Reading the Detectives discussion

Nomination time is here again - and this time you are invited to suggest books for our May 2020 group read.

Please nominate mystery/detective books written in/set in the GA period, or a little earlier or later.

As usual, just one nomination per group member. Also, only one book by any individual writer can be nominated per month.

I will nominate The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts

'Crofts constructs his alibi with immense elaboration...The story is highly successful, and Mr Crofts is to be congratulated upon his experiment' - Dorothy L. Sayers

We begin with a body. Andrew Crowther, a wealthy retired manufacturer, is found dead in his seat on the 12.30 flight from Croydon to Paris. Rather less orthodox is the ensuing flashback in which we live with the killer at every stage, from the first thoughts of murder to the strains and stresses of living with its execution. Seen from the criminal's perspective, a mild-mannered Inspector by the name of French is simply another character who needs to be dealt with. This is an unconventional yet gripping story of intrigue, betrayal, obsession, justification and self-delusion. And will the killer get away with it?

Sounds interesting, Jill - thanks for the nomination.

Not sure if this is available outside the UK, so I will nominate something else if it is difficult to get, but currently this is £1.19 on kindle, with a new edition.

Kind Hearts and Coronets: Israel Rank

That man is fortunate who has the world against him.

Israel Rank has many advantages and qualities which should enable an ordinary man to get through life quite successfully. But he’s not content to be an ordinary man. He’s a distant heir to the Gascoyne earldom, and he will not rest until he inherits it, lock, stock and barrel. One tiny problem: he must kill everyone in line before him, without getting caught. The result is an evergreen classic of blackly comic crime fiction.

First published in 1907 as ‘Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal’, the novel is probably best known as inspiration for the classic Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, frequently voted one of the greatest British films ever. The novel itself remains a remarkably fresh satire that reverses conventional morality – a sympathetic comedy about a serial killer.

‘A superb thriller, but also a disturbing study in human nature. The narrative pace never slackens, thanks to the spareness and elegance of Horniman’s prose . . . (the novel is) over all too quickly.’ Simon Heffer

Great nomination, Susan! The answer is yes, there are a few US paperback editions (under both titles) and it is cheap on Kindle.

Thanks, Abigail. I'll let the nomination stand then :)

Yay! I’ve heard of this, but never read it - I am intrigued!

I'm also interested in Kind Hearts - it may go on my TBR even if it loses.

Is that book based on the movie or is it the same book as was first published in 1907 as Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal.

I'd like to nominate .

Description:

A tragic discovery was made at Bishop's Hotel last evening when a maid, on entering the suite of Signora da Costa, a rich Argentine guest at the hotel, found her dead body on the bed wrapped in an eiderdown.

Paul Ashby is excited to be heading off on holiday to the South of France. But on the day before departure he is entrusted with a strange mission - to find a missing young man. When he arrives in St. Antoine, he falls quickly in with the local artistic set, including alluring Adelaide Moon and Argentian playboy Hernandez de Najera. Also present is eccentric painter Benvenuto Brown who suspects de Najera of murder most foul, and a Scotland Yard detective looking for the 'slosher', a noted jewel thief. Are thief and killer one and the same, and what is the connection to the missing boy? Benvenuto and Paul will travel from exotic watering spots to the dangerous backstreets of Marseilles in their search for the solution to this clever and elegant whodunit.

The Crime Coast (also known as Strange Holiday) was originally published in 1931.

I seem to have The Crime Coast on my kindle already, Carolien. Looks good.

Elizabeth, I think the film was based on the book, but how closely, I have no idea. It was, as you say, first published in 1907 as ‘Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal.' Quite an early novel, even for us!

I nominate The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude.

I think we've already had that as a group read. Am I remembering correctly?

Susan wrote: "I think we've already had that as a group read. Am I remembering correctly?"

Yes, although I'm not finding the thread.

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show_...

Here
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks, Jill. I thought it would be on the result page where I searched the bookshelf, but it wasn't. I was too lazy to delve further.

Maybe I can renominate The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes? A World War II mystery And one of his shorter books. It didn't get anywhere in January, but maybe the mood will change?

I shall leave it up to Judy to decide whether there has been a sufficient gap that the book can be nominated again.

Is there a list of the books read in this group, so that I could nominate something else? I got some books of the British Library Crime Classics on my tbr list.

Michaela wrote: "Is there a list of the books read in this group, so that I could nominate something else? I got some books of the British Library Crime Classics on my tbr list."

I think the books on the group bookshelf are all books that have been discussed.

Our read of The Cornish Coast Murder was 4 years ago (I can hardly believe the group has been going that long!), so I think that is a long enough gap and it is fine to nominate again if you want to, Michaela. Probably most people who read it then will have forgotten the plot by now!

I think we had some discussion previously and agreed that books can be renominated after 3 years. That seems like a good gap to me.

