "armchair treasure hunt" picture-book, which offered its readers the chance to follow clues and find a small golden hare hidden by the author.

Harold Robbins' Goodbye, Janette occasionally interrupts its kinky and violent sex scenes to tell of the rise of a female-built fashion-house post-WWII.

Stephen King's Cujo is the story of the havoc wrought by a rabid St Bernard.

John Irving's The Hotel New Hampshire follows an eccentric family through tragedy, sexual transgression and hotel management.

Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park is a Soviet-set, Cold War thriller about a brutal triple murder in Moscow. Joseph Wambaugh's The Glitter Dome is a police procedural about murder in Hollywood; while Lawrence Sanders' The Third Deadly Sin, part of his Edward X. Delaney series, is about a retired cop tracking a female serial killer.

Cynthia Freeman's No Time for Tears is an historical novel that follows a Jewish family from turn-of-the-20th century Odessa through WWII to Israel. Colleen McCullough's An Indecent Obsession is about a nurse caring for emotionally and mentally traumatised ex-servicemen post-WWI, who becomes involved with one of her patients.

1981's best-seller was another work of historical fiction, James Clavell's Noble House.

Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell was born in Sydney in 1921, while his naval officer father was stationed in Australia. The family returned to England nine months later.

At the outbreak of WWII, Clavell enlisted in the Royal Artillery but, despite being trained for desert warfare, ended up being sent to Singapore, surviving the sinking of his ship along the way. He was wounded and captured by the Japanese in 1942, and served out the war as a prisoner in Changi.

Post-war, Clavell's military career ended after a motorcycle accident, and he enrolled at the University of Birmingham. Here he met his future wife, actress April Stride, and through her became interested in film-making. Clavell later moved to New York, then Hollywood, trying to sell his screenplays (written under the name "James Clavell", though I can find no explanation of why); eventually he was hired to write the iconic 50s science-fiction film, The Fly. Clavell continued to write screenplays and later became a director; but while he continued to work in film, the Writers' Guild strike of 1960 saw him also turn to writing fiction.

Clavell's first novel, King Rat, based upon his experiences in Changi, was a popular and critical success; and eventually novel-writing became his main focus. Tai-Pan, published in 1966 and set in Hong Kong during the 1840s, became the first work in Clavell's "Asian Saga", a number of which became best-sellers. The novels are interconnected, with his main characters' ancestors or descendants appearing in his narratives, and with his own alter-ego, Peter Marlowe, the protagonist of King Rat, also appearing in Noble House. In 1980, Clavell acted as producer for the television adaptation of his third novel, Shōgun.

After being diagnosed with cancer, James Clavell travelled to Switzerland for treatment but died of a stroke in 1994.

