February, and it’s been a typical February. Miserable weather, a grotty cold messing up my half-term break and struggling to get into books. Stockport Noir was a huge highlight – I’m already booked for next year – and there’s some cracking TV at the moment in the form of Reacher, Paradise and, well, Death In Paradise. Isn’t Paradise supposed to be a nice place?
As for reading, it’s been a bit erratic after a stonking January, with more reads that petered out after a few chapters. Not sure if it’s a coincidence, but most of them were police procedurals – can’t exactly put my finger on why, but they just didn’t seem to stand out. Hence two re-reads, but all in a good cause. Oh, and something else… oh yes.
Let’s take a look at the nine books from this month:
You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego – easy to dismiss as And Then There Were Nine, but there’s a lot to like in this story of a writers’ retreat with a rapidly decreasing attendance.
The Garden Club Murders by Jonathan Whitelaw – alas not another addition to the list of cosy mysteries that are “proper” mystery novels, but some nice distinctive leads. Not much gardening.
The Blind Barber by John Dickson Carr – an early Gideon Fell novel, and not the place to start with Carr’s great sleuth. It’s quite fun, but far from his best.
The Waxman Murders by Paul Doherty – re-read number 1, a Hugh Corbett novel. So a rich historical setting, great characters and a non-stop plot with a locked room murder.
How Doth The Little Crocodile? by Peter Antony – well, I’ve read this hugely rare book and it’s not particularly good, so now you don’t need to.
The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson – three generations of actresses who played the sleuth Dahlia Lively come together to solve a murder at the home of her creator. Lots of fun.
The Seventh Trumpet by Peter Tremayne – finally back in seventh century Ireland and while not a great mystery, a very involving read and I’ll be back for more soon.
A Psalm For Falconer by Ian Morson – the thirteenth century this time, and a murder at a mondastery in Lancaster sets Falconer an intriguing puzzle. I’ll be back with him soon too.
The Horn by Brian Flynn – a disappearing bridegroom, a haunting hunting horn sounding in the darkness and the Maquis De Sade form the background for this classic crime reprint.
Right, Book of the Month… ignoring The Horn obviously, I don’t think anything completely knocked it out of the park, but a couple did come close. From brand new releases, You Are Fatally Invited did some fun new things with the And Then There Were None format, with multiple narrators (some of whom aren’t identified in a clever way) and an extra who’s-who problem for the reader. My only problem for me as a reader is that the villain was too obvious, although there are plenty of other reveals to catch you out. The other contender is The Three Dahlias by Katy Watson, a hugely enjoyable cosy that does make a good effort to embrace clues and stuff, and also has a great set-up, but also suffers from a fairly guessable villain (and a sub-villain where even the sleuths admit they didn’t know who it was until they gave themselves away). I’m behind on this series, so I’ll be coming back to the series soon.
Both were easily the best reads of the month, but I think the Puzzly goes to You Are Fatally Invited, as it is a refreshing approach to an old situation and the multi-layered reveals work very well. So congratulations to Ande Pliego and I look forward to see what comes next from her.
Next month, more new titles, more classics and every possibility – well, every certainty – that Brian Flynn will pop up again…
In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel 