I am signing up for my very own 2018 edition of the Vintage Mystery Challenge--Just the Facts, Ma'am, where the objective will be to answer the all important questions of Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why to complete cases in either the Golden or Silver Mystery Eras (or, for the more adventurous, both). See the Detective Notebooks below. For a complete run-down of the rules please click on the link above.
Challenge Levels
Constable: 6 books -- one from each category (fulfilled 5/16/18)
Detective Sergeant: 12 books -- two from each category
Inspector: 18 books -- three from each category (fulfilled 4/26/18)
Chief Inspector: 24 books -- four from each category (fulfilled (5/19/18)
Superintendent: 30 books -- five from each category
Chief Superintendent: 36 books -- six from each category
Deputy Chief Constable: 42 books -- seven from each category
Chief Constable: 48 books -- all eight books from each category
I will be participating in both reading eras. My plan will be to complete as many categories as possible, but my commitment will have been met when I reach the Inspector level (18 books) in the Golden Age and the Constable level in the Silver.
Pre-1960
1. WHAT: The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham (1927) [Color in Title] (1/1/18)
2. WHO: A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh (1934) [Journalist] (1/7/18)
3. WHY: Red Warning by Virgil Markham (1933) [Author Never Tried] (1/25/18)
4. HOW: Another Woman's House by Mignon G. Eberhart (1947) [Gun/Shooting] (2/10/18]
5. WHERE: Beverly Gray's Secret by Clair Blank (1951) [Mode of Transportation] (2/13/18)
6. WHEN: Enter a Murderer by Ngaio Marsh (1935) [During Performance] (2/28/18)
Detective Sergeant
7. WHAT: With Blood & Kisses by Richard Shattuck (1941) [Pseudonymous author] (2/23/18)
8. WHO: Murder Out of Turn by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1941) [Artist--Dorian Hunt, fashion artist] (3/27/18)
9. WHY: Payoff for the Banker by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1945) [author/s read & loved] (3/15/18)
10. HOW: Odor of Violets by Baynard Kendrick (1940) [2 methods--hit with poker/beheaded] (2/27/18)
11. WHERE: The Nursing Home Murder by Ngaio Marsh (1935) [in the operating room] (3/10/18)
12. WHEN: Avalanche by Kay Boyle (1944) [Weather Event] (2/8/18)
Inspector
13. WHAT: About the Murder of Geraldine Foster by Anthony Abbot (1930) [Woman in the title] (3/22/18)
14. WHO:The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1902) [Crime-Solving Duo] (4/11/18)
15. WHY: The Wrong Box by Robert Louis Stevenson & Lloyd Osbourne (1889) [Movie: 1966] (4/3/18)
16. HOW: Green for a Grave by Manning Lee Stokes (1946) [Poison] (3/13/18)
17. WHERE: Terror in the Town by Edward Ronns (1947) [Small Town/Village] (4/26/18)
18. WHEN: Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (1951) [Historical Crime] (2/14/18)
Chief Inspector
19. WHAT: Death at the Dog by Joanna Cannan (1941) [Animal in Title] (5/4/18)
20. WHO: Untidy Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1947) [Amateur Detective] (5/9/18)
21. WHY: The French Powder Mystery by Ellery Queen (1930) [Has Been on TBR] (4/24/18)
22. HOW: Then There Were Three by Geoffrey Homes (1938) [Strangulation] (4/30/18)
23: WHERE: Vintage Murder by Ngaio Marsh (1937) [on an island] (5/7/18)
24: WHEN: Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh (1936) [Special Event] (4/7/18)
Superintendent
25. WHAT: Terror in Times Square by Alan Handley (1950) [Pub. more than one title] (6/5/18)
26. WHO: The House of Sudden Sleep by John Hawk (1930) [Matriarch] (9/30/18)
27. WHY: The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie (1928) [Read by Another Blogger--Kate @ crossexaminingcrime] (5/28/18)
