Reading the Detectives discussion
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July 2025 group read - poll results!
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I will nominate Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm
by Gil North published in 1960 and the first book in the Caleb Cluff series.
'He could feel it in the blackness, a difference in atmosphere, a sense of evil, of things hidden.'
Amy Snowden, in middle age, has long since settled into a lonely life in the Yorkshire town of Gunnarshaw, until - to her neighbours' surprise - she suddenly marries a much younger man. Months later, Amy is found dead - apparently by her own hand - and her husband, Wright, has disappeared.Sergeant Caleb Cluff - silent, watchful, a man at home in the bleak moorland landscape of Gunnarshaw - must find the truth about the couple's unlikely marriage, and solve the riddle of Amy's death.
This novel, originally published in 1960, is the first in the series of Sergeant Cluff detective stories that were televised in the 1960s but have long been neglected.
This new edition is published in the centenary year of the author's birth. Gil North a pseudonym used by Geoffrey Horne

'He could feel it in the blackness, a difference in atmosphere, a sense of evil, of things hidden.'
Amy Snowden, in middle age, has long since settled into a lonely life in the Yorkshire town of Gunnarshaw, until - to her neighbours' surprise - she suddenly marries a much younger man. Months later, Amy is found dead - apparently by her own hand - and her husband, Wright, has disappeared.Sergeant Caleb Cluff - silent, watchful, a man at home in the bleak moorland landscape of Gunnarshaw - must find the truth about the couple's unlikely marriage, and solve the riddle of Amy's death.
This novel, originally published in 1960, is the first in the series of Sergeant Cluff detective stories that were televised in the 1960s but have long been neglected.
This new edition is published in the centenary year of the author's birth. Gil North a pseudonym used by Geoffrey Horne
Thank you Susan, interesting nomination. It's good to read some of the different authors published by British Library.
I can change it if it's too expensive. Is Dorothy Erskine Muir available in the US, Sandy? Shedunnit is looking at her in their new episode and I've never read anything by her. She has 3 books on kindle in the UK: In Muffled Night, Five To Five and In Memory of Charles which are all based on real crimes.
Susan wrote: "I can change it if it's too expensive. Is Dorothy Erskine Muir available in the US, Sandy? Shedunnit is looking at her in their new episode and I've never read anything by her. Sh..."
The three you listed are all $4 in the US.
The three you listed are all $4 in the US.
OK, then I'll change my nomination to In Muffled Night
by D. Erskine Muir who is the subject of Shedunnit's most recent podcast.
It was not at all a suitable house for a murder.
Helen Bailey is the live-in housekeeper to the wealthy Murray family. Tall, dark-haired and beautiful, the enigmatic Helen has long ensured that life at ‘The Towers’ ran smoothly for autocratic patriarch James Murray, his widowed son John, and grandchildren Alan and Glenda. When Helen is found dead in her blood-soaked bedroom, struck down in a horrific attack, the police must consider not only the family’s relationships but everyone close to them. Helen’s jewellery is missing, suggesting a robbery gone wrong, but the clues are confusing and contradictory. Dogged policework eventually points to one person, but have the authorities identified a cold-blooded murderer or an innocent person framed by others? This classic detective novel is now back in print for the first time.
Dorothy Erskine Muir (1889-1977) was one of twelve children of John Sheepshanks, Bishop of Norwich. She attended Oxford, worked as an academic tutor, and began writing professionally to supplement the family income after the unexpected death of her husband in 1932. Muir published historical biographies and local histories, as well as three accomplished detective novels, In Muffled Night (1933), Five to Five (1934) and In Memory of Charles (1941). Each is an intricate fictional account based on an unsolved true crime.

It was not at all a suitable house for a murder.
Helen Bailey is the live-in housekeeper to the wealthy Murray family. Tall, dark-haired and beautiful, the enigmatic Helen has long ensured that life at ‘The Towers’ ran smoothly for autocratic patriarch James Murray, his widowed son John, and grandchildren Alan and Glenda. When Helen is found dead in her blood-soaked bedroom, struck down in a horrific attack, the police must consider not only the family’s relationships but everyone close to them. Helen’s jewellery is missing, suggesting a robbery gone wrong, but the clues are confusing and contradictory. Dogged policework eventually points to one person, but have the authorities identified a cold-blooded murderer or an innocent person framed by others? This classic detective novel is now back in print for the first time.
Dorothy Erskine Muir (1889-1977) was one of twelve children of John Sheepshanks, Bishop of Norwich. She attended Oxford, worked as an academic tutor, and began writing professionally to supplement the family income after the unexpected death of her husband in 1932. Muir published historical biographies and local histories, as well as three accomplished detective novels, In Muffled Night (1933), Five to Five (1934) and In Memory of Charles (1941). Each is an intricate fictional account based on an unsolved true crime.
Thank you, Susan - I've listened to the latest Shedunnit podcast and must say this author sounds very interesting!


