Murder Every Monday: Pull Up a Chair!

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

This week's prompt is covers with someone seated at a table or desk. So Pull Up a Chair and get cozy. Or...maybe you shouldn't considering that quite a number of these folks are dead or will be by book's end.

Stag Dinner Death ~John Penn

An Ad for Murder ~John Penn

Headlined for Murder ~Edwin Lantham

Murder at Cambridge ~Q. Patrick

The Dishonest Murderer ~Frances & Richard Lockridge

Murder in Any Language ~Kelley Roos

Literary Murder ~Batya Gur

Miss Agatha Doubles for Death ~H. L. V. Fletcher

Hangman's Holiday ~Dorothy L. Sayers

Strong Poison ~Dorothy L. Sayers (I think this is my favorite of my table/desk offerings)

The Case of Sonia Wayward ~Michael Innes

The Eight of Swords ~John Dickson Carr

Death of a God ~S. T. Haymon

Murder at Plums ~Amy Myers

The Family at Tammerton ~Margaret Erskine

Mrs. Jeffries Stands Corrected ~Emily Brightwell

The Search for Maggie Hare ~Elizabeth Byrd

Murder at the Savoy ~Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö

Thirteen Guests ~J. Jefferson Farjeon

Murder Within Murder ~Frances & Richard Lockridge

Duplicate Death ~Georgette Heyer

The D.A. Goes to Trial ~Erle Stanley Gardner

Murder on the Left Bank ~Elliot Paul

Strong Poison ~Dorothy L. Sayers

Death on the Nile

 Death on the Nile (1937) by Agatha Christie (narrated by David Suchet)

I was looking for a comfortable book to listen to while I was doing mundane tasks. Something that I had already read and it wouldn't matter if I missed a line here or there. Usually, I choose Sayers and Lord Peter Wimsey--but this time I decided to take a little trip to Egypt with another of my favorite sleuths and revisited Death on the Nile. If you'd like to take a look at a more thorough analysis of the story, please see the link at the title. Here, I'll be talking about the audio version. 

David Suchet is my pick for Poirot--especially in his earlier appearances as the sleuth, before his personal views started encroaching so heavily. (That's a discussion for another time. I won't pull out my Murder on the Orient Express soapbox right now...) His is the voice I hear in my head when I read the hard copies of the Poirot stories. So, listening to him step into Poirot's voice in this audio novel was music to my ears. And, for the most part, he does an excellent job with the various characters. My two main quibbles--Miss Van Schuyler and Colonel Race. After seeing the star-studded 1978 filmed version, Bette Davis will forever by Miss (Mrs.) Van Schuyler and hers is the voice I expect. Suchet's selection of voice for the rich, spoiled woman is meant to be irritating, I do get that, but it just sets my teeth on edge and is near-unbearable. And, as far as Colonel Race goes, not only is the voice not at all like David Niven's, Suchet has--for reasons known only to himself, given Race a periodic weird lisp. But on the whole, a lovely listening experience.

First Line: Linnet Ridgeway! "That's Her!" said Mr. Burnaby, the landlord of the Three Crowns.

Last Line: For, as Mr. Ferguson was saying at that minute in Luxor, it is not the past that matters but the future.

********

Deaths = 5 (four shot; one stabbed)

A Knife in the Fog

 A Knife in the Fog (2018) by Bradley Harper

Not long after the publication of A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle (not yet Sir), receives a message from former Prime Minister William Gladstone's secretary, Jonathan Wilkins, urgently asking him to come to come to London--"as many lives may lie upon its balance." Assuming that the summons is medical (though a bit mystified why Gladstone would call upon him), Doyle arranges to go. Only to find out that Gladstone wants him to work with the police to capture "Leather Apron" the killer of prostitutes who will soon become known as Jack the Ripper. Doyle feels completely inadequate, but when pressed says he will take up the commission on one condition--that his mentor Professor Joseph Bell (who served as the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes) agrees to work with him.

Wilkins agrees on Gladstone's behalf and also arranges for the men to have a guide in Whitechapel to help them navigate the unfamiliar world where the killer operates. He has selected Margaret Harkness, a journalist who writes about Whitechapel and the surrounding area under the name John Law. Harkness becomes a worthy member of the amateur detective team, more than proving her mettle when it comes to dealing with razor-bearing ruffians and thieves. She guides them to sites of the previous murders, introduces them to a working girl named Mary, and then shows them the way to future sites. Little by little, Bell and Doyle pick up pieces of the puzzle that will reveal who the killer is--but then the Ripper focuses on their team and the hunt becomes personal. Can they find him before one of their own becomes the next victim?

