Reading the Detectives discussion

Hi everyone. We have just announced our 2027 group challenge and we hope that you like it!

Christie & Lorac: Little Grey Cells and Country Lanes

Welcome to our 2027 challenge, in which we plan to continue the next six Poirot novels, interspersed with six novels by E C R Lorac. The novels chosen are:

Jan: Bats in the Belfry: Lorac (1937)
Feb: Murder in Mesopotamia: Poirot (1936)
March: Fell Murder: Lorac (1944)
April: Cards on the Table: Poirot (1936)
May: Fire in the Thatch: Lorac (1946)
June: Dumb Witness: Poirot (1937)
July: Accident by Design: Lorac (1950)
August: Death on the Nile: Poirot (1937)
Sept: Murder in the Mill Race: Lorac (1952)
Oct: Murder in the Mews: Poirot (1937)
Nov: Death of an Author: Lorac (1935)
Dec: Appointment with Death: Poirot (1938)

We hope you enjoy exploring Golden Age fiction with us next year and that you will want to join in with some, or all of, the books.

What a terrific idea! You clever things - I totally overlooked the fact that we’re at the end of the Marple mysteries, but Poirot continues merrily on…perfect blend, an old favorite and a new, yay, I love it!

Susan in NC wrote: "What a terrific idea! You clever things - I totally overlooked the fact that we’re at the end of the Marple mysteries, but Poirot continues merrily on…perfect blend, an old favorite and a new, yay,..."

Thanks so much for all you do!

Glad you are pleased, Susan!

Thank you for working this out and posting it, Susan - it should be a lot of fun!

This looks great-glad to continue the Poirot's and look forward to getting more Lorac's under my belt!

Susan wrote: "Hi everyone. We have just announced our 2027 group challenge and we hope that you like it!

Christie & Lorac: Little Grey Cells and Country Lanes

Welcome to our 2027 challenge, in which we plan to..."

Yes, thank you for the great selections, and I also like the title - it's very appropriate!

Maybe I'll hold off for a while on Cards on the Table.
I started it a few days ago.

Although I posted this, it is all the mods who choose and decide, but we are pleased at the positive reaction.

Susan wrote: "Although I posted this, it is all the mods who choose and decide, but we are pleased at the positive reaction."

Thanks for the clarification, Susan. A big thank you to all three of our mods, Susan, Judy, and Sandy, for doing such a great job- both with this challenge and in general!

Susan wrote: "Although I posted this, it is all the mods who choose and decide, but we are pleased at the positive reaction."

Well done all!

Susan wrote: "Hi everyone. We have just announced our 2027 group challenge and we hope that you like it!

Christie & Lorac: Little Grey Cells and Country Lanes

Welcome to our 2027 challenge, in which we plan to..."

I just noticed that the October read is listed as Murder in the News - shouldn't it be Murder in the Mews instead? Just mentioning this in the interests of accuracy :)

Also, just to confirm - the October read listed refers to the collection of 4 short stories rather than the individual story also titled Murder in the Mews, right?

This is a great list. Except for Accident by Design by E.C.R. Lorac, I've read all others. But I hope to join for some of them.

A question: has the British Library published Accident by Design?

Ananya wrote: "Also, just to confirm - the October read listed refers to the collection of 4 short stories rather than the individual story also titled Murder in the Mews, right?"

Oh, great question, thanks for asking.

Susan in NC wrote: "Ananya wrote: "Also, just to confirm - the October read listed refers to the collection of 4 short stories rather than the individual story also titled Murder in the Mews, right?"

Oh, great questi..."

You are welcome - I got a bit confused when I looked it up. I have all the short stories on Kindle, I think, so either works, just wanted to clarify.

Piyangie wrote: "This is a great list. Except for Accident by Design by E.C.R. Lorac, I've read all others. But I hope to join for some of them.

A question: has the British Librar..."
I don't think so, and don't see any British Library Edition listed on Amazon India (I will let others confirm). However, it is Rs. 99.5 on Kindle in India, so hopefully, it should still be affordable for you.

I'm very glad to see my library has Bats in the Belfrey as an ebook.

Ananya wrote: "Susan wrote: "Hi everyone. We have just announced our 2027 group challenge and we hope that you like it!

Christie & Lorac: Little Grey Cells and Country Lanes

Welcome to our 2027 challenge, in wh..."

Oops. I will correct the typo, thanks.

Thank you, Susan! And it's the collection of 4 stories rather than the individual story, right?

"Accident by Design" hasn't been published by British Library but it is on Kindle so hopefully will be OK. If anyone has problems with availability of it let us know.

It is also available on the Internet Archive, so it should be alright in terms of availability, I think.

Ananya wrote: "Also, just to confirm - the October read listed refers to the collection of 4 short stories rather than the individual story also titled Murder in the Mews, right?"

Sorry to be a bother, but could the mods please clarify? I don't have this particular collection, I think, so I would love to know which stories are included in our read.