Publication date: 1981
Genre: Historical drama
Read for: Best-seller challenge

Noble House - James Clavell's 1966 novel, Tai-Pan, describes the creation of Struan's, a trading-house, in the new crown colony of Hong Kong, and the literally piratical practices of its founders. Set 120 years later, Noble House picks up the story of Struan's - known as "the Noble House" - and its tai-pan, Ian Struan Dunross. Taking over management of the company in 1961, Dunross is forced to deal with a series of financial crises that threaten its very existence. In his judgement, the only way of raising the funds that Struan's needs to survive is by taking the company public, and this he does over the objections of some of the family members and connections who make up its board of directors. By these means Struan's is saved---but it is also left vulnerable to outside attack... Two years later, with the company still under threat, Dunross seeks to expand its operations and reach through a partnership with American businessman, Lincoln Barlett, who is looking to invest in Asia. Dunross is unaware, however, that Bartlett is also in contact with, Quillan Gornt, a rival tai-pan and his deadliest enemy for family and personal reasons, and also that there is a traitor in the ranks of the Noble House... Like so many of our recent best-sellers, Noble House is a wearyingly overlong novel---and has all the less excuse for it inasmuch as it covers a single week in the life of its characters. The main plot, which describes Ian Dunross's combat with his business enemies both overt and covert, sits side-by-side with one of equal length and detail dealing with the attempted Soviet infiltration of Hong Kong and China. The two come together when Dunross receives his regular report from a secret political agent in the British government, which indicates that there is a Soviet agent in the highest ranks of the Hong Kong police, and a mole within Struan's. The battle for possession of Dunross's documents crosses paths with his fight to save his business empire and flush out the traitor in its ranks. There are numerous issues with Noble House, the overriding one being its assumption that the reader finds painstakingly detailed accounts of business deals, banking crises, stock-market manipulation and general financial chicanery not just fascinating in themselves, but admirable conduct on the part of those responsible: in the latter we the reflection of James Clavell's own admiration of Ayn Rand and the theories of laissez-faire capitalism. Meanwhile, this is one of those male-authored novels that blithely assumes that everything its male protagonist does, thinks and says is inherently compelling, and the reader is therefore dragged through the minutiae of Dunross's social and family life and his traditional obligations as "the taipan" as well as his battles with his enemies. Frankly, the B-plot - if you can reasonably call an account of Soviet espionage "B" - is more interesting, as is the C-plot of crime and corruption and violence, not least because it is via these that the novel penetrates into all aspects of contemporary Hong Kong, and allows for a vivid portrait of its geographical, social and political structures at this point in its history. One aspect of this portrait, however, increasingly stuck in my throat---not because it wasn't accurate, and not because I want revisionist history, but because of the tone of James Clavell's writing. For all its apparent understanding of Hong Kong, too many of the actual Asian characters feel like stereotypes; while another problematic aspect of this novel is that is unabashedly about "a man's world". There is an infuriatingly smug note in Clavell's depiction of a time when men were men and women were sex objects: we're left in little doubt of his approval of this particular social arrangement. In this respect, the author's handling of Kamalian Ciranoush Tcholok - Casey - Lincoln Barrett's brilliant associate, who struggles unavailingly against exclusion and sexism as she tries to operate in the disapproving Hong Kong business world is little short of dishonest---and not short at all of tacky---in that whenever we hear about Casey's intelligence or capabilities, we also have to hear about her breasts. There are many tiresome elements in this endurance test of a novel, but in the long run - the extremely long run - that might be the most exasperating.

    Everyone began talking but Haply called out, "Tai-pan, may I ask a question?"
    Again attention zeroed. "What is it?"
    "I understand it's customary in takeovers for there to be a down payment, in cash, a measure of good faith. May I ask how much Struan's is putting up?"
    Everyone waited breathlessly, watching Dunross. He held the pause as his eyes raked the faces, enjoying the excitement, knowing everyone wanted him humbled, almost everyone except...except who? Casey for one, even though she's in the know. Bartlett? I don't know, not for certain. Claudia? Oh yes, Claudia was staring at him, white-faced. Donald McBride, Gavallan, even Jacques.
    His eyes stopped on Martin Haply. "Perhaps Mr Pugmire would prefer to have that detail in private," he said, leading them on. "Eh, Pug?"
    Gornt interrupted Pugmire and said, as a challenge, "Ian, since you've decided to be unorthodox, why not make it all public? How much you put down measures the value of your tender. Doesn't it?"
    "No. Not really," Dunross said. He heard the distant muted roar of the off for the third race and was sure, watching the faces, that no one heard it except him. "Oh, very well," he said, matter of fact. "Pug, how about $2 million, U.S., with the papers at 9.30 Monday? In good faith."
    A gasp went up through the room. Havergill, Johnjohn, Southerby, Gornt, were aghast. Phillip Chen almost fainted. Involuntarily Havergill began, "Ian, don't you think we, er, th---"
    Dunross wheeled on him. "Oh, don't you consider it enough, Paul?"
    "Oh yes, yes of course, more than enough, but, er..." Havergill's words trailed off under Dunross's gaze.
    "Oh for a moment..." Dunross stopped, pretending to have a sudden thought. "Oh, you needn't worry, Paul, I haven't committed you without your approval of course. I have alternate financing for this deal, external financing," he continued with his easy charm. "As you know, Japanese banks and many others are anxious to expand into Asia. I thought it better---to keep everything secret and prevent the usual leaks---to finance this externally until I was ready to announce. Fortunately the Noble House has friends all over the world!"

Finished The Man On The Balcony for TIOLI #4.