I am always up for a Holmes-adjacent story or a Jack the Ripper story. And, if you combine the two, even better. Jack the Ripper is one of the serial killers I can read about. I prefer my true crime/serial killers to have a bit of age on them. I'm not keen on true crime books about recent murders. Just my opinion, but I don't like to think of profiting off murders with current victims (family of those killed, for instance) still around to be hurt. Unless the goal is to provide a new perspective on an unsolved crime with the hopes of finally bringing closure, then I'd rather read about true crimes that are far removed from the present day. [Okay, I'll step down from my soapbox now....]

Since this is a work of fiction, Harper gives us a fictional solution to the murders even though he peoples the book with real people--from Doyle and Bell to Gladstone and Wilkins to Margaret Harkness and Inspector Abberline, as well as many others. While I was familiar with those who figured prominently in the Ripper investigation and knew a fair amount about Doyle and his mentor Bell, I was completely unfamiliar with Margaret Harkness. It was very interesting to learn about her journalistic work among the lower classes in London. Harper may have taken some liberties with her character and given her what seems like a more modern viewpoint, but given her dedication tot the under-represented in London's society at the time the liberties may not be as great as they appear.

The mystery is perfectly fine. Again, given that this is fiction, I was expecting Harper to give us a solution that satisfied his additions to the Ripper story. This means, unfortunately, that the person he's chosen to fill the Ripper's shoes doesn't come as a big surprise. The possible suspects aren't exactly thick on the ground. The wrap-up is a bit of a let-down--of course, the villain has it in for Doyle. Because reasons. The reason he selected Doyle as his opponent doesn't make a great deal of sense to me. Of course, given the state of the villain, perhaps it's not supposed to make sense--but one wishes it had. Overall, a perfectly fine, middle-of-the-road read. ★★★ 

First line: The small cardboard box arrived from Florence last month and sat unopened on my desk until today.

Last line: I miss you, dear friends. Happy New Year.
******************

Deaths = 9 (six strangled & stabbed; one poisoned; one hanged; one stabbed)

She Came Back

 She Came Back (The Traveller Returns; 1945) by Patricia Wentworth (Dora Amy Turnbull)

Anne Jocelyn came back alright--back from the dead, apparently. To the shock of her family and especially her husband Sir Philip Jocelyn.  Anne had gone to France to see about claiming a legacy (that Philip had told her not to accept) and was caught in the first German assault on France. Philip had arrived to get his wife, her look-alike cousin, and anyone else in the household he could to safety. Under fire from the Germans, Anne (Philip is certain) was killed and Annie Joyce (the cousin) was lost in the fray--presumed captured. But now someone claiming to be Anne Jocelyn has shown up and she insists that it was Annie who was shot while she survived.

The resemblance between the women was so great that most of the family and even the family lawyer isn't certain where the truth lies. Only Philip insists that Annie is trying to take the family fortune which she had always believed should have been hers and not Anne's. If she has to live as Anne for the rest of her life, then he is sure she'd do so. Philip is prepared to bear public censure and a court case if need be rather than accept an imposter as his wife, but the family lawyer points how unpleasant life could be if the case couldn't be proved. So, Philip agrees to a six-month trial to be sure. But then murder enters the picture and his doubts come back. The murdered woman is an old nanny of Annie's and when Scotland Yard is called in, Sergeant Frank Abbott immediately begins consulting Miss Maud Silver. She's shrewd, but it takes two murders and an attempted third before she can sort things out properly.

The second half of this book is way better than the first. Why? Because Miss Silver finally shows up. The first half where Anne turns up and is trying to get Philip to believe that she really is who she says she is just didn't do it for me. But when the murders start and Miss Silver gets down to cases, well, now we're talking. I don't think anyone will be surprised about the answer to whether Anne is really Anne or Annie, but the real surprise is finding out who the murderer is. The war references and connections are good and Wentworth does an excellent job with all of her characters--even the minor ones. ★★★ and 1/2 (all for the second half)

First line: The air in the Food Office was cold and stuffy.

Last line: She said, "I hope so."
************************

Deaths = 5 (two natural; two shot; one hit by car)

Ten Pins Game: 2025-2026

 

Rick at the Mystillery has the bowling lanes waxed, the bowling pins polished, and the bowling shoes all lined up for those who don't have their own. Your reading challenge goal is to knock down all ten pins using books with numerals in the title. You can use any book read this year. For full details click on the link above.

