Right, a quick post to kick off 2019, to see what’s ahead for the blog.
Same old stuff, really, I don’t plan a revolution where I suddenly start reviewing YA vampire romance fiction, just the usual stream of Golden Age and modern mystery novels.
One slight addition this year is for the first time in an age, I’m going to take on one of Bev’s challenges. Bev does a load of different reading challenges over at My Reader’s Block, but the one I’m going to accept – if I do more than one, I’ll lose track of what I’m doing – is entitled “Just The Facts, Ma’am”. It’s a reading challenge regarding the list below.
The rules can be viewed here – I’ll be doing the Golden Age challenge, aiming from Master Detective. I’ll be keeping track of my progress here, updating it (probably) every month. Wish me luck!
Progress so far:
WHO:
- Academic – Death Of An Author
- Actor – Who Killed Dick Whittington?
- Professional – Murder At Derivale
- In the Medical Field – The Stars Spell Death
- Journalist/Writer – They Can’t Hang Me
- Vicar/Religious Figure – The Eight Of Swords
- An Artist/Photographer – Golden Ashes
- Watson Narrator – The Billiard Room Mystery
- Librarian/Bookseller – Murder In The Bookshop
- Lawyer/Barrister/Judge – He Should Have Died Hereafter
WHAT:
- Person’s name in the title – The Man Who Killed Fortescue
- A number in the title – The Case Of The Seven Bells
- A colour in the title – The Case Of The Black Twenty-Two
- An animal in the title – The Toy Lamb
- Method of murder in the title – The Elusive Bowman
- Written by more than one person – Bodies From The Library 2
- Inverted Mystery – Left Handed Death
- Comic Mystery – Case Without A Corpse
- Includes letters/diary extracts – The Creeping Jenny Mystery
- Title with a literary allusion – The Mad Hatter Mystery
WHEN:
- During a special event – Royal Ascot – The Five Red Fingers
- During a recognised holiday – The Murders Near Mapleton
- Time/Date in title – The Night Of Fear
- Timing is critical – Death Of Mr Gantley
- During the Victorian Era – Scandal At High Chimneys
- Set pre-1800 – The Chinese Gold Murders
- During a weather event – Death Takes A Detour
- During WWII – Death In Captivity
- During a trip – The Mirador Collection
- During a performance – The Black Spectacles
WHERE:
- At a country house – The Ghost It Was
- In a capital city – The Waxworks Murder
- On an Island – This Is The House
- In a hospital – A Puzzle For Fools
- At a school – Love Lies Bleeding
- In a small village – The Triple Bite
- A country outside US/UK – The Loss Of The Jane Vosper
- Any outdoor location – The Saints Are Sinister
- In a theatre – Puzzle For Players
- In a locked room – Suddenly At His Residence
HOW:
- Death by Drowning – Death In Shallow Water
- Crime Involved Fire/Arson
- Death On Wheels – Murder En Route
- Death By Strangulation – The Case Of The Housekeeper’s Hair
- Death by Knife/Dagger etc – With A Bare Bodkin
- Death by shooting – Murder Isn’t Cricket
- Death by blunt instrument – The Skeleton In The Clock
- Unusual Murder Method – The Bloody Tower
- At least two deaths with different means – The Murders In Praed Street
- Death by poison – The Mystery Of The Peacock’s Eye
WHY:
- Won an award – Suicide Excepted
- Made a “best of” list – Murder Gone Mad
- Author’s surname begins with the same letter as mine – The Case Of The Leaning Man
- Author from the same country as me – Invisible Death
- Out of my comfort zone – Murder On The Way!
- Author not from my country – It Walks By Night
- A character has a job similar to mine – The Perfect Murder Case
- Read by fellow challenger – And Death Came Too
- Because “Simon Said” – Eleven Came Back
- Made into a TV adaptation – The Seven Dials Mystery
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 
Yay! Glad you have decided to join this challenge.
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Looks like it’s more doable than most without changing my reading habits too much…
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: At Least Two Deaths By Different Means. […]
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“I don’t plan a revolution where I suddenly start reviewing YA vampire romance fiction…” Shame, it could be a whole new direction for the blog, only joking. How does the challenge work? I assume that you don’t have to read every combination (a million books by my reckoning), which might be a bit much for you. It is interesting though and even glancing at it brings ideas to my head, for instance Gervase Fen for 1.1 assuming that the who is the detective rather than the victim or perpetrator. Anyway good luck and enjoy this tears reading.
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Oh, I forgot to put a link to Bev’s rules. I’ll do that later on. But basically, it’s one book per box…
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Years rather than tears. Sigh!
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Goodness, sounds like quite a complicated challenge – and involving lots of reading – or can you use the same book for more than one category? Good luck!
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No. I forgot to put the link to Bev’s site – I’ll correct that soon – but it’s one book per category…
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Yay! I’m so glad you’re joining us this year! (Are you sure you don’t want to try the Calendar of Crime as well? [she says in her most persuasive, “come to the dark side of challenge addiction” voice 🙂 ]
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Just the one challenge for me, Bev. I have a history of not even keeping track of one challenge, let alone many…
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Best of luck – and if you do succeed, you should definitely add that title to the blog!
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: Means Of Murder In The Title […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: Both the murders occur on the streets of London, so this can tick the “Any Outdoor Location” box. […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: Any Outdoor Location […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: Let’s tick off “Who – a vicar/religious figure” in the shape of the Bishop of Mapplethorpe. […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHEN – During a performance of some sort. […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHY – read by a fellow challenger, namely Kate at Cross Examining Crime […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHO – Lawyer/Barrister/Judge, etc […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHEN – During A Weather Event […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHAT – A Number In The Title […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHAT – An animal in the title […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHAT – Person’s Name In The Title […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHAT – includes letters or diary extracts. […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHY – Author’s last name begins with the same letter as mine. […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: HOW – Death On Wheels […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHEN – set during WWII […]
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[…] Just The Facts, Ma’am: WHERE – Set In A Capital City […]
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