FEBRUARY MysteryKit: Vintage Mysteries

I I read many genres of fiction and one of my favorites are mysteries. I am particularly drawn to Vintage Mysteries- mysteries that were originally published in the 1920s and 30s. This time period has become known as the Golden Age of Mysteries and the choice
is plentiful.

Authors such as Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, John Dickson Carr, E.C.R. Lorac, G.K. Chesterton & Dorothy Bowers were all publishing in this time period as were many more. My challenge to you is to read a vintage mystery in Febuary and let us know how you felt about it.

The world of mystery is vast and full of unexpected twists and turns. I hope you enjoy the book you chose to read, and please add your choice to the Wiki if you so desire.

The Wiki can be found here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025_MysteryKIT

read many genres of fiction and one of my favorites are mysteries. I am particularly drawn to Vintage Mysteries- mysteries that were originally published in the 1920s and 30s. This time period has become known as the Golden Age of Mysteries and the choice
is plentiful.

Authors such as Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, John Dickson Carr, E.C.R. Lorac, G.K. Chesterton & Dorothy Bowers were all publishing in this time period as were many more. My challenge to you is to read a vintage mystery in Febuary and let us know how you felt about it.

The world of mystery is vast and full of unexpected twists and turns. I hope you enjoy the book you chose to read, and please add your choice to the Wiki if you so desire.

The Wiki can be found here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2025_MysteryKIT

I am planning on reading The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin.

Planning to read Bodies from the Library, a collection of rare Golden Age stories edited by Tony Medawar.

I took a bullet for Murder After Christmas last month, so I will be reading that for this month's challenge.

I might continue with my intermittent read through of Agatha Christie's works, although I have reached the 1950s.

Reading of British Library Crime Classics on Kindle Unlimited will continue! There are so many to choose from - I will narrow it down closer to February.

I'll read Fast One by Paul Cain.

I'm planning on The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer.

I have an omnibus of Ngaio Marsh. It'll be the perfect excuse to pick it up and choose a story or two!

I may pick up either a Ngaio Marsh or an Agatha Christie.

I'll be reading The Secret Adversary.

I'm looking forward to everyone's comments about the books hey are going to read - lots of excellent choices!

I have so many Golden Age mysteries that I'm having difficulty choosing. The kind of problem I like.

I'll be reading Why Shoot a Butler which will be my first Georgette Heyer. I picked this up 2nd hand and they didn't have #1. Anyone know if I can read this as a stand alone?

>14 beebeereads: Yes, all of Heyer’s mysteries can be read as standalones, in my opinion.

I'll be reading Secret Adversary and The Dead Shall Be Raised

>15 MissWatson: Thank you. I look forward to reading this. I am not a big mystery classics reader but I am trying to commit to meeting more of the challenges this year. This looks like it will be a good read.

I have finished Die Fieberkurve by Friedrich Glauser which was published in 1937, in which Sergeant Studer travels from Switzerland to Paris and then Algeria in a very complicated case.

I've picked up Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh - I'm just a few pages in and I'd forgotten what an absolute delight her prose is!

I just finished Agatha Christie's The Seven Dials Mystery, originally published in 1929. I hadn't read this one in a long time, but I remembered a lot of the plot points, and it was fun to see how Christie pulls off the unexpected solution! It's not so much a mystery as it is a combo of thriller and farce, but it's a good read if you like that sort of thing.

I've finished two Agatha Christie books: Murder is Easy and The Sittaford Mystery.

I'll be reading Villa in Italy by Elizabeth Edmondson It is hailed as a vintage mystery in the ad at both Amazon and Audible. But if not, I will find a Christie.

I have completed the silly, funny and highly readable The Moving Toyshop by Edmund Crispin.

>23 DeltaQueen50: I love his books. I discovered them as a teenager and hoped I would grow up to be Gervase Fen.

26. Murder For Christmas by Francis Duncan ★★½

When Mordecai Tremaine arrives at the country retreat of one Benedict Grame on Christmas Eve, he discovers that the revelries are in full swing in the sleepy village of Sherbroome--but so too are tensions amongst the assortment of guests. When midnight strikes, the partygoers discover that presents aren't the only things nestled under the tree...there's a dead body too. A dead body that bears a striking resemblance to Father Christmas. With the snow falling and suspicions flying, it's up to Mordecai to sniff out the culprit--and prevent anyone else from getting murdered for Christmas.

You can tell when reading this that they are trying to be Hercule Poirot-like with the character of Mordecai Tremaine and fail heavily. This book is very wordy with the detective doing most of the talking. Not a lot of character-building or motive-building for the house of suspects. This is a series I can pass on.

I erroneously chose this book from Libby instead of Murder After Christmas, the book bullet I meant to read. However, it is a golden age mystery, so it still fits the category

I read Murder in Three Acts (originally published as Three Act Tragedy) by Agatha Christie. It's a 1934 Poirot novel.

I just finished Murder On the Orient Express. My second Agatha Christie novel.

I have finished Arsène Lupin, gentleman cambrioleur published in 1907, where we meet the gentleman-thief on board a transatlantic liner bound for New York. His remarkable career lasted until 1941, which puts him into the Golden Age timeframe.

I am reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie.

I read The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black.
I know parodied classics are often not well accepted by fans of the original works but this one was handled with expertise. Irish author Benjamin Black, also known as John Banville, has brought Chandler’s Marlowe to life in this hard-boiled tale. Very enjoyable.

I read The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer. Heyer was good at characterization, but fell short of Christie and Sayers in trailing red herrings. It was a fun period read.

I ended up reading The Golden Ball by Dame Agatha.

I have read Schlumpf Erwin Mord which is the original title for Friedrich Glauser’s first Swergeant Studer novel. This was actual a re-read with a different edition. It has lots of additional material and notes where they restored the text from the manuscript. As it turned out, most of these are very small. But the first drafts for two of the chapters were interesting to see.

I read two books by Agatha Christie, who is definitely a Vintage author even if these particular books do not fall within the Vintage period.

Dead Man's Folly (Poirot)
4.50 From Paddington (Miss Marple)

I read The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie although I felt this wasn't one of her better stories.

>36 DeltaQueen50: I have been watching You Tube (free channel) about books and reviews. Someone doing her reviews said yesterday, some books of Agatha Christie she did not really like but there are no bad books.

I finally finished Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh. I loved the writing and the story - the end was an easy guess but Marsh goes a good job of bringing the reader along Alleyn's investigation.

I read Fell Murder by E.C.R. Lorac.
Lorac portrays the Lancashire landscape beautifully in this mystery set in a farming community during WWII. Characters are well-developed and described just as skillfully. The victim was unsurprising, and although there were a number of suspects to choose from, the murderer was not unexpected and made for a satisfying conclusion. Written in 1944 this is one of the better Golden Age mysteries.

I finished The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. It is not up there with her best ones, but I did enjoy it very much. And I hadn't read a Poirot novel for a few years and realized again that generally, I prefer novels featuring him over her stand alones. I have only read two Marples so far, so I cannot really judge those right now.

I have finished another collection of stories featuring Arsène Lupin, Les confidences d’Arsène Lupin.

I've given up on Fast One, a Paul Cain noir from 1931. 30 pages in and I still have no idea what's going on other than everyone is a gangster.

I hope everyone enjoyed their vintage mystery reading in February, thanks for participating!

>43 DeltaQueen50: Thanks for hosting one of my favorite KITS, plus I enjoy vintage mysteries.

Thanks for hosting, Judy!