I do have this edition of Hercule Poirot's Complete Short Stories on Kindle, though, which I bought a few years ago: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

So all the stories for our read are probably part of this - would like to know which ones they are. :)

Ananya wrote: "I do have this edition of Hercule Poirot's Complete Short Stories on Kindle, though, which I bought a few years ago: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

So all the stories ..."

I got the list of stories from Susan's review (thanks Susan!):

"Murder in the Mews"
"Dead Man's Mirror"
"The Incredible Theft"
"Triangle at Rhodes"

Sandy wrote: "Ananya wrote: "I do have this edition of Hercule Poirot's Complete Short Stories on Kindle, though, which I bought a few years ago: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

So a..."

Thank you, Sandy!

Judy wrote: ""Accident by Design" hasn't been published by British Library but it is on Kindle so hopefully will be OK. If anyone has problems with availability of it let us know."

Thanks, Judy. The kindle copy is $0.99, so no problem. I just liked to have purchased the paperback if it was available.

Ananya wrote: "It is also available on the Internet Archive, so it should be alright in terms of availability, I think."

I didn't find Lorac's book there. Only another author's book by the same name. I saw it in open library. Kindle is very cheap. Just $0.99.

Here's the link: https://archive.org/details/accidentb...

Piyangie wrote: "Ananya wrote: "It is also available on the Internet Archive, so it should be alright in terms of availability, I think."

I didn't find Lorac's book there. Only another author's book by the same na..."

And you are right, it's cheap on Kindle - just meant to provide another alternative if it's not :)

Thanks, but I can only see a limited page number. Anyway, I bought the kindle so, no worries.

You can borrow it to read the full book if you have a free account, as I do - just FYI. It's useful if the Kindle edition is expensive or unavailable.

Sandy wrote: "Ananya wrote: "I do have this edition of Hercule Poirot's Complete Short Stories on Kindle, though, which I bought a few years ago: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

So a..."

Thank you, Sandy!

I always try to list the titles of stories in a review of a collection. I find it useful if other people do it, so I follow that example!

Susan wrote: "I always try to list the titles of stories in a review of a collection. I find it useful if other people do it, so I follow that example!"

Thank you for that, Susan! Will try to follow your example in the future while reviewing.

Many of Lorac's books are available for free download at Faded Page.

Susan wrote: "I always try to list the titles of stories in a review of a collection. I find it useful if other people do it, so I follow that example!"

such a good idea!

My question was: haven't we already read Bats in the Belfry? Or, are we re-reading it?

I think the choices of the Loracs were based on their general availability - will let the mods confirm, though.

Jan C wrote: "My question was: haven't we already read Bats in the Belfry? Or, are we re-reading it?"

Hi Jan, yes Bats in the Belfry and Fell Murder will both be rereads, but it will be seven years since we read them in 2020 so we thought it should be OK to revisit. We were looking for a good variety of Lorac titles that were widely available.

They will be firsts for me: I have been wanting to read a Lorac for years now; so glad to finally have it "scheduled".

Good to hear, Jackie. Hope you enjoy Lorac, who is one of my favourites.

Judy wrote: "Jan C wrote: "My question was: haven't we already read Bats in the Belfry? Or, are we re-reading it?"

Hi Jan, yes Bats in the Belfry and Fell Murder..."

I didn't get around to Bats until last year. I don't think I ever got around to Fell.

I have read most of the BLCC Lorac books, since they were on KU or very cheap - haven't read any non-BLCC ones though. That's why I, too, think it's great to have Lorac scheduled - I have been meaning to read more of her books, and this will give me some motivation :)

I noticed a new Carol Carnac (one of Lorac's pseudonyms) coming out soon When the Devil was Sick Sadly no kindle edition yet (sadly my failing eyesight requires larger print now) but more of her work is gradually appearing. If anyone hasn't read her, you are in for a treat. At one point the group seemed to have her books nominated so often that Judy had to insist we had a Lorac free month!!!

Thanks for the heads up, Susan! I heard it's one of her best published under the Carnac name, so should be interesting to try it out.( Fingers crossed that it's cheap on kindle or on Kindle Unlimited, as the nearest British Library for me is in Coimbatore so the paperback isn't an option unfortunately)

Susan wrote: "I noticed a new Carol Carnac (one of Lorac's pseudonyms) coming out soon When the Devil was Sick Sadly no kindle edition yet (sadly my failing eyesight requires larger print now) b..."

I checked Amazon USA, that audio says will be published January 1, 2027. I hope a kindle will eventually be available, I love audiobooks but for a mystery I prefer to listen and read along - otherwise clues just fly right by…

I’ve never read any Inspector Ryvet books, this is #4 in the series.

Susan in NC wrote: "I’ve never read any Inspector Ryvet books, this is #4 in the series."

I haven't either, Susan - I heard of this book via this blog post - https://classicmystery.blog/2026/03/2... (Check the comments for mention of this book, the review is supposed to be spoiler-free, but I would recommend reading the review later just in case)