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Group reads > July 2025 group read - poll results!

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message 1: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
It's time to nominate for our July group read! We have a change this month, as we're now allowing books which were either written in the Golden Age, or a little earlier or later, or are set in that period (ie historicals set in the GA are now OK to nominate.) If in doubt whether a title is eligible, just ask.

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.


message 2: by Susan (new)

Susan | 13424 comments Mod
I will nominate Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm Sergeant Cluff Stands Firm by Gil North 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


message 3: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
Thank you Susan, interesting nomination. It's good to read some of the different authors published by British Library.


message 4: by Susan (new)

Susan | 13424 comments Mod
Yes, I'd like to try some new GA authors. So many new authors being reprinted at the moment.


message 5: by Sandy (new)

Sandy | 4261 comments Mod
Cluff is $17 on kindle in US, but the BL series is usually avai!able in libraries.


message 6: by Susan (new)

Susan | 13424 comments Mod
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.


message 7: by Sandy (new)

Sandy | 4261 comments Mod
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.


message 8: by Susan (new)

Susan | 13424 comments Mod
OK, then I'll change my nomination to In Muffled Night In Muffled Night by D. Erskine Muir 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.


message 9: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
Thank you, Susan - I've listened to the latest Shedunnit podcast and must say this author sounds very interesting!


message 10: by Susan in NC (last edited May 03, 2025 02:08PM) (new)

Susan in NC (susanncreader) | 5139 comments I’ll nominate Calamity at Harwood Calamity at Harwood (Chief Inspector Littlejohn #7) by George Bellairs by George Bellairs.

“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


message 11: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
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.


message 12: by Susan in NC (new)

Susan in NC (susanncreader) | 5139 comments Thanks, Judy. Yes, I’ve enjoyed the Inspector Littlejohn books I’ve read - he’s low-key and likable.


message 13: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting (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.


message 14: by Sandy (new)

Sandy | 4261 comments Mod
Judy wrote: "I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting(nothing to do with the similarly named T..."

US: on kindle for $5


message 15: by Susan (new)

Susan | 13424 comments Mod
I enjoyed Clifford Witting too, Judy.


message 16: by Susan in NC (new)

Susan in NC (susanncreader) | 5139 comments Me, three! And this sounds intriguing…


message 17: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
Thanks for checking, Sandy. I forgot to say, it's £3.19 on Kindle in the UK.


message 18: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
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


message 19: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
The poll is now live - please vote for the book you most want to read in July.

https://www.goodreads.com/poll/show/3...


message 20: by Jan C (new)

Jan C (woeisme) | 1834 comments Sandy wrote: "Judy wrote: "I'd like to nominate the second book in Clifford Witting's Inspector Charlton series, Midsummer Murder Midsummer Murder by Clifford Witting(nothing to do with the simi..."

I was all set to pick this up only to discover that I'm already reading it ... somewhere L


message 21: by Judy (new)

Judy (wwwgoodreadscomprofilejudyg) | 11285 comments Mod
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%


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