All the books we have read previously should be listed in the "read" shelf of the group bookshelf - it is also searchable. This is a very long link so I hope it works.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/books...

Jill, thank you for finding the earlier discussion - it can be a bit hard to dig them out! I should really do some work on our archives soon to make older discussions more accessible.

Judy wrote: "Jill, thank you for finding the earlier discussion - it can be a bit hard to dig them out! I should really do some work on our archives soon to make older discussions more accessible."

I was just lazy. All you need to do is put the book title in the group search bar, upper right below the navigation items. Then select topics only on the results page.

I will not be nominating, by the way. My dance card is pretty full up with the James Group Reads and others.

The next three P.D. James group reads - book 4,5 and 6 are 99p this morning in the UK, if anyone hasn't got them yet.

Nominations so far:

Jill: The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts

Susan: Kind Hearts and Coronets aka Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman

Carolien: The Crime Coast by Elizabeth Gill

Michaela: The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude - please let me know if you want to change this, Michaela?

Abigail: The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes

Any more?

Thanks for the link Judy!

I´d like to nominate the second Inspector Meredith mystery instead: The Lake District Murder by John Bude.

Thanks, Michaela. This is the revised list of nominations so far:

Jill: The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts

Susan: Kind Hearts and Coronets aka Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman

Carolien: The Crime Coast by Elizabeth Gill

Michaela: The Lake District Murder by John Bude

Abigail: The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Is that book based on the movie or is it the same book as was first published in 1907 as Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal."

From what I can find, it is the same book. And it (the 1907 version) is in the public domain and available on Internet Archive to everyone. Warning -- if you look for it on Internet Archive, search by author, not title. There is another book by a different author with an identical title.

I'm going to add a nomination for one of the books lurking on my Kindle, the first in a series set in the 1920s.

Murder Offstage by L.B. Hathaway,

The blurb:

Set in London in 1921, this is the first book in the Posie Parker mysteries, although this novel can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story in its own right.

When Posie Parker’s childhood friend is robbed of a priceless jewel and becomes a suspect in a cold-blooded murder case, budding detective Posie vows she will clear his name. Aided by her seriously gorgeous assistant Len, Posie soon realizes things are not quite as they seem, and the darkly-glamorous world of London’s theatre and glittering nightclubs prove far more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.

So the list of nominations is now:

Jill: The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts

Susan: Kind Hearts and Coronets aka Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal by Roy Horniman

Carolien: The Crime Coast by Elizabeth Gill

Michaela: The Lake District Murder by John Bude

Abigail: The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes

Judy: Murder Offstage by L.B. Hathaway

The poll will go up at the weekend - does anyone have any more nominations to add?

The poll is now open - please cast your votes!

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

There is currently a 3-way tie in the vote. Please do vote, if you haven't done so already.

Poll update - The 12:30 from Croydon currently in the lead, with Kind Hearts and Coronets and Murder Offstage both a couple of votes behind.

Still a few days left to vote if you haven't done so yet.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Judy, not to nitpick, but when you post the actual polls to vote on, could you include the authors of the novels along with the title?

Sorry, Bruce, I don't think it is possible to do that, although I would like to - the book poll system is created by Goodreads and it only fills in the titles.

Bruce wrote: "Judy, not to nitpick, but when you post the actual polls to vote on, could you include the authors of the novels along with the title?"

If you click on the comment, you can scroll over the book covers and get the title and author information. You can also click on the cover and be taken to each title's book page.

Thanks Elizabeth. I could also put a post with the authors' names as a comment attached to the poll - I will do that next time in addition the covers showing.

I just changed my vote from a physical book I would have to request from the library to one I can get cheaply on kindle. May isn't all that far away.

Sandy, "Kind Hearts & Coronets" AKA "Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal" is available free on Internet Archive. Search for Israel Rank by Roy Horniman. It's in the public domain and can be downloaded in Kindle version.

For anyone who isn't already a member of Internet Archive (a free online public library), I highly recommend it!

We now have a tie - so if you haven't voted yet, please do! Only about a day to go now before the poll closes.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/1...

Carol wrote: "Sandy, "Kind Hearts & Coronets" AKA "Israel Rank: The Autobiography of a Criminal" is available free on Internet Archive. Search for Israel Rank by Roy Horniman. It's in the public domain and can b..."

Thank you.

And the winner is... The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts, which will be our May group read.

Full results:

The 12:30 from Croydon 10 votes, 35.7%
Kind Hearts and Coronets 9 votes, 32.1%
Murder Offstage (Posie Parker Mystery, #1) 6 votes, 21.4%
The Crime Coast 1 vote, 3.6%
The Lake District Murder (Superintendent Meredith, #1) 1 vote, 3.6%
The Daffodil Affair (Sir John Appleby, #8) 1 vote, 3.6%