October Pick of the Month

 

Here we are again for another reading round-up and the much-anticipated Reader's Block P.OM. Award. Things calmed down a bit at work and I was able to step my reading up a bit (six more than last month).  Here's what the reading stats look like for October....

Total Books Read: 24
Total Pages: 4,878
Average Rating: 3.54 stars  
Top Rating: 4.5 stars 
Percentage by Female Authors: 42%

Percentage by Male Authors: 36%

Percentage by both Female & Male Authors: 22%
Percentage by US Authors: 65%
Percentage by non-US/non-British Authors:  8%
Percentage Mystery: 94%

Percentage Fiction: 100%
Percentage written 2000+: 17%
Percentage of Rereads: 43%
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: 25 (86%)

Mysteries/Mystery-Related Reads:

Death in the Tunnel by Miles Burton (3.5 stars)

Watson's Last Case by Ian Charnock (1 star)

Serpents in Eden by Martin Edwards [ed] (4 stars)

Seven Dead by J. Jefferson Farjeon (4 stars)

Three Thirds of a Ghost by Timothy Fuller (3 stars)

A Mystery for Ninepence by Phyllis Gegan (3 stars)

The Arsenal Stadium Mystery by Leonard Gribble (4 stars)

The Five Assassins by Owen Fox Jerome (4 stars)

The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene (4 stars)

The Hidden Staircase by Carolyn Keene (4.5 stars)

The Mystery at Lilac Inn by Carolyn Keene (3 stars)

The Secret at Shadow Ranch by Carolyn Keene (3 stars)

The Spider Sapphire Mystery by Carolyn Keene (4 stars)

Burnt Offering by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

The Distant Clue by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

First Come, First Kill by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

Murder Can't Wait by Richard Lockridge (4 stars)

Show Red for Danger by Frances & Richard Lockridge (3.5 stars)

Mister Splitfoot by Helen McCloy (3.5 stars)

Blood on the Dining-Room Floor by Gertrude Stein (unrated)

Murder at Hartigan House by Lee Strauss (3.5 stars)

Murder on the S. S. Rosa by Lee Strauss (4 stars)

As we can see, there were no five-star winners in October and only one book garnered 4.5 stars: The Hidden Staircase. But Nancy Drew was a reread (several times over) and since it held up so well more than 40 years after I first read it, I'm going to award it a special nostalgia P.O.M. award rather than October's ultimate honor. But that makes determining the regular October Pick of the Month even more difficult because Staircase was followed by a whole boatload of four-star winners, including Murder on the S. S. Rosa, a historical mystery which takes place aboard ship. Of the many four-star books, there are three that stand out: Seven Dead by Farjeon, which features two interesting detective--our police detective Inspector Kendall and reporter cum amateur detective Hazeldean; The Arsenal Stadium Mystery by Gribble, which features my first-ever soccer murder mystery; and The Five Assassins by Jerome, which features murder on a movie set. Each of the three had a slight flaw in the works which prevented a higher rating, but our winner this month is....

The layers of would-be killers and the sheer twistiness of the plot give this one the extra oomph to put it just ahead of its fellow four-star contestants. I hope to come across more of Jerome's work in the future.