Well, there were times when I thought I wasn’t going to complete this challenge. It was set by Bev over at My Reader’s Block (amid many others) and I’d seen a few blogging chum give it a go in previous years, so I thought I’d try it this year. It would involve reading sixty Golden Age mysteries over the course of a year. How hard could that be?

Well, it started well, but after a while, it did become harder to tick certain boxes. Even simple things like some of the murder methods in HOW became hard to tick. But with Inspector French And The Starvel Tragedy, I finally managed to tick the last box.

So, here are my results, along, with no good reason, my favourite title from each category in pictorial form.

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 – Inspector French and the Starvel Tragedy
• 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

When Bev puts her summary page up, I put a link to it here so you can see what my fellow bloggers have been reading. In the meantime, thanks to Bev for putting this challenge together – loads of fun and I’ve read a number of books that I wouldn’t normally have, some of which were rather good…