I've got my bowling shoes on and am on my way to knocking all ten pens down:

One Fell Sloop by Susan Kenney (7/3/25)

A Thief or Two by Sara Woods (3/13/25)

The Three Coffins by John Dickson Carr (6/4/25)

The Four of Hearts by Ellery Queen (7/15/25)

Bodies from the Library 5 by Tony Medawar, ed (3/2/25)

Six Nuns & a Shotgun by Colin Watson (5/9/25)

 

  The World's Best 100 Detective Stories Volume Ten by Eugene Thwing, ed (4/14/25)

 

Death on Gokumon Island

 Death on Gokumon Island (1948) by Seishi Yokomizo

Gokumon Island has a long, forbidding reputation--with a name meaning Hell's Gate Island and a history as a pirate stronghold. Since its pirate days, it came to be ruled by two strong, clannish fishing families. The head family, long lead by Kaemon Kito, is depending on Kaemon's grandson Chimata to return from the war and take his place as head of the family. But Kosuke Kindaichi, the famous detective, served with Chimata and when his friend succumbs to an illness acquired during the war, he begs Kosuke to go to Gokumon Island and protect his younger sisters. Chimata is certain that the girls will be killed if Kosuke can't prevent it.

Unfortunately, Kosuke's arrival sets in motion a well-prepared plan. A plan that even Japan's greatest detective could hardly have expected. And soon his mission of prevention becomes one of investigation as one by one the sisters are murdered in bizarre circumstances. Suspicion falls upon, the girls' father, a man driven mad by his autocratic father and Kaemon's treatment of the son and his wife. But the madman is locked up--how could he have done it? Other suspects include the "branch" family--related to the Kitos, but not in power. The scheming matriarch of the branch family wants the power for her own--would she or one of her household kill for it? And Kosuke himself spends a night in jail when Sergeant Shimizu, the island's police officer becomes suspicious of the strange outsider (before Kosuke has revealed his true identity and mission).

There is a lot going on here...and, unfortunately, some of it takes place off the page. So, when we get to the wrap-up scene at the end, there really isn't any way for the reader to have reached the same conclusions as Kosuke. I had a sneaking suspicion of part of the answer, but no solid evidence to back me up. I just thought a certain person was acting a bit oddly (though, if you read the story and see how many of these people are behaving oddly, you might wonder how I told the difference...). But--the story is engaging, provides a lot of history for the area and time period, and gives a good, twisty plot that can be enjoyed even if one might wish for more clues. ★★★ and 1/2

First line (Prologue): Seventeen miles south of Kasaoka, falling right on the border between Okayama, Hiroshima, and Kagawa Prefectures, in the middle of the Seto Inland Sea, there's a tiny island.

First line (1st Chapter): Kosuke Kindaichi. Reader, if you happen to have picked up the mystery The Honjin Murders, you will be familiar with him.

Last line: He placed his hands together in a posture of prayer as he bade farewell to Gokumon Island.
*******************

Deaths = 11 (five natural; one drowned; three strangled; one hit on head; one in war)

Murder Every Monday: Spotlight on Murder

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

This week's prompt is covers with indoor lighting (not torches--flashlights, I assume). Some of the lights/lamps/chandeliers/etc are harder to see than others...

Vintage Whodunnits ~Maxim Jakubowki (ed)

Stand Up & Die ~Richard & Frances Lockridge

Silence Observed ~Michael Innes

Deception Island ~M. K. Lorens

Die All, Die Merrily ~Leo Bruce

A Trap for Fools ~Amanda Cross

Somewhere in the House ~Elizabeth Daly

The Ghost of an Idea ~Mary Challis

Blood on the Tracks ~Martin Edwards (ed)

These Names Make Clues ~E. C. R. Lorac

The Emperor's Snuff Box ~John Dickson Carr

Who Killed Alfred Snowe? ~J. S. Fletcher

Little Hercules ~Francis Wallace

The Battles of Jericho ~Hugh Pentecost

Murder by the Book ~Norma Schier

Always Lock Your Bedroom Door ~Roy Winsor

Unnatural Death ~Dorothy L. Sayers

Murder at Midnight ~R. A. J. Walling

This Club Frowns on Murder ~Albert Borowitz

The Red Lamp ~Mary Roberts Rinehart

Judgment of Murder ~C. S. Challinor

Cocaine Blues ~Kerry Greenwood

The Hands of Healing Murder ~Barbara D'Amato

A Death for a Darling ~E. X. Giroux

Madman's Bend ~Arthur W. Upfield

Mrs. Malory & the Fatal Legacy ~Hazel Holt

Rutland Place ~Anne Perry

Murder at Ardith Hall

 

Murder at Ardith Hall (2021) by Irina Shapiro

Murder strikes again in the vicinity of Lord Jason Redmond and Inspector Daniel Haze. This time, Mr. Stillman, a guest at a private seance being held at Ardith Hall, dies as the medium begins to channel the spirits. What initially looks like a poisoning winds up being even more sinister--someone had been feeding Stillman a regular diet of ground glass. The arsenic in his pre-seance drