Category Archives: 06. A Century of Crime

1971: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth

The Day of the JackalThe Day of the Jackal
by Frederick Forsyth
Rating: ★★★★½
Publication Date: June 1, 1971
Genre: espionage
Pages: 434
ReRead?: No
Project: 2025 read my hoard, a century of crime

He is known only as “The Jackal”—a cold, calculating assassin without emotion, or loyalty, or equal. He’s just received a contract from an enigmatic employer to eliminate one of the most heavily guarded men in the world—Charles De Gaulle, president of France.

It is only a twist of fate that allows the authorities to discover the plot. They know next to nothing—only that the assassin is on the move. To track him, they dispatch their finest detective, Claude Lebel, on a manhunt that will push him to his limit, in a race to stop an assassin’s bullet from reaching its target.


I decided to read this after finishing the Peacock adaptation starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, which my husband and I watched last month.

I had some fairly significant frustrations with the series, most importantly, I found basically the entire plot to be unworkable. Without going into too many spoilers, the entire series revolves around the release of some kind of a digital app that is going to drop on a specific date & at a specific time, and that a bunch of bad billionaires, including one played by Charles Dance (damn, can that man inhabit the evil rich dude character), want to derail because it is somehow going to reveal their financial chicanery to the normie plebes. They hire the Jackal to commit an impossible assassination.

My problem with the plot, and it’s a biggie, is that there is absolutely NO REASON EVER GIVEN as to why the irritating, Musk-ish, tech guy – who knows that he is the target of an assassination plot – doesn’t just release it early and make his assassination irrelevant.

Also, by the way, this iteration of the Jackal is the most incompetent master assassin of all time. The showrunner’s desire to humanize him really got in the way of him being convincing as the worlds greatest assassin. And the agent hunting him, played by Lashana Lynch, is no better, and may actually  be worse. Anyway, I kind of enjoyed it, but it mostly annoyed me.

So, moving on to the book! After I decided that I would go back to the source material, I checked my kindle library and sure enough, I already owned it. This happens to me with somewhat embarrassing regularity – I bought it in June, 2018, probably because I thought my dad might want to reread it. I think it might have been be a reread for me as well, but if it was, I read it at least 35 years ago, and remembered nothing of it. There was no sense of background familiarity as I read.

The book is far superior, in my opinion. It doesn’t suffer at all from the plot problems of the television series. It’s a very engaging and believable spy thriller that relies on a lot of historical detail about the relationship between the target of the assassination – French President Charles De Gaulle – and the assassins – his former officers in the OAS who become disillusioned when he withdraws from Algeria, a former French colony. The Jackal is convincing as a baddie, but doesn’t quite reach anti-hero status – he is utterly amoral and ruthless. The French police officer hunting him is a very compelling character, and displays a lot of the best characteristics of law enforcement. He is humble and persistent, never flamboyant or attention-seeking.

The last 100 pages or so are absorbing. I really wasn’t sure how the book would end, so the tension was thick right up to the last moments.

I really love vintage spy thrillers – every time I read one, I want to read more.

2016: When the Music’s Over by Peter Robinson

When the Music's OverWhen the Music's Over
by Peter Robinson
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Inspector Banks #23
Publication Date: July 14, 2016
Genre: mystery: modern (1980-present)
Pages: 421
ReRead?: No
Project: a century of crime

When the body of a young girl is found in a remote countryside lane, evidence suggests she was drugged, abused and thrown from a moving van – before being beaten to death.

While DI Annie Cabbot investigates the circumstances in which a 14-year-old could possibly fall victim to such a crime, newly promoted Detective Superintendent Alan Banks must do the same – but the crime Banks is investigating is the coldest of cases. Fifty years ago Linda Palmer was attacked by celebrity entertainer Danny Caxton, yet no investigation ever took place. Now Caxton stands accused at the centre of a historical abuse investigation and it’s Banks’s first task as superintendent to find out the truth.