28. HOW: The Blind Spot by John Creasey (1952) [Blunt Instrument (third murder)] (8/23/18)
29. WHERE: By the Light of the Study Lamp by Carolyn Keene (1934) [At School] (5/25/18)
30. WHEN: The Body in the Basket by George Bagby (1954) [On Vacation/Holiday] (5/22/18)
Chief Superintendent
31. WHAT: The Big Four by Agatha Christie (1927) [Number in Title] (8/12/18)
32. WHO: What Beckoning Ghost by Douglas G. Browne (1947) [In Armed Services] (10/16/18)
33. WHY: Death in a White Tie by Ngaio Marsh (1938) [Best of List] (7/26/18)
34. HOW: Foggy, Foggy Death by Frances & Richard Lockridge (1950) [Drowning] (9/22/18)
35. WHERE: Artists in Crime by Ngaio Marsh (1938) [Country house] (6/17/18)
36. WHEN: The Haunted Showboat by Carolyn Keene (1957) [Holiday] (8/2/18)
Deputy Chief Constable:
37. WHAT: Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus (1958) [Two Words Same Letter] (8/24/18)
38. WHO: Death & The Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh (1941) [Medical Field]
39. WHY: Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett (1929) [Out of Comfort Zone] (11/11/18)
40. HOW: Death of a Peer by Ngaio Marsh (1940) [Knife/Skewer] (10/3/18)
41. WHERE: The Crimson Circle by Edgar Wallace (1922) [Locked Room] (11/18/18)
42: WHEN: Before Midnight by Rex Stout (1955) [Time in Title] (10/4/18)
Chief Constable
43. WHAT: Colour Scheme by Ngaio Marsh (1943) [Method in Title] (12/20/18)
44. WHO:
45. WHY:
46. HOW: Five Alarm Funeral by Stewart Sterling (1942) [Fire/Arson] (11/3/18)
47. WHERE:
48. WHEN: Death's Old Sweet Song by Jonathan Stagge (1946) [Timing Is Crucial] (12/7/18)
1960-1989 (inclusive)
1.WHAT: Lament for a Lady Laird by Margot Arnold (1982) [title with 2 words same letter) (2/3/18)
2. WHERE: The Stately Home Murder by Catherine Aird (1969) [Country House] (2/16/18)
3. WHEN: Scotland Yard Photo Crimes by Henry Black (1983) [Historical Crimes] (3/24/18)
4. WHO: The Zero Trap by Paula Gosling (1979) [An Academic] (4/8/18)
5. HOW: DeKok & Murder by Installment (1985) [Blunt Instrument] (5/30/18)
6. WHY: Rear Window (& other stories) by Cornell Woolrich (all stories 1969 or earlier) [Made into film/TV] (5/16/18)
Detective Sergeant
7. WHAT: Time of Terror by Hugh Pentecost (1975) [Pseudonymous Author] (7/20/18)
8. WHERE: A Summer in the Twenties by Peter Dickinson (1981) [Mode of Transportation] (8/2/18)
9. WHEN: The Terrorists by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö (1975) [Timing] (8/30/18)
10. WHO: Trouble in Hunter Ward by Josephine Bell (1976) [In Medical Field] (7/18/18)
11. HOW: The Lacquer Screen by Robert Van Gulik (1962) [Death by Stabbing] (7/28/18)
12. WHY: Some Beasts No More by Kenneth Giles (1965) [on TBR] (6/22/18)
Inspector
13. WHAT: Women Sleuths by Martin H. Greenberg & Bill Pronzini [eds] (1985) [Women in Title] (7/21/18)
14. WHERE: Basil & the Pygmy Cats by Eve Titus (1971) [On an Island] (8/24/18)
15. WHEN: The Grub-&-Stakers Pinch a Poke by Alisa Craig (Charlotte MacLeod) [During a Performance] (9/10/18)
16. WHO: Basil in Mexico by Eve Titus (1976) [Artist] (8/25/18)
17. HOW: The Boy in the Pool by Camilla R. Bittle (1962) [Death by Drowning] (9/16/18)
18. WHY: A Very Private Enterprise by Elizabeth Ironside (1984) [Won an Award] (8/16/18)
Chief Inspector
19. WHAT: Devious Murder by George Bellairs (1973) [Author Not Tried Before] (11/13/18)
20. WHERE: The Invisible Thief by Thomas Brace Haughey (1978) [Locked Room] (9/5/18)
21. WHEN:
23. WHO: The Mystery of the Fiery Eye by Robert Arthur (1967) [Amateur Detective] (11/24/18)
24. HOW: Table D'Hote by Douglas Clark (1977) [Poison] (11/14/18)
25. WHY:
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