Ah, September. The month that always ends up being a bit of a lull in my reading, due to the start of the school year getting in the way. It’s not been a disaster, book-wise, but I’d wish there had been a few more quiet moments to curl up with a good book. Or any book, really, but a good one would be preferably.

Book-wise, I read eight titles – listed below, including one to tick off on my attempt to read as many of Martin Edwards’ 100 Books as possible – but also managed a few decent purchases – the prize pick was A Will In The Way by Miles Burton, but also managed to snaffle a couple more from Brian Flynn and the terribly titled By Registered Post by John Rhode. Unfortunately a copy of the equally-thrillingly titled The Paper Bag was outside my budget…

I wonder – did I cause the prices of Brian Flynn’s work to inflate? I got the two Flynn books on eBay – an unabridged Case Of The Black Twenty-Two and Invisible Death – but was bidding against someone who definitely cost me an tenner or so… were they bidding out of interest generated by me? Was it you? Have I shot myself in the foot by reviewing Flynn’s work? Oh, while I’m on the subject of Flynn, I’ve made a page cataloguing my reviews and purchases. Oh, and the Rhode/Burton page is up to date now as well.

Meanwhile, this month – the books in question were:

• She Shall Have Murder by Delano Ames
• A Patient Fury by Sarah Ward
• The Invisible Murder by Joyce Cato
• Death Makes A Prophet by John Bude
• Verdict of Twelve by Raymond Postgate
• The Liar In The Library by Simon Brett
• Black Agent by Brian Flynn
• Death On The Boat-Train by John Rhode

A strong showing this month all round, with all the books coming recommended – although I think I admired Verdict of Twelve rather than actually enjoying it. I think the standout titles were probably… crikey, all of them. But just edging it…

… well, I really enjoyed Black Agent and not just because of the cover I had to make for it. Who doesn’t love a polar bear? Actually, scrap that – it was rubbish. Stop buying Brian Flynn novels, and if you’ve got any, I’ll take them off your hands for you to save you the hassle.

I seriously doubt that worked, but it was worth a try…

But maybe just edging it – just – it’s another fun mystery novel, namely Death Makes A Prophet by John Bude, a highly entertaining tale of murder in a cult. There’s a nice central idea to the crime as well, but to go into that would be spoiling things. So congratulations (posthumously) to John Bude and thanks to the British Library from bringing out this one.

Next up – more from John Street’s aliases and Brian Flynn, the latest from Frances Brody and a collection of locked room mysteries from throughout time and space – well, the last century and around the world, courtesy of Locked Room International. And possible some musings on a couple of topics… if I can make my musings make sense, although that never usually stops me…