Now reading Flowering Wilderness by John Galsworthy.

(Just a slight tonal shift there.)

Finished Flowering Wilderness for TIOLI #17.

Now reading Kim by Rudyard Kipling.

(Not such a tonal shift there.)

>133 lyzard: Yeah, Casey was wasted opportunity. I liked her as a foil to the hypermasculine, misogynistic Hong King business world, so when in the end she decided for domestic partner over business partner I was ... disappointed. In hindsight, there were constant hints that the author was taking the business-bros' side all along, and you were probably ahead of those hints long before I was.

Publication date: 1884
Genre: Classic
Read for: Nobel Prize for Literature challenge

With Fire And Sword (original title: Ogniem i Mieczem; translated by W. S. Kuniczak) - Written during one of the darkest periods in Poland's history - being Poland, we can't even say "the" darkest - the aftermath of the failed uprising of 1863 and the consequent partitioning of the country, Henryk Sienkiewicz's 1884 historical novel was intended, in the author's own words, to "lift up the heart" of the Polish people---which is important to know at the outset, as Sienkiewicz is sometimes considered as having placed himself on the wrong side of history. With Fire And Sword recounts the mid-17th century rebellion of the Cossacks against the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, a war which was part-religious, part-territorial, and in which, in Sienkiewicz's view, both sides to the conflict were wrong. The leader of the revolt, Bohdan Zenobius Hmyelnitzki, is depicted as driven chiefly by his lust for personal power, though he presents himself as fighting for the rights of his downtrodden people; and is criticised for, in effect, making a deal with the devil in his pursuit of power, by forming an alliance with the Crimean Tartars---the latter offering troops in exchange for prisoners of war to be sold as slaves. Simultaneously, Sienkiewicz condemns the selfishness and arrogance of the Polish aristocrats, who ruled their feudal domains with an iron fist, and violated whatever rights, laws and treaties that didn't happen to suit them: it is an attempt by one aristocrat to seize Hmyelnitzki's land that triggers - or is made the excuse to trigger - the rebellion. They are, furthermore, too busy squabbling amongst themselves to take the rising Cossack threat as seriously as they should, and later allow their personal jealousy and dislike of Prince Yeremi Vishnovyetz, Poland's most brilliant military tactician, to keep him from being placed in full command of the Commonwealth forces, with disastrous consequences. With Fire And Sword covers the period from 1647 - 1649, from the first stirrings of conflict through to the brutal siege of Zbarazh, which ended in an inconclusive (and temporary) peace. In describing the war, the author gives full measure of credit to the extraordinary bravery and endurance of the men on both sides, while sparing no detail of the savagery of the mostly hand-to-hand combat nor of the appalling atrocities committed by all involved. However, it is in the young officers of the Commonwealth forces that Sienkiewicz finds the personal characteristics that he was looking for - honour, courage, devotion to duty, love of country - in order to inspire his Polish readers; and his story is told predominantly from that perspective. His protagonist is Yan Skshetuski, a lieutenant of the notorious winged hussars, who is the very embodiment of those qualities; though thankfully, we spend as much or more time with the less perfect, and more interesting, supporting cast---in particular the minor noble, Zagloba, at the outset an untrustworthy, manoeuvring braggart, but a man with the capacity to think lightning fast when threatened, and who finally rises above himself. In the translation of Polish-American W. S. Kuniczak, With Fire And Sword is - though this may seem a strange thing to complain about - a bit too easy to read; by which I mean, it doesn't read like a 19th century novel, still less a 19th century historical novel: there is a sense that the narrative has been simplified (though certainly not shortened), with the language too "smooth" and occasionally marked by anachronistic phrasing. However, given the length of the novel and the complexity of its subject matter, a desire to somewhat ease the modern reader through it can be understood.