As more women step forward with accounts of Caxton’s manipulation, Banks must piece together decades-old evidence. With his investigation uncovering things from the past that would rather stay hidden, he will be led down a path even darker than the one he set out to investigate…


When I was thinking about my 2023 reading, I decided that I wanted to find a new, long-running series and immerse myself in it. I cast about a bit, and settled on the Inspector Banks series by Peter Robinson. I read the first one, Gallows View, (originally published in 1987) in January, 2023. I read Children of the Revolution, the 21st entry in the series, in January 2024. At that point, I took a break. The 22nd book in the series, Abbatoir Blues, isn’t available as a kindle book through my library, and I just sort of lost my series mojo.

There are a total of 28 books in the series as of now – Robinson is still writing about Inspector Banks.

I decided that it was time to catch up with Inspector Banks in 2025. I’ve requested that elusive 22nd book as a print edition through my library, and checked out When the Music’s Over, which I am using for the 2016 entry.

The plot of When the Music’s Over was cribbed from real life. I’m not particularly up on notorious English crimes, but even I had heard of the incidents that provided the basis for this novel: the Jimmy Savile scandal and the Rotherham child exploitation ring. (In odd moment of serendipity, (that fucker) Elon Musk has suddenly decided to be interested in the Rotherham grooming gangs at the exact same time I read this book. I hate that guy, even if what happened in Rotherham is indefensible.)

I felt like Robinson did a pretty good job meshing the two plots. The thematic coherence of the child abuse scandals – one historical, but with impacts continuing into the present, one current day – worked really well. He also split the two investigations between Banks and Annie Cabbot. Each of them displayed their personalities in their respective investigations. DI Cabbot charges in with her usual lack of discretion, and newly promoted DS Banks predictably gets himself into trouble with his superiors. It’s an open question as to whether he will retain that promotion in the aftermath of his investigation.

I am frequently annoyed by DS Banks, but I invariably come back for more. That must mean something, right?

1967: The Man on the Balcony by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

The Man on the BalconyThe Man on the Balcony
by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö
Translated from: Swedish
Rating: ★★★½
Series: Martin Beck #3
Publication Date: January 1, 1967
Genre: mystery: silver age (1950-1979)
Pages: 194
ReRead?: No
Project: a century of crime

The chilling third -- and breakthrough -- novel in the Martin Beck mystery series by the internationally renowned crime writing duo, finds Martin Beck investigating a string of child murders. With an introduction by Jo Nesbo: "Sjöwall and Wahlöö have shoulders that can accomodate all of today's crime writers. And we are all there."

In the once peaceful parks of Stockholm, a killer is stalking young girls and disposing their bodies. The city is on edge, and an undercurrent of fear has gripped its residents. Martin Beck, now a superintendent, has two possible witnesses: a silent, stone-cold mugger and a mute three year old boy. With the likelihood of another murder growing as each day passes, the police force work night and day. But their efforts have offered little insight into the methodology of the killer. Then a distant memory resurfaces in Beck's mind, and he may just have the break he needs.


This is the third book in the Martin Beck series, which was published in Sweden and translated into English. The fourth book in the series, The Laughing Policeman, won the Edgar Award.

This is a classic police procedural – Martin Beck is all work and no play. It is focuses on Beck, although some of his colleagues have supporting roles, and it’s focused on the hard graft of investigating crime. Beck is a damaged protagonist – his personal life is in shambles, he is pretty much miserable all of the time. The characters feel very real. I’ve known a lot of police officers – I was a prosecutor for over a quarter century – and most fictional police officers feel about as real as the cowboys played by John Wayne in classic Westerns.

These guys, though, they feel real. They can be petty and irritable. They are not larger than life, rather they grind out the day-to-day work of solving crimes. They are manifestly unhandsome, they are of average, or sometimes even below-average, intelligence, they are plodding. They do not have magical powers of insight or understanding and, in fact, sometimes things are basically beating them in the face before they figure out what is going on. But, they figure shit out. That’s how real police work happens. With detectives putting on their shoes and socks and knocking on doors and talking to people.

I used to read a lot more Nordic Noir than I do now – especially Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallender series, and, of course, Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy. I’m trying to hit crime books that were sort of defining of various aspects of the genre as part of this project, and the Martin Beck series, in many ways, is the source material for all of those authors who came later.

My library has all 10 of the Vintage kindle editions that were re-issued in the 1990’s.

