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

Bingeing on short stories

Posted on Sep 8, 2017 in British Library Crime Classics, Dante, Dante's Inferno, Diagnosis Impossible, Edward D Hoch, Locked-Room Mysteries, Martin Edwards, The Long Arm of the Law | 4 Comments

I’d like to blame it all on Martin Edwards. Those anthologies in the British Library Classic Crime series that Martin edits are just too tempting: those delectable covers! And yes, I have been snapping them up as they come out and enjoying them hugely. However the truth is that the current short story binge was […]

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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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Books I wouldn’t buy for myself …

Posted on Jan 7, 2015 in Locked-Room Mysteries, Otto Penzler | 2 Comments

. . . but am very happy to receive as presents. I’ll begin by saying that I do buy a lot of books. But there are certain categories I tend to avoid. I already pay a hefty subscription to the London Library, so I try not to buy books that I can borrow: biographies, non-fiction […]

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