    Hmyelnitzki knew at one glance what was about to happen, and tried to reform his battle front and shield his infantry with horsemen of his own, but he had neither the time nor the drilled men for such a difficult manoeuvre. Before he could do more than shout the necessary orders the Prince's riders were in full gallop and hurtling down on his jostling and disoriented masses. And here again the unpredictable Prince Yeremi did something that neither Hmyelnitzki nor anyone else expected: he reversed a century of tradition and sent the armoured mass of his hussaria charging first like the iron head of a battering ram into the densely packed ranks of the Zaporohjans. They hurtled upon the Cossacks like a falling mountain. They seemed to fly across the bloody plain as if the wings that curved upward from their shoulders were real, and not man-made devices designed to goad their horses into greater fury and to protect the riders from the Tartar lariats.
    "Bij! Zabij!"
    Their rhythmic battle cry promised death to anyone that heard it.
    The wind cracked and rattled through their wings as if they were eagles hurtling at their prey. Their lance pennons whirred and hissed like a pit full of serpents preparing to strike and their chainmail and armourplate ground and grated with a harsh metallic sound.
    "Strike!" they cried. "Kill!"
    Their long, wooden lances ripped open a yawning gateway in the dark human wall that turned to dust before them, and they crashed through that sudden void into a frenzied mass of men who barely had the time to clutch their heads before they were hurled down, thrown onto the spears of their own panicked comrades and trampled into the ground.
    No one---not even the most feared and iron-willed commander---could have held those stricken foot regiments in place after that. They reeled, staggered and burst apart like a stone shattered with an iron bar.
    A mindless panic seized the picked men of Hmyelnitzki's Byelotzerkvian guard. These were Yarema's Devils who were killing them! The Zaporohjans threw down their firelocks, spears, scythes, javelins and sabres and ran, with their fists clenched in their own hair and uttering a protracted wail of superstitious terror, straight at the massed ranks of the Tartars who waited behind them...

>136 swynn:

Casey is punished for the error of her ways, not the error of others' ways.

I found it pretty infuriating that though she was effectively the means by which Struan's was saved that ended up being just one more black mark against her. But the whole situation with her and Bartlett is unconvincing: if they'd agreed not to get involved while building the business, or if she was worried about the boss / employee imbalance, okay; but the "I won't sleep with you until I've earned x" stuff is just an artificial way of keeping them apart until Bartlett can fall for a properly submissive woman without (technically) cheating on her.

Just one more Forstye to go then.

Margaret Allingham - where have you got to? I think I'm a couple behind you, I'm planning on moving on with these next year.

>139 Helenliz:

And I was thinking of trying to read Over The River for your challenge this month (my other options don't feel project-y enough), but it turns out it's tricky to get hold of. It must be online somewhere, though not at PG, but I'd rather have the book, of course. My local library has something by Galsworthy called 'The End Of The Chapter', which I presume is an omnibus of the last trilogy but with no catalogue detail at all, so I might hunt that out (it's in the stack).

Um. Didn't we have this conversation LAST December?? :D

I've been stuck at #8, The Case Of The Late Pig, forever and would be glad of a shove to get moving again. If you let me know when you catch up we could do shared reads---though we'd have to alternate months with my Nero Wolfe / Three Investigators shares: I am, to coin a phrase, a bit overbooked...

If it helps, End of the Chapter is books 7, 8 & 9, so *should* include End of the Chapter.

Yes, but I got rather sidetracked with a project that I am just about (hopefully, fingers crossed) to finish. I think that puts you 2 ahead of me, I'll shout when I get there.

>141 Helenliz:

Yeah it should be that but no contents or edition details are given so I'll have to go see for myself.

No worries! - always plenty of other projects. aren't there?? Just give me a shout when you're ready to go. :)

>140 lyzard: Have you ever browsed at standardebooks.org? Though I note the only Galsworthy they appear to have is The Forsyte Saga, but it might be useful for future searches.

>143 rosalita:

Thanks for the reminder, that's another source to try; though it sounds like (as with most collections) they only have the overt Forsyte books, not the last trilogy.

Bingo:

>145 lyzard: Good.

>146 Helenliz:

A rare instance of my library being directly useful, not just a conduit for ILLs. :)

Have you asked Santa for this:

https://www.papersource.com/desk/sloth-icon-pen-0810094256791.html

>148 kac522:

Hi, Kathy! Ha! - thanks for that, it's adorable! :D

That feeling when...

...your book lists and your tags don't add up. :(

ETA: Phew! - a typo in a tag from November. :D

Finished Kim for TIOLI #11.