 

1970: Death in the Grand Manor by Anne Morice

Death in the Grand ManorDeath in the Grand Manor
by Anne Morice
Rating: ★★★½
Series: Tessa Crichton #1
Publication Date: July 1, 1970
Genre: mystery: silver age (1950-1979)
Pages: 220
ReRead?: No
Project: 2025 read my hoard, a century of crime

'For God's sake don't get the idea that you're Miss Marple. It could quite conceivably lead to your being whacked on the head.'

The narrator of this classic mystery is fashionable young actress, Tessa Crichton-obliged to turn private detective when murder strikes in the rural stronghold of Roakes Common. Leading hate-figures in the community are Mr. and Mrs. Cornford - the nouveaux riches of the local Manor House - suspected by some of malicious dog killing.

Tessa however has other things on her mind when she goes to stay with her cousin Toby and his wife Matilda. There's her blossoming career, for one thing, not to mention coping with her eccentric cousins. Also the favourable impression made by a young man she meets under odd circumstances in the local pub. If it wasn't for that dead body turning up in a ditch . . .

The murder mystery will lead Tessa to perilous danger, but she solves it herself, witty, blithe and soignée to the last. The story is distinguished by memorable characterisation and a sharp ear for dialogue, adding to the satisfaction of a traditional cunningly-clued detective story.

Death in the Grand Manor was originally published in 1970. This new edition features an introduction and afterword by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.


I had never even heard of this series when DSP announced that they were reissuing it. Death in the Grand Manor is the first book in the series, published in 1970. There are a total of 23 books, the last of which, Fatal Charm, was published in 1989. Whenever I think that I’m fairly well-versed in the history of crime fiction, someone comes up with a 20 book series that I’ve never encountered.

I liked this first book, but I didn’t love it. Having said that, I was intrigued enough that I will seek out a few more books in the series, especially since they are available for the kindle for $3.99 each.

I was 4 when this one was published, and I think part of what I enjoyed was the time period. I was just starting law school in 1989, when the final book was published. One of the things that attracts me to the series is the feeling that I will be able to reimmerse myself in a time that feels very familiar to me from my childhood, although I grew up in the U.S. and these books are set in England. Based on this first entry, the series isn’t exactly “cozy,” but it’s also not a police procedural or any kind of noir.

I started it in December, as my last Dean Street December book, but didn’t finish it until January 2, 2025.

 

The Heckler by Ed McBain

The HecklerThe Heckler
by Ed McBain
Rating: ★★★½
Series: 87th Precinct #12
Publication Date: January 1, 1960
Genre: mystery: silver age (1950-1979)
Pages: 288
ReRead?: No
Project: a century of crime

"There are crazy people all over, you know that, don't you?" Spring was intoxicating the city air, but the harassing anonymous telephone calls planting seeds of fear around town were no April Fool's joke. Crank calls and crackpot threats reported to the 87th Precinct by a respected businessman were not exactly top priority for detectives Carella and Meyer -- until a brutal homicide hits the papers. Connections are getting made fast and furious, and there's a buzz in the air about the Deaf Man, a brilliant criminal mastermind. Now, the 87th Precinct is buying time to reveal the voice on the other end of the line -- as the level of danger rises from a whisper to a scream....


The 87th Precinct series spanned nearly 50 years. The first book, Cop Hater, was published in 1956; the 55th, and final, book, Fiddlers, was published in 2005, after the death of the author at age 78.

A few years ago, the bulk of the series went on sale in its ebook format for $.99 each and I bought most of them. At this point, most of them are available on the KU library, so I’ve been able to borrow the ones that weren’t on sale for free. This is book 12, and was published in 1960’s. If you’re counting, that means that McBain published 12 books in 4 years, which is a pretty remarkable pace, even for books that tend to be around 250 pages.

I decided to read this series, in part, because I was interested in how an author might treat the changes in policing in real time. In my real life, I am a retired prosecutor. Between my first year as a new Deputy D.A., in 1996, and the year I retired, almost 28 years later, in 2023, policing, law enforcement, and the criminal justice system underwent massive changes. Those massive changes were on the heels of earlier, even more massive changes. The forensic sciences, crime scene investigative tools, recording and photography, the introduction of women into both policing and the legal field, and changes to the legal landscape make the policing of 1956 – or 1960 – almost unrecognizable to what we do today.

I obviously wanted to use one of the books in this series for my Century of Crime project. My plan for the project is to limit myself to one book per series, so I’m filling 1960, but will continue to read the series into the future.