“To solve a murder case, Thomas Littlejohn contends with ghosts, Nazis, and crooked real estate speculators.
Known across London as one of the premier slumlords of the East End, Solomon Burt has never fallen in love with a property the way he has with Harwood, a faded manor house halfway between London and the sea. When the owner refuses to sell, Burt uses every trick he knows to buy the house out from under the man and convert it into apartments. Now Burt owns the property lock, stock, and barrel—but he will have to share it with the ghosts.
When Burt is found murdered, the tenants fear a ghost might be responsible. Detective-Inspector Littlejohn is called down from London to solve the case and restore reason. But what he find lurking in the back corners of Harwood is far more dangerous than a poltergeist.”
.99 on Amazon US for the kindle, free for Kindle Unlimited
Thank you Susan -it's been a while since we had a Bellairs title. Calamity at Harwood is also on Kindle in the UK, £4.66 here.

I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder
(nothing to do with the similarly named TV series!) but I'm not sure about US availability - please could one of our US members kindly check? I enjoyed the first in this series, Murder in Blue, which we had as a group read last year.
Witting's second Inspector Charlton mystery, first published in 1937, is set in Paulsfield (clearly a fictional Petersfield in Hampshire). It is a market day and there is much noise and bustle. A bull decides it is time to liberate itself and goes on the rampage. As this is happening, a cleaner working on the statue in the middle of the square is shot dead, straight through the head. Inspector Charlton has very few leads on this case. There is no obvious motive for the cleaner's death, and when two further murders are committed within the same day, both taking place in the market square, the mystery has obviously deepened exponentially.

Witting's second Inspector Charlton mystery, first published in 1937, is set in Paulsfield (clearly a fictional Petersfield in Hampshire). It is a market day and there is much noise and bustle. A bull decides it is time to liberate itself and goes on the rampage. As this is happening, a cleaner working on the statue in the middle of the square is shot dead, straight through the head. Inspector Charlton has very few leads on this case. There is no obvious motive for the cleaner's death, and when two further murders are committed within the same day, both taking place in the market square, the mystery has obviously deepened exponentially.
Judy wrote: "I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder
(nothing to do with the similarly named T..."
US: on kindle for $5

US: on kindle for $5
Last call for nominations before the poll goes up!
Nominations so far:
Susan: In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir
Susan in N.C.: Calamity at Harwood by George Bellairs
Judy: Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting
Nominations so far:
Susan: In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir
Susan in N.C.: Calamity at Harwood by George Bellairs
Judy: Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting
The poll is now live - please vote for the book you most want to read in July.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...


I was all set to pick this up only to discover that I'm already reading it ... somewhere L
The poll has now closed, and it's a tie!
We will therefore read the two winning books as our next two group reads and there won't be a poll next month.
In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir will be our group read for July and Calamity at Harwood by George Bellairs will be our group read for August.
Full results:
In Muffled Night 5 votes, 38.5%
Calamity at Harwood (Chief Inspector Littlejohn #7) 5 votes, 38.5%
Midsummer Murder 3 votes, 23.1%
We will therefore read the two winning books as our next two group reads and there won't be a poll next month.
In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir will be our group read for July and Calamity at Harwood by George Bellairs will be our group read for August.
Full results:
In Muffled Night 5 votes, 38.5%
Calamity at Harwood (Chief Inspector Littlejohn #7) 5 votes, 38.5%
Midsummer Murder 3 votes, 23.1%
Books mentioned in this topic
Calamity at Harwood (other topics)In Muffled Night (other topics)
Midsummer Murder (other topics)
In Muffled Night (other topics)
Calamity at Harwood (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Dorothy Erskine Muir (other topics)George Bellairs (other topics)
George Bellairs (other topics)
Clifford Witting (other topics)
Dorothy Erskine Muir (other topics)
More...
Only one nomination per group member, and only one book by any individual writer, can be nominated per month, and authors can't nominate their own books. If you aren't sure whether we have read something, the group bookshelves may help, or just ask. If it was at least 3 years ago that we read it, it is fine to re-nominate.