And because I keep forgetting I need to read this at all---

---now reading Return Of The Jedi: The Storybook Based On The Movie by Joan D. Vinge.

Kim was read for my Nobel Prize for Literature challenge, in which I am reading a representative novel by those winners who were noted as novelists (whether or not they won for their novels):

The story so far:

1901: Sully Prudhomme (France) - poetry, essay
1902: Theodor Mommsen (Germany) - history, law
1903: Bjornstjerne Bjornson (Norway) - poetry, novel, drama (novel read: Synnøve Solbakken, reviewed here)
1904 (joint winner): Frédéric Mistral (France) - poetry, philology
1904 (joint winner): José Echegaray (Spain) - drama
1905: Henryk Sienkiewicz (Poland) - novel (novel read: With Fire And Sword, reviewed here)
1906: Giosuè Carducci (Italy) - poetry
1907: Rudyard Kipling (United Kingdom) - novel, short story, poetry (novel read: Kim)
1908: Rudolf Christoph Eucken (Germany) - philosophy
1909: Selma Lagerlöf (Sweden) - novel, short story

Lagerlöf was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterise her writings".

Though unlike many winners Lagerlöf's career went on many years beyond her Nobel Prize, it seems reasonable to choose a work that influenced her recognition; and I am likely to go with her first novel, Gösta Berling's Saga.

(If anyone wants to weigh in here, please do!)

The other work that caught my eye was Körkarlen, from 1912, which was the source for the 1921 silent horror movie, The Phantom Carriage. This novel was first translated as Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!, but later reissued as The Phantom Carriage.

Yesterday was the last open day of the year for my academic library, so I went in to return the books I'd finished with---meaning that I had to carry Michener AND Clavell AND Sienkiewicz, plus a couple of others.

That was fun.

Of course I replaced those five books with five more, but the weight differential was rather absurd.

Noting too that my reading seems to be sliding backwards rather than forwards:

Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol (1835)
Old St. Paul's by William Harrison Ainsworth (1841)
The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope (1865)
The Phantom Carriage by Selma Lagerlöf (1912)
World's End by Upton Sinclair (1940)

Finished Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi Storybook for TIOLI #4.

Now reading Over The River by John Galsworthy.

I am in the unfamiliar situation of actually owning next month's best-seller...if I can find it.

I know what box it should be in, but...

Happy Christmas from my Christmas gnome!

>156 SandDune:

Thanks so much, Rhian, you too!

LOVE the gnome. :D

The January TIOLI is up - eep! - which is of course forcing me to think about next month's reading.

At the moment we have this:

- The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope {group read}
- The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub {best-seller challenge}
- Old St. Paul's by William Harrison Ainsworth {C. K. Shorter challenge}
- World's End by Upton Sinclair {random reading}
- Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout {shared read}
- The Secret Of The Crooked Cat by William Arden {shared read}

As noted, Rare Books is off-limits again, so that means I'm cut off from some of my material including the next Mystery League challenge book. Furthermore the academic library generally is closed until the 9th January so I can't request storage books until then.

OTOH an area of reading that I am getting into at the moment is tracking down the source novels of early / silent science fiction and fantasy movies. I am currently contemplating the following:

- The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Hanns Heinz Ewers (the first in a trilogy, with the second book, Alraune, being the key work; but of course I can't read that alone, can I?)
- Körkarlen by Selma Lagerlöf (source of the 1921 film, The Phantom Carriage)
- L'Atlantide by Pierre Benoit (filmed several times, first in 1921 as L'Atlantide / Queen Of Atlantis)

I also have a handful of series nearing completion. This includes John Dickson Carr's Henri Bencolin books in which, as noted above, a handful of standalone short stories preceded the "official" series. I have found a source for these and may start working through them.

That should keep me occupied. :)

Well.

We've long had a running joke here that our only choices for Christmas weather are stinking hot or cold and rainy.

Today it seems to be doing both---with a forecast of rising temperatures, but threatening showers at the moment. Not surprising, really, as these days we are rarely allowed to have more than one day of clear blue skies before the rain settles in again.

This is also an area of adjusted expectations, as over those last two years we've only cracked 30C on a handful of occasions.