As to this book, it’s a fun one. It’s my understanding from my research that the primary antagonist introduced in The Heckler, the Deaf Man, continues to appear off and on until the end. There is also a fun little reference to the Sherlock Holmes canon and the story “The Redheaded League,” that provides some structure to the mystery.

Nonetheless, this is a book that was very clearly written by a man and published in 1960. Women are purely decorative and substantively irrelevant. There are no women in the squadroom. If a woman is mentioned at all, it is either as a wife or as a sexual object. I’m hoping very much to see this change over the course of the series.

ACOC 1946: Murder within Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge

Murder Within MurderMurder Within Murder
by Frances Lockridge, Richard Lockridge
Rating: ★★★★
Series: Mr. & Mrs. North #10
Publication Date: January 1, 1946
Genre: mystery: golden age (1920-1949)
Pages: 301
ReRead?: No
Project: a century of crime

Mr. and Mrs. North seek the killer of a terribly unpleasant society woman

Miss Amelia Gipson doesn’t tolerate foolishness. She doubts she’s ever made a mistake, and it’s unlikely she would change anything about her life—even if she knew she was in danger. While researching a famous murder case at the public library, she becomes ill at her desk. Within minutes, she’s dead. Miss Gipson would be pleased with the coroner. He doesn’t muck around when delivering the cause of death. There’s simply no question: She was poisoned.

Fortunately, Miss Gipson was one of Jerry North’s authors, which means that the accomplished amateur sleuth has another case on his hands. With the help of his utterly brilliant—if slightly strange—wife, Pamela, Mr. North soon finds that the question isn’t who wanted Miss Gipson dead, but who didn’t.

Murder within Murder is the 10th book in the Mr. and Mrs. North Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.


Murder Within Murder is the 10th book in the long running Mr. & Mrs. North series, which spanned two decades. The first book, The Norths Meet Murder, was published in 1940; the final book, Murder by the Book, was released in 1963. I previously posted about the first three Mr. & Mrs. North books in 2020, in a post titled Mr. and Mrs. North and Their Glam and Fab Murder Life.

Since 2020, I have been making my way through the 14 books that are available from my local library. I’ve read 1 through 8, and for some reason my library skipped #9, Death of a Tall Man, picking up with the series at book 10. Sadly, I’m nearly to the end of what’s available to me for free. Once I finish with the library inventory, Open Road Media/Mysterious Press has reprinted the entire series for the kindle, and I will have to decide if I am going to buy book 9, and 16 through 26.

I probably will, because I love this series. It’s light and funny, without being twee or cozy. Pam and Jerry North are exceptionally entertaining amateur sleuths, constantly getting themselves mixed up in murderous happenings. If Tommy & Tuppence Beresford hosted cocktail parties in a glamorous 1940’s NYC walkup, they might have been Pam and Jerry North.

The side characters are also so good – their Detective friend, Lt. Weigand, is solidly pleasant without being bumbling, and his wife, Dorian, is a nice additional to the crew.

This specific mystery is a good one as well – some of the series entries are stronger than others, and I would rate this one fairly highly. It has one of the victims that you love to hate, as a reader, everyone has a motive, and there are suspects galore.

Given how popular mystery series adaptations are, I’m a little bit surprised that no one has rediscovered the Norths because, with the right casting, it would make a great Netflix/Hulu/Prime series.

Dean Street December: Death In The Forest

Death in the ForestDeath in the Forest
by Moray Dalton
Rating: ★★★
Series: Inspector Hugh Collier #9
Publication Date: January 1, 1939
Genre: mystery: golden age (1920-1949)
Pages: 338
Project: 2024 read my hoard, a century of crime

"The man's heart was dicky. It couldn't stand a shock. The question is-what shock?" Roger Frere is delighted to meet the lovely Celia Holland. But Celia is leaving for the South American republic of San Rinaldo, taking a post as governess. When Celia gets accidentally mixed up in a bloody San Rinaldo revolution, she manages to return to England . . . and finds herself plunged into murderous local mysteries. A stranger has been discovered in the forest, having apparently died of sheer fright. Roger, now married, lives at Frere Court, with his bride Nina, plus a grasping stepmother and a theatrical half-brother. Also in the neighbourhood is Major Enderby, a solitary individual, retired after service in India.

The Major seems to knowing more than he lets on about strange events in the area. These now include creepy nocturnal prowlings by a creature unknown; the poisoning murder of a housemaid; and an attempt to dispose of Celia Holland using a gift of dates-sprinkled with ground glass.

Inspector Collier comes down from Scotland Yard to learn what's going on. He is presented with a truly extraordinary problem, one which should baffle and enthrall the devoted Dalton reader. Death in the Forest was first published in 1939. This new edition includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans.


Dean Street December is hosted by Liz at Adventures in Reading, Running and Working from Home. You can find her main post here.

This was a very weird golden age mystery by an author with whom I have very limited familiarity. I read her Christmas mystery, The Night of Fear, back in 2021, and liked it, although I remember only the barest outlines of the plot.

It’s hard to discuss this book without spoiling it, because what makes it weird would be a spoiler. Let’s just say that I wasn’t expecting one of its plot points in a mystery published in 1939. The Forward by Curtis Evans very carefully doesn’t spoil the book, and he continues the Forward into an Afterward, where he does delve into the rather unique plot device that Dalton employs here.

There’s also a fairly long section of the book that occurs outside of England, in “San Rinaldo,” a made up South American country described as “one of the smaller and more backward of the South American republics,” where the main character, Celia, has taken a post as a governess to two young girls. There is an uprising in San Rinaldo, and Celia barely escapes with her life and returns to England.

All in all, I think that the book was just too strange for me and I didn’t really connect with it. I didn’t not like it, but it also wasn’t really my jam.

I have at least one more book by Dalton, One by One They Disappeared, on my kindle, but I’m unlikely to get to it before the end of the month. I’m planning to try to read one more Furrowed Middlebrow book, Murder While You Work, by Susan Scarlett this year.

Dean Street December kick-off

The Invisible HostThe Invisible Host
by Bruce Manning, Gwen Bristow
Rating: ★★★★½
Publication Date: January 1, 1930
Genre: mystery: golden age (1920-1949)
Pages: 129
ReRead?: No
Project: dean street december

Guests at a New Orleans party face a mysterious and deadly host in the widely suspected inspiration for Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.

When eight guests arrive for a party at a luxurious New Orleans penthouse, their unknown host is nowhere to be found. Then, speaking to them through radio broadcast, he informs them of the evening’s chilling theme: every hour, one of them will die. As the host’s prophecy comes horribly true, the dwindling band of survivors grows desperate to escape their fate. To discover their tormentor’s identity, they must each reveal their darkest secrets and find the common thread—but confessions may not be enough when they realize that one of them may be the killer.

First published in 1930, this classic mystery was adapted into the Hollywood film, The Ninth Guest. It bears a striking resemblance to Agatha Christie’s bestseller And Then There Were None—which appeared nearly a decade later.


To kick off Dean Street Press December, I decided to go with a book that I acquired in December, 2021. I am pretty sure that I heard about from reading this post at Classic Mystery Blog. I also recognized Gwen Bristow’s name – I’ve been planning to read Jubilee Trail for years, since it was reissued by Open Road Media. So, I bought the book and then promptly failed to read it. For two years.

Liz at Adventures in Reading’s decision to reprise Dean Street December gave me the perfect opportunity to dive in – you can find her main post here.

It’s a treat of a vintage mystery. The setting – a penthouse high above New Orleans – is a treat, and it was published in 1930, dead center (no pun intended) of the Golden Age of Mystery, and 9 years prior to Christie’s masterpiece. The plot is convoluted and, ultimately, deeply implausible but who cares. It kept me guessing and I didn’t even remotely begin to guess the culprit.

It is, in fact, a lot like Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, which is the superior book in every respect, but then again, of course it is, given that ATTWN has claim to being the greatest mystery novel ever written. Invisible Host relies far too heavily on weird technological devices, while ATTWN is more straight up misdirection.

None of that mattered, though, while I was reading it. It moves swiftly, at only 129 pages, it’s probably technically a novella. There are some loose ends left, but when I finished, I was satisfied.

