Reviews

‘I opened this book with high expectations. They have been admirably fulfilled.  Here we have a stand alone thriller about two lonely people who pursue a relationship of monthly weekends together in remote spots.  Suddenly one of these two fails to get to the rendezvous-vous and the other realises how very limited her knowledge of her  companion is . . . Gradually the reader pieces together some of the facts as an atmosphere of rising tension envelops everything. The intelligent way Jay, Lisa and others plan their actions is enjoyable and the suspense of the tale is palpable.’

- MYSTERY PEOPLE

A battle of wits?

Posted on Jun 21, 2021 in Agatha Christie, John Dickson Carr | 4 Comments

Recently my old friend Pauline reminded me that when we were teenagers, we used to read Agatha Christie together and try to work whodunit. We must have been thirteen or fourteen years old. We would even draw up lists of suspects and clues. I had forgotten all about that. And I can’t remember whether we ever […]

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Writing a locked room mystery

Posted on Jul 1, 2020 in 'The House in Goblin Wood', John Dickson Carr, Maxim Jakubowski, The Book of Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths | 4 Comments

I love a locked room mystery, so when the call came for contributions to an anthology of stories featuring impossible crimes, I jumped at the chance to write one of my own. My story, ‘The House by the Thames,’ is by way of being a tribute to the master of locked room mysteries, John Dickson […]

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Whistle Up the Devil

Posted on Feb 11, 2016 in Derek Smith, John Dickson Carr, Locked-Room Mysteries, Whistle Up the Devil | 4 Comments

I do like a locked room mystery and I can heartily recommend Derek Smith’s Whistle Up the Devil (1953) and newly republished. It’s a fairly short novel, which for me is in its favour, and I read most of it over the course of a train journey. It is a familiar set-up – family curse, eldest […]

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Night of the Jabberwock

Posted on May 4, 2011 in Anne Fadiman, Fredric Brown, John Dickson Carr, Martin Edwards, NIGHT OF THE JABBERWOCK, THE BURNING COURT | No Comments

Martin Edwards’ blog with the wonderful title: ‘Do You Write Under Your own Name?’ is a favourite of mine and I often pick up tips for books I might enjoy, especially in his forgotten books section. Not long ago he wrote a review of a novel by Fredric Brown which made me think that I’d […]

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