Puzzle Doctor

Good News, Everyone! or You Can Stop Asking Me About It Now…

Well, let’s deal with some potential bad news first. The blog is going to be rather quiet for the next month or so. I’m undertaking a project that means that I’m going to need to re-read a number of titles which I’ve previously reviewed. So, apart from my current read, the upcoming Book of the Month, and a blog tour or two that I’ve already committed to, and the occasional ebook that might creep under the radar, you shouldn’t expect too many reviews heading your way for a while. To clarify, this is by no means the end of the blog – I’ll be back, hopefully by the end of April. Blogging is something of an addiction, and I’m not quitting yet…

So, the good news – the project. As you know, I’m somewhat obsessed with an author called Brian Flynn – you may have noticed me mentioning him once or twice. Given the interest that I seem to have almost single-handedly generated about his work, I’ve persuaded the nice folk at Dean Street Press to publish a series of brief essays by me about him and his work: his first ten books to be precise.

As you might imagine, getting these essays published took some persuading – DSP weren’t totally convinced that me writing about books that few people have read by an author that no one has heard of would actually sell particularly well – so we’ve come to an agreement. To make them a little more attractive to the reader, each essay will be packaged with the book that I’m writing about.

In case that’s a bit too subtle, what I am saying is that this October, the first ten Anthony Bathurst mysteries, from The Billiard Room Mystery to The Triple Bite, will be readily available to the general public (at a significantly lower than I had to pay for them), with an introduction by me. Much more about this nearer the time obviously – still six months to go – but I thought I’d let you know, if only to stop having to bend the truth every time someone asks me about reprints – apologies if I’ve not been completely honest with people over the past few months.

Right, I’m off to The Billiard Room. See you soon…

39 comments

  3. By the way, Murder En Route will be my first purchase.
    I would also have purchased Peacock’s Eye if it had not been spoiled for me !

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  5. Granted it’s your dream come true, but happiness is infectious, and since I can’t seem to get on the Christopher Bush bandwagon, I might as well give Mr. Flynn an affordable tumble. Which to choose? Which to choose? Are there any reviewers out there who know enough about the man to give me a sign? I’d better start looking around . . . 😉

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  8. That’s good news – I’m looking forward to “Murder En Route” and “Murders Near Mapleton”. And I’m feeling less smug about owning an expensive copy of “Peacock’s Eye”, and owning just about the last remaining copy of “Tread Softly”. 😞

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    • Ah, well Tread Softly isn’t from the first ten… While it would be wonderful to do the complete works, there’s a big issue with Flynn regarding finding copies of a lot of his books…

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      • Oh, so it’s just the first ten for now? But I presume you do owe quite a few of the Flynn catalogue, including “Tread Softly”…

        But at least “Peacock’s Eye” will be made available, and I’m hoping “Mapleton” and “En Route” too. 🤩

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      • It’s Billiard Room, Black 22, Peacock’s Eye, Mapleton, Invisible Death, Five Red Fingers, En Route, Orange Axe, Triple Bite and Creeping Jenny. In almost that order…

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  9. Incredibly excited! Flynn has always been one of those authors who I had to salivate over due to his very fun sounding mysteries, only for the cost and unavailability of them to hold me back from ever reading them.

    Amazing work from you, and I hope to see more Flynn’s coming out in the future 😄

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  11. Bravo! At long last. I have to tell you that this statement: “DSP weren’t totally convinced that me writing about books that few people have read by an author that no one has heard of would actually sell particularly well” is utterly absurd coming from a reprint publisher whose mission is to reprint forgotten writers who most people have never read or ever heard of and would probably not sell well. The ultimate irony. Was it his way of saying he doesn’t think you have the voice of authority? Anyone can write an intro to an old book. I’ve been doing them for years. And I can tell you first hand that the intro won’t help sell books. It’s the book’s content that does the magic.

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    • What I have to say might be interesting, but I doubt it would sell many copies without the book attached. Sorry, that was my weak attempt at a joke. DSP leapt at the opportunity when I found the rights holder – they’ve always been keen on Flynn.

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      • Oh my God! I’ve become a literal thinking humorless drip. Reading Anthony Wynne for the past couple of days has tainted me! I’ll go sit in the corner and brood hoping to find my sense of humor again.

        Good luck with your re-reads. Please dazzle and stun us with unheard of insights! 🙂

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  13. Congrats! This is very good news indeed, though it means that I can no longer boast about being one of the very few people who own Murder En route and Peacock’s eye. 😐

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  19. Very cool. Must have been a lot of work hunting down the rights holders. Were any of them surprised? “My great uncle wrote books??” Or were they just publishing houses?

    Print on demand is wonderful technology. Ramble House in the USA has a lot of stuff available that way.

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  20. i haven’t seen you review sebastian fitzek novels on here. when you will have time for a new author discovery, can you look into them and give us your thoughts about them?

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  23. I am one of these few who read the Peacock’s Eye. And loved it. My library has two more: “The Crime at the Crossways” and The Murders Near Mapleton (this, unfortunately, non-circulating). I will be certainly checking Dean Street Press for Flynn’s books.

    I only read old mystery books. So many favorites: R. Austin Freeman, Anthony Wynne, John Rhode, Walling, Kitchin, Rohmer, Scarlett, Max Pemberton, Waugh, Cyril Hare, Valentine Williams–etc.

    (This is a wonderful website, by the way. I especially enjoyed the “Historical Mystery Timeline”–that starts with one of my favorite mystery books.)

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