I’ve got a dilemma. As I approach my 1000th review – The Poisoned Chalice Murder by the way was the 980th – am I counting down to it or counting up to it? Because, as you may recall, dear reader, I’m planning a series of ten vaguely special reviews leading into review 1000 but I can’t decide if I should be calling it Countdown to 1000 or Countup to 1000. The mathematician and pedant in me favours the latter, but the part of me who wants people to have a vague idea of what I’m going on about without having to explain it in every one of the reviews favours the former.
Oh, the dilemmas that I have to deal with… it’s a hard life.
Anyway, the reason why I’m writing this rather than getting on with reading book 981 is that a) I’ve got a stinking cold which makes it hard to concentrate and b) I thought, given that most of the ideas for the ten Countdown books (Countup really doesn’t work, does it?) came from suggestions from you guys, I thought I’d have a bit of fun and let you know which books I’d chosen.
Note: if ever a teacher says something is “a bit of fun”, it means that it is “tortuously difficult”. My classes learn this at their peril…
So, in the grid below are the ten titles and authors of the books in question. No prizes, except for the sense of smug satisfaction… oh, and no clues from me either. Apart from the fact that all of the books are Golden Age or thereabouts. And they are authors who I have never read a novel by before. I decided to keep the theme a bit more focussed than I initially planned. So these will be reviews 990 to 999. As for 1000? Well, that would be telling…
Happy puzzling.
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 
I’ll attempt not to spoil this for others playing along at home…
I’ll be interested to see what you make of Kennedy, since I’ve only read the one book (published under a nom de plume) and didn’t love it, so another perspective willl be greatly appreciated, Equally the Murray, though I loved the one I read recently. And I’ve been meaning to read more (ahem) Wright for a few years now, and haven’t read that one…so, essentially, I’m excited about nearly all of these — though, of course, scandalised to learn that you haven’t read the one about the bird…!
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Blimey that was quick.
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Yeah, sorry — love a needy puzzle, me 😀
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Gah! Nerdy, I said. Damn you, autocorrect…!
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Santosh posted the correct answers here but I’m hiding them for now – PD
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Nicely done – I’ve hidden the answers for now to give everyone else a chance to play along
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Some really interesting choices here! You have those early classics of Latin detection: DVCCDI and VDDCIC. I thought these were lost when the Library of Alexandria went up in flames. How ever did you find a copy?
Is that PFWPQ, the Welsh detective story written entirely in Gaelic, I see? And the Russian masterpiece IMTOPTMV, too?
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How are there titles and authors hidden here? This doesn’t seem like a regular word search with words in straight lines whether they be backwards, forwards or diagonal. I find only three recognizable words that appear that way: TOP (or POT), CAT, GROWS. Is this a grid solved like Boggle? I see TOP HAT but its arranged in a sort of box like shape the way you do in making words on a Boggle game grid.
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It’s not as complicated as that. It was just my initial idea for a puzzle…
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Well, you have given a hint in your reply ! 🙂
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Ohhhhhhhhhh. I see… (About a day after everyone else! Obviously they observe AND see.)
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Ha!
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I like your answers better than the real ones Nick!
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Took me a couple of hours but I got them all :-
[correct answers removed by PD]
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Congratulations – I’ve removed the answers to let others carry on playing. Oh, and you were right first time with number 9.
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Spoilers I hope
[CORRECT ANSWERS HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY PD]
….
YES
YES
YES
YES
Supreme Court murders – so such sentiments were present in the Golden Age as well as in today’s headlines? No, this one is wrong.
YES
YES
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Darn.
We are down to few enough I can avoid crude spoilers now I think.
It took me ages to suddenly remember that Miles K is not the right Christian name. So now I can (thank you Amazon) put away the chilly last title. And I was blind not to spotted that hated book of freemasonry.
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Freemasonry? Which one is that?
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Perry Masonry.
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Of course… That’s one of the ones I’m most curious about. I figure I’ll either love it or hate it…
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I read precisely one, decades ago. I think I liked it, but I never read more. One of the other mystery bloggers recommended one, which I have on electronic loan, so it might get read.
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PS 1000 is one or more of Martin Edwards’s nonfiction books.
That or The Continuum Hypothesis by Cohen. 😉
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Well, I’ve already reviewed two of Martin’s non-fiction titles…
There isn’t a clue to Review 1000 in the puzzle by the way – partly as I haven’t 100% decided on what it is… It’s narrowed down to one of about four…
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