April Wrap-Up and P.O.M. Award

Here we are continuing another year of tracking reading progress and statistics for all things bookish on the Block. I will also be contributing to Kerrie's Crime Fiction Pick of the Month and handing out the coveted P.O.M. Award for the best mystery. So, here's what happened here on the Block in April....

Total Books Read: 13
Total Pages:  2.842

Average Rating: 3.04 stars  
Top Rating: 4 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 54%
Percentage by US Authors: 38%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  0%
Percentage Mystery:  85% 
Percentage Fiction: 85%
Percentage written 2000+: 8%
Percentage of Rereads: 0%
Percentage Read for Challenges: 100% {It's easy to have every book count for a challenge when you sign up for as many as I do.}    
Number of Challenges fulfilled so far: 9 (28%)

AND, as mentioned above, Kerrie had us all set up for another year of Crime Fiction Favorites. What she was looking for is our Top Mystery Read for each month. April was another big month for mysteries with all but two coming from that field--for a total of 11 out of 13--plus one non-fiction book related to the mystery field. Here are the books read:

Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street by William S. Baring-Gould [Non-Fiction]

I Could Murder Her by E. C. R. Lorac (4 stars) 

A Grave Case of Murder by Roger Bax (3.5 stars)

Murder Comes First by Frances & Richard Lockridge (3.5 stars) 

Stroke of Death by Josephine Bell (2 stars) 

Coffin's Dark Number by Gwendoline Butler (1.75 stars) 

They Tell No Tales by Manning Coles (4 stars) 

Death With Blue Ribbon by Leo Bruce (2.75 stars) 

Who Is the Next? by Henry Kitchell Webster (3 stars) 

Grounds for Murder by Kate Kingsbury (3 stars) 

The Fennister Affair by Josephine Bell (3 stars) 

The Vanishing Violinist by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (3 stars)


This month is a bit tricky. We have two 4-star winners: E. C. R. Lorac with I Could Murder Her and Manning Coles with They Tell No Tales. Both of these were highly enjoyable--with the quality I expect from these authors. I definitely recommend that you give them a try if you haven't already done so. But Both Lorac and Coles have won the coveted P.O.M. Award previously, so we'll need to move on to the next tier. Again, we have two contenders with a 3.75 rating: A Grave Case of Murder by Roger Bax and Murder Comes First by Frances & Richard Lockridge. The Lockridges are great favorites of mine and, as you might guess, they have also picked up a P.O.M. Award of their very own.

Which leaves us with this month's P.O.M. Award Winner....

 

A lively crime novel with an interesting family at its heart. Inspector James is a perceptive and sympathetic detective. Not exactly a fair play mystery (although anyone who can spot and figure out the meaning of the primary clue may figure it out before the final reveal), but definitely well worth the attention and time.