MY READER'S BLOCK: Challenge Complete: Follow the Clues

SCAM artist alert

Apparently there is someone calling themself "Luigi Calloway" out there who is claiming to be associated with the Mount TBR Reading Challenge. He is contacting authors and telling them if they pay him, then their books will be used for the challenge. It's possible he's also telling people they must pay to participate in any way. Please know that there is absolutely no charge associated in any way with this reading challenge and that this person does not represent me or anything associated with my blog. There will NEVER be a reason for anyone to have to pay for participation in any way for any of my challenges. If only people who exert this much time and effort on scamming people would put it into something worthwhile....like reading their own books!

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Challenge Complete: Follow the Clues

Brand new for 2017! My Reader's Block is proud to introduce the Follow the Clues Mystery Challenge.

I started my new Follow the Clues Mystery Challenge looking for clues to support a Misdemeanor. I met that commitment back on March 14 and continued to hunt for evidence--working my way through a Felony charge and finally collecting enough evidence for a Capital Offense. I thought I might be able to string together even more connections (perhaps bringing down a whole gang), but I hit a bit of a dead end with Coffin's Dark Number by Gwendoline Butler. So--having met my initial commitment and then some, I'm going to declare this challenge fulfilled.

1. Death at Swaythling Court by J. J. Connington (1/4/17) [revolver on cover--which leads me to...]
2. Death of a Racehorse by John Creasey (1/7/17) [do those bullets on the cover match the gun in question? And my next clue...]
3. The 24th Horse by Hugh Pentecost (1/13/17) [Now horses seem to be theme. This takes place at a horse show in New York City. And this book leads me to...]
4. Death Takes a Bow by Frances & Richard Lockridge (2/5/17) [With more mysterious goings-on in New York City...with Mr. & Mrs. North.]
5. Deception Island by M. K. Lorens (2/13/17) [In the Lockridge book, the victim is a writer. Here, the amateur sleuth is a writer. Connection = writers]
6. Episode of the Wandering Knife by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2/17/17) [A man on the cover of Deception Island is holding a knife. A woman on the Rinehart book is holding a knife. Connection = knife]
7. The Body Missed the Boat by Jack Iams (3/6/17) [Rinehart book was a Dell mapback. That map led me to this book which is also a Dell mapback.]
8. Murder at Government House by Elspeth Huxley (3/14/17) [Iams book was set in Africa. This book is also set in Africa.]

Misdemeanor!

9. Dread & Water by Douglas Clark (3/15/17) [Two important scenes in the Huxley book involve mountainsides. All of the deaths in the Clark book occur while mountain-climbing]
10. Silence Observed by Michael Innes (3/28/17) [Both Clark & Innes have upper-level policemen investigating the crimes]

Felony!

11. Nun Plussed by Monica Quill (3/30/17) [A rare/used book man is one of the victims in the Innes book; a rare/used book man is the initial suspect in the Quill book]
12. A Grave Case of Murder by Roger Bax (4/10/17) [A supposed marriage is involved in each book]

Capital Offense!

13. Murder Comes First by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4/11/17) [Both books have very sympathetic detectives--in the Bax book, sympathy with the suspects, and in the Lockridge book sympathy with the amateur detectives.]
14. Stroke of Death by Josephine Bell (4/12/17) [Murder for Money]
15. Coffin's Dark Number by Gwendoline Butler (4/16/17) [Both are heavily psychological character studies--and very squalid, depressing character studies too]