End of the month time – I won’t lie, it’s been a bit of a crappy one – so the start of a new one is always a good thing. Hopefully July the 4th in the UK will be the start of something better – it certainly should be the end of something terrible. Fingers crossed.
OK, still got loads going on, so let’s get the review of the month. Nine books – oops, fallen behind in the ten books a month challenge – and they were as follows:
Holmes On The Range by Steve Hockensmith – one of the blog inspirations and even better than I remembered it being.
The D.A. Holds A Candle by Erle Stanley Gardner – a first try of this series from ESG and it wasn’t great.
Murder At School by James Hilton – mentioned at Bodies From The Library and, well, it’s a bit rubbish.
Banners Of Hell by Paul Doherty – the return of Sir Hugh Corbett and it’s as magnificent as ever.
Next-Door To Death by Belton Cobb – one of the better of my recent Belton Cobb reads.
The Curse Of Penryth Hall by Jess Armstrong – a bit too Gothic for my tastes.
The Howling Beast by Noel Vindry – a classic puzzler with a clever overall picture, but the central impossibility is a bit too obvious.
Hangman Island by Kate Rhodes – another effective mystery-thriller in this series, but I do wish Ben Kitto was capable of spotting a murderer before they give it away by trying to kill him.
The Maze by Philip MacDonald – a classic mystery novel, allegedly an exercise in pure logic. Which it isn’t.
So, Puzzly time, and it’s down to two. Both magnificent in their own way, but a little history first. I first reviewed Holmes On The Range in August 2016 but it was beaten to the Puzzly by Paul Doherty’s Dark Serpent which, to be fair, was mildly influenced by the fact that it’s dedicated to me. So let’s fix that possible-injustice, and let Holmes On The Range pip Banners Of Hell to this month’s Puzzly. I’ve been resisting re-reading the next book in the series all month, which is a great sign of a great book. So congrats, Steve Hockensmith – it’s been long overdue.
Next month… well, more books, obviously.
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 