My vintage mystery series: Volume 1

I read a lot of mysteries, and a lot of the mysteries are read are vintage mysteries. I thought it would be fun – and helpful – to make a list of the golden/silver age series that I have been making my way through over the last few years. This is going to require multiple posts, so today is just volume I.

Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct series: I am on book 11 of this series

Why I read it: I’ve been reading it for probably 4 or 5 years at this point. Most (if not all) of the books are available through the Kindle Unlimited library on Amazon, and, as well, I bought a huge number of them when they went on sale many years ago for $.99 or $1.99 a book. The books are set in the fictional city of Isola, which is an obvious stand-in for NYC. McBain started writing the books in 1956, with The Mugger, and it is the longest-running American detective series (of which I am aware), with 55 entries, the last of which was published in 2005, so nearly 50 years later. I’m intrigued at the idea of a series which covers all of the changes in police procedure and criminal investigation that have occurred over the 49 year period, including changes in interview techniques, forensic evidence, and legal opinions. I don’t know how much McBain will mention those changes, but it has the potential to be very interesting.

The Henry Gamadge series by Elizabeth Daly: I am on book 6 out of 16.

Why I read it: I stumbled on this series when I was browsing the digital catalogue at one of my two libraries systems. I had never heard of Elizabeth Daly, but when I started googling and looking on GR, it looked interesting. The first book was published in 1940, and there are 16 entries in the series, with the final book having been published in 1951. I’ve enjoyed the five books I’ve previously read, and my library has the entire series, so I’m sure that I will read the rest of them, at some point or another. Henry Gamadge is a rare-book dealer/antiquarian, although so far his occupation hasn’t featured as much as I would have liked. I really like mysteries published in the 1940’s, and I’m hopeful that I will get some WWII homefront vibes. The next book in the series is Evidence of Things Seen, published in 1943.

Mr. and Mrs. North by Frances & Richard Lockridge: I am book 7 of 26.

Why I read it: I don’t actually remember how I found this series, but it’s perfect golden-age mystery fun. The first book, Mr. and Mrs. North, was published in 1936. Pam and Jerry North are a young married couple living a very glamorous 1930’s life in NYC. I reviewed the first three books in this post: Mr. and Mrs. North and their Glam and Fab Murder Life, and since then, I’ve added another 3 to my read pile. All of them are delightful. Pam North is particularly enjoyable, with her sparkling personality and occasional poorly-tuned sense of self-preservation. Detective Weigand – aka Loot – and his former love interest, now wife, Dorian are also terrific characters. The mysteries are fine, but it’s the sense of glamour and amusement that really makes these books worth reading. Unfortunately, my library only has 14 of the books, so if I want to read the other 12, I’m probably going to have to buy them. They were re-issued by Mysterious Press/Open Road, so they are available as ebooks.

Inspector Maigret by Georges Simenon

Why I read it: Well, first of all, I’m completely obsessed with the new Penguin Classics editions. They are lovely books, and my local library has – I think – all of them available. I’ve been checking them out in blocks of 4 at a time. I can’t say where I am at in the series, because I have just been reading them in no particular order, as my fancy (and what’s available) guides me. The series began with Pietr the Latvian in 1931, and spans 75 books and 5 decades, ending with Maigret and Monsieur Charles in 1972. The books themselves are often barely more than novellas, but it’s the character and setting that Simenon makes sing – Maigret himself is intriguing, but the side characters: the victims, the perpetrators, the witnesses, bring the various settings within France, Paris and elsewhere, to life. I imagine that I will read these books for the rest of my life, because, like Agatha Christie, they have become comfort reading for me and the mystery is almost beside the point.

Chief Inspector Littlejohn by George Bellairs

Why I read it: This is another series where I read more or less randomly. According to Goodreads, there are 57 books in the series, but they have not been reprinted by a single publisher. British Library Crime Classics has a few, Agora Press has some, Mysterious Press has a few, and some haven’t been reissued at all as far as I can tell. Fortunately, this is not a series that requires chronological reading, so I’ve mostly been reading the ones that are available through the Kindle Unlimited library, which tend to be the Agora Press editions. I enjoy Chief Inspector Littlejohn and his wonderful wife, Letty. There are several books that are set on the Isle of Man, which is a unique setting – Bellairs apparently retired to the Isle of Man, which explains why. There are also a few that are set in France, that take place while Littlejohn is on holiday. The first book in the series was published in 1941, the final book was published in 1980.