It's all very strange and disturbing.

Be all that as it may---very best wishes to my thread visitors, and with apologies as to my own slackness in visiting other threads. (I'm sure you won't be astonished to hear of my resolutions for next year...)

>159 lyzard: LOVE your Christmas card, Liz!

Wishing you a merry Christmas, Liz, regardless of the weather. You'll not be at all surprised to know that it is going to be grey, wet & miserable here.

>160 MickyFine:

Thanks, Mickey! :)

>161 Helenliz:

Plenty familiar with that sort of thing, although after some indecision it has indeed settled on 30C and blue skies here.

Thanks, Helen; have a great day!

(And pssst, while you're here...)

Finished Over The River for TIOLI #5, and FINISHED A SERIES!!

In fact, finished a saga.

To be clear--- I have finished the three trilogies and four "interludes" which make up the main narrative of John Galsworthy's 'Forsyte Saga' (which according to my notes I have been reading since 2014 {!}).

I have not read On Forsyte 'Change, a collection of short stories that pre-dates that narrative: there are arguments over whether this should be considered part of the series. Of course this twitches my OCD a bit...but it occurs to me that (i) John Galsworthy won the Nobel Prize for Literature, (ii) I will hit him sooner of later in my NP challenge, and (iii) I can tie up this loose end then.

That being the case, I'M CALLING IT.

Let us celebrate with this family of pygmy marmosets!---

...and now the slightly panicky feeling that comes with actually finishing something. :D

Supplemented this time by a surfeit of online works, necessitating a book *and* a bath book...

Hmm.

Now reading Gay Go Up by Anne Hepple; also reading The Twister by Edgar Wallace.

>165 Helenliz: Hurrah!!
Isn't Dimity so much better than Fleur? I feel it goes through a dip in the middle, before redeeming itself in the final trilogy.

>163 lyzard: Well, aren't they just the cutest little family unit! A fitting celebration for finishing a Saga.

On another note, I've finished Winds of Evil so have only one more book to read before we can continue with Bony together, if that's still in your very busy reading plans. Let me know what you are thinking of regarding timing, so I can figure out where to slot that last solo read. I don't want to read it too soon or leave it too late, but I'm totally flexible otherwise.

Malaysia's branch of the 75er's wishes you and yours a happy holiday season, Liz

>165 Helenliz:

Anything would be. :D

I agree, though I do have some issues with Galsworthy's female characters including Dinny.

>166 rosalita:

Wow, you have burned through them!

I'm happy to leave it up to you. For practicality we will have to alternate shared reads and now I will have four to juggle, so presumably two per month (in addition to my challenge reading with Steve, yike!).

On that basis we can begin either in February or April, whichever suits you best.

>167 PaulCranswick:

Thanks so much, Paul, my best to you and yours. :)

Finished The Twister for TIOLI #6.

Now reading Inspector Frost And The Waverdale Fire by Herbert Maynard Smith; still reading Gay Go Up by Anne Hepple.

>169 lyzard: I'm going to pencil it in for February, but just know that if your circumstances need it to be moved to April that is absolutely fine with me.

Just to make sure we are on the same page, here are the reads I think we are sharing:

* The Three Investigators—I think this is an odd-numbered month read, so next one is up in January?
* Nero Wolfe—same as T3I, I think?
* Inspector Bonaparte—an even-numbered month read, next one in February.

Am I leaving anything out, or have I got anything the wrong way 'round?

>172 rosalita:

No, that's right: Nero Wolfe and The Three Investigators in odd number months, Bony (and for me and Helen, Albert Campion) in even number months.

Ulp! :D

We can say February, then, if you're okay with pushing through The Bone Is Pointed, but don't rush it or feel obliged, April is also fine.

Finished Gay Go Up for TIOLI #7.

Still reading Inspector Frost And The Waverdale Fire by H. Maynard Smith.

Finished Inspector Frost And The Waverdale Fire for TIOLI #15...

...and also finished 2022, ulp!

This brings me to a total of 144 for the year. Because of all the chunksters, I didn't think I'd get anywhere near my 150 target, and am now unreasonably annoyed at so near / so far.

