July & August Wrap-Up & P.O.M. Awards

It just goes to show how behind I've been this summer on reviewing and summing up--I only just realized that I never did a July round-up or P.O.M. Award and here it is time to look at August. So...this wrap-up post will give the stats for both July and August and we'll hand out two P.O.M. Awards. So, here we go....

July Stats

Total Books Read: 11
Total Pages:  2,734

Average Rating: 3.59 stars  
Top Rating: 4 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 73%
Percentage by US Authors: 82%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  0%
Percentage Mystery:  100% 
Percentage Fiction: 100%
Percentage written 2000+: 28%
Percentage of Rereads: 9%
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: 19 (52%)

 

And

 

August Stats

Total Books Read: 12
Total Pages:  2,878

Average Rating: 3.03 stars  
Top Rating: 5 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 33%
Percentage by US Authors: 42%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  0%
Percentage Mystery:  100% 
Percentage Fiction: 100%
Percentage written 2000+: 17%
Percentage of Rereads: 17%
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: 20 (65%)

 

AND, as I note each month, 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. Both July & August were big months for mysteries with all 23 books falling into that genre. The only five-star winner came in August: Trixie Belden & the Happy Valley Mystery. But Trixie has already had her moment of glory this year, so we'll have to look further for our P.O.M. Award Winners 

 

Here are the mystery books read in July:

 

Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (4 stars)

Death Before Bedtime by Edgar Box (3 stars)

Murder in Little Shendon by A. H. Richardson (4 stars)

Quick Curtain by Alan Melville (4 stars)

Juliet Dies Twice by Lange Lewis (3.5 stars)

The Barker Street Regulars by Susan Conant (3 stars)

Room for Murder by Doris Miles Disney (4 stars)

Your Turn, Mr. Moto by John P. Marquand (3 stars)

Lie of the Needle by Cate Price (3.5 stars)

The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie (4 stars) 

Murderer's Choice by Anna Mary Wells (3.5 stars)

 

And the mysteries from August:

 

Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard (3 stars)

The Big Grouse by Douglas Clark (3 stars)

The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (3 stars)

The Happy Valley Mystery by Kathryn Kenny (5 stars)

Best Max Carrados Detective Stories by Ernest Bramah (3 stars)

What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! by Agatha Christie (4 stars)

Every Second Thursday by Emma Page (3 stars)

Salt Is Leaving by J. B. Priestley (3.5 stars) 

Dead as a Dummy by Geoffrey Homes (3.5 stars)

Honeybath's Haven by Michael Innes (1 star)

Murder Is Served by Frances & Richard Lockridge (3.5 stars)

Natural Suspect by William Bernhardt et al (1 star) 

July is spoiled for choices with five books earning a four-star rating: Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly, a horror/historical mystery cross-over; Murder in Little Shendon by A. H. Richardson with a satisfactory homage to the Golden Age village mystery; Quick Curtain by Alan Melville, a Golden Age theatrical mystery; Room for Murder by Doris Miles Disney, a perfectly blended domestic suspense/standard mystery, and The Mirror Crack'd from one of Queens of Crime, Agatha Christie. August was a less spectacular month once we take out Trixie and her five stars and another Agatha Christie with 4 stars. Dame Agatha has racked up a couple of P.O.M. Awards, so neither The Mirror Crack'd nor What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! will taking home the prizes this time round. Next up in August then are two 3.5 star winners: Dead as a Dummy by Geoffrey Homes, a fun little story with lots of action in Arizona, and Murder Is Served, another light mystery from Frances & Richard Lockridge.

 

July really is a tough decision. There is much to like about all of the novels, but when it comes down to handing out the month's top honors, I must go with...

Disney writes a perfect blend of domestic suspense and standard mystery. There are clues that a clever reader can follow to their logical conclusion and, while there aren't a large number of suspects, it is very interesting to follow Miss Aggie and Dennis in their separate investigations. There's quite a lot of interest in this slim volume; it's amazing how much Disney packs into 176 pages. Deft charactizations, human interest, humor, and nicely done suspenseful mystery.

The choice for August is a little easier--but only because the Lockridges have been winners in the past. That leaves us with...

Dead as a Dummy by Geoffrey Homes which was loads of fun--lots of action, lots of sleight-of-hand with the appearing and disappearing corpses, and plenty of red herrings to distract the reader. Not quite fair-play--I don't see how a reader's supposed to know the real motive behind the murders, though one might be able to spot the villain of the piece without understanding the whys and wherefores. Ben Logan is a likeable protagonist--it's a shame there aren't more novels featuring him and there is only one other mystery with Madero as the detective.