That’s a start for today. To be continued…

2023 Reading Plans and Updates

This time of year, I always get excited, thinking about a brand new reading year in the offing, and I start making plans for what I want to tackle in the new year. 2023 isn’t an exception to that rule – in fact, because I am retiring on 9/30, I’m extra excited about the possibility of more reading time at the end of the year.

I still have several ongoing projects that I am working on, and will continue with next year:

With respect to my A Century of Women project, I made a lot of progress early in 2022 and then sort of fizzled out towards the end of the year. I have been struggling with 1900 through 1919 because I haven’t been enthusiastic about the books that I have found for that part of the challenge. I decided to change up the challenge, and, instead of starting in 1900, to start in 1920 and read through 2019. This should open up my book choices a lot and enable me to put this particular project to bed – probably not in 2023, but maybe in 2024, which would be great. I have a follow up project – A Century of Crime – that I have been waiting to start until the finish line is in sight.

I also decided to do the Back to the Classics Challenge this year.

Again, I did really well on this one early in the year. There are a total of 12 prompts, and I have read for & posted about 8 of them. There is 1 more that I can finish off with books I’ve already read. I finished Jane Eyre, which will work for 19th Century Classic. That leaves me with 3 unread. I’m satisfied with that. I think I’m going to pass on this challenge for next year, because I have some other plans.

I also have an ongoing Classics Club project that I largely ignored in 2022. I’d really like to make some progress on this project. I read a few of the books on it, but never got around to writing up a post, so that’s probably going to be something I work on during January. The books are: Grand Hotel by Vicki Baum, The Balkan Trilogy by Olivia Manning, and Lolly Willows by Sylvia Townsend Warner, all three of which I loved. I DNF’d Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, which is odd because I usually love her, so I may give that one another try. If it continues to not work for me, I’ll read a different Gaskell. I also started, but lost interest in, The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. I’m also going to give that one another chance because I didn’t get very far into it, but if it’s not for me, I’m taking Murdoch off the list and adding someone else. Life is too short.

My new projects for next year are:

All of the Agatha Christie mysteries for 2023 (in my GR group) were published in the 1940’s, so I decided to focus on that decade next year. It was a really good decade for mystery publishing, and I’m looking forward to reading a lot of different mystery styles by different vintage authors, both men and women. My library has a lot of the American Mystery Classics reprints, many of which were published during this decade, and there are a number of reprints from BLCC and DSP that are from the ’40s. As a part of this project, I may also watch some film adaptations from the books I read. This will give me a jump start on my Century of Crime project – I expect I will fill in the entire decade by the end of the year.

Because I am planning to focus on mysteries published in the 1940’s, I think it’s time to start this project in earnest.

My final challenge for 2023 is a short story challenge.

My other project for next year is to try to finish the Deal Me In Challenge, which is a short story challenge that I have tried to complete several times and have consistently failed. The basic challenge structure is to assign each card in a deck of cards a different short story, and then draw a card each week to select that week’s story. I will have a separate master post that sets out the stories I have assigned to each card. I have some really great anthologies that I will be reading out of:

  • Deep Waters: Murder on the Waves: a BLCC anthology edited by Martin Edwards (assigned to Clubs)
  • The Collected Stories of Willa Cather by Willa Cather (assigned to Hearts)
  • The Persephone Book of Short Stories, Volume 1: a Persephone anthology edited by Susan Glaspell (assigned to Spades)
  • Troubled Daughters, Twisted Wives: an anthology of vintage crime stories written by women, edited by Sarah Weinman (assigned to Diamonds)

The only suit that I haven’t managed to assign at this point is Spades, because the Persephone anthology hasn’t arrived and I can’t find a list of stories anywhere on the internet. My copy isn’t going to be here for a few weeks, but my library has a copy that I can check out to start the project. I am really happy with the anthologies I have chosen for this challenge, so I’m hopeful I can finish it!

There are some other, smaller items I have in my general reading plans – more Maigret, more Inspector Alleyn, catch up on a few series, finish all of Willa Cather’s published works (only 1 novel left, and that short story collection!) read more Dorothy Whipple, Patricia Highsmith, Barbara Pym & Stella Gibbons.