Of course I'm nowhere near getting my reviews finished. I did hope to get to the end of October on this thread, but I just haven't been feeling it lately. However, I'm thankfully in nothing like the mess I was this time last year, so I'll continue on in my new thread: fingers crossed that setting it up and all the new group activity gets me motivated!

Reminder that there will be a group read of Anthony Trollope's The Belton Estate in January.

I will set the thread up over the weekend, but we probably won't make a formal start until Monday at the earliest, so no pressure on our participants.

All welcome!

I am mildly panicked at the realization that I still have four more reviews to write for books I finished this year. I really want to post them before January, but I don't want to write them. That's a problem. :-)

>177 rosalita:

Four!? Brag, brag, brag... :D

My brain is currently in movie-stuff mode and won't co-operate no matter how long I spend staring at the pile of books sitting next to my computer. Also the weather has turned nasty again* after a whole four days' worth of niceness and I just want to bundle up with the boys.

(*Though on reflection I probably shouldn't be saying that to you: how are conditions in your neck of the woods?)

>178 lyzard: how are conditions in your neck of the woods?

Completely bananas weather here right now. One week ago today we had a blizzard with temperatures of -10F/-23C. Today the high temperature was 61F/16C and all the snow is gone.

It won't last (the temperature is scheduled to be back down around freezing tomorrow) but I'll take any respite I can get from winter, no matter how brief!

>179 rosalita:

It's yo-yo-ing here too, though not to your extent of course. We had a stretch of decent weather, heat and blue skies, for about the first time in two years and then blam, the temperature dropped and it's miserable and rainy again. (And just in time to mess up the cricket.)

Mind you, you need to be careful what you pray for: we're coming out of our third consecutive La Niña (a record, I believe) and they're saying that when the rain finally does move away we'll be getting heatwave conditions and drought instead. :(

I guess we just have to accept that there's no normal any more, but it's hard when you're my age and remember differently. It's kind of the reverse of the old 'walking ten miles through the snow to school' stories: "I remember when the weather was perfectly predictable and extreme events were uncommon!" "Sure, grandma, let's get you to bed."

>180 lyzard: I think we are about the same age and I know exactly what you mean. It's unsettling to have no idea what the weather is going to do after a lifetime of pretty predictable behavior.

Re: heat and drought — I'm ready! All my life I was much more tolerant of cold and hated the heat, but in 2008 my internal thermostat switched and now it's the exact opposite. I am now the person wearing a sweater year-round and whining about my perpetually cold hands and feet. Sigh.

>181 rosalita:

I said something like that when the rain and cold were at their worst and now I feel like the karma bus might be coming to get me.

Ha! - I've done the reverse, gone from unable to stand the cold to really feeling it whenever the temperature lifts a bit. :D

Happy New Year, Liz.

Thank you as always for making "obscure" books more familiar to so many of us.

I look forward to keeping up with you again this year.

>183 PaulCranswick:

Thanks so much, Paul!

I suppose we're both on the other side by now---best wishes for a happy and safe New Year. :)

So how is 2023 looking down there? Should we make the jump or just stay here in 2022?

>185 rosalita:

So far 2023 is looking exactly like 2022, i.e. it's raining.

(Though to be fair, whether or not the fireworks seed the clouds as some people think, it nearly always does rain here on New Year's Day.)

Anyhoo...I have in fact set up my new digs, over here. Though when I say 'new', only the thread-topper and the quote have changed, there's still no reviewing happening!

The big question is whether *you're* going to have a thread this year?...or whether you're going to announce that you're not having one and then sneakily set one up when no-one's looking?? :D

>186 lyzard: whether you're going to announce that you're not having one and then sneakily set one up when no-one's looking??

Who, me? *whistles innocently*

I WILL have a thread again with the ROOT Challenge, but the 2023 group hasn't been created yet. It's a refreshing change from the 75ers, where people rush into the new year before the old one's finished. I will post a link on thisyear's thread once I've settled into the new place. What you do with it is up to you! :-D

>187 rosalita:

Oh I'll probably manage to stop by amongst the rush of all my visiting... :D

Anyway! - that's a wrap here, and a wrap for the year: please drop by my new digs and say hello - here.