So the quarter-finals are over… and we’re getting to the inevitable final four. Well, possibly not. If you’d asked me who would be in the final four… Well, I’d have picked two of these, accepted the inevitable third, but the fourth place? Well, I wouldn’t have picked that writer, but as the seeding – based on the number of votes received in the first round – has played out perfectly with the top four making it to the final.
The quarter-finals weren’t particularly close. Agatha’s vote share slipped to a mere 85% this time, seeing of Josephine Tey. Dorothy L Sayers took twice as many votes as her opponent, Anthony Berkeley and John Dickson Carr flattened Ellery Queen with 80% of the votes – slightly surprised at the extent of that one, to be honest. The closest was Edmund Crispin vs Rex Stout, but it was never that close, with Crispin taking over 60% of the votes.
So now we’re down to the semi-finals, and I supposed the question is who plays who. The layout of the draw has been planned from the start, in case you think I’m fiddling things, so here we go. One of these, I think, is pretty predictable, whereas the other… who knows?
This round closes on Monday at noon – you’ve got 48 hours to have your say…
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 
All I can say is … Gulp!
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Surprised to see Sayers make it so far. Found Whose Body? extremely boring but did try The Nine Tailors; however abandoned it soon after. I think there was an endless discussion on church bells. Would there be a match for the third place too?
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Julian Symons, rather a controversial figure amongst denizens of this blog, expressed surprise at her continuing popularity in 1972.
His Bloody Murder is bloody marvellous by the way.
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Thanks Ken B for that info. Haven’t read Symons but will search for Bloody Murder.
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Why not? The World Cup has a third place play-off
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Ugh Whose Body was awful. But by ignoring the protagonist, I found The Nine Tailors quite interesting.
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Well if you say so, Caron Allan, will give The Nine Tailors another try.
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Easy choices this time.
Interesting to me is how early the Humdrums were voted off the Island. For a while a few years ago it looked lie the rising tide of Humdrum might challenge the biggies, but it didn’t happen.
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Discovered this in time for the finals, in tim for when my vote might be needed. (Not that I think the eventual winner is in much doubt.)
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I like Crispin but I’ve never seen anyone place him in top 4 before!!
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“One of these, I think, is pretty predictable, whereas the other… who knows?”
So you are not sure that Carr will defeat Sayers ? 🙂
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Is it too late to demand a recount or refuse to leave the Whitehouse? I know it’s not fashionable to say so, but I really like Christie’s books! (Not all of them, obviously – I mean Mr Parker Pyne is a pompous ass and Harley Quinn is just weird, and Tommy and Tuppence need to shut up and go away, but apart from them… And it’s not Christie’s fault that Kenneth Brannagh got involved…
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Pretty sure Agatha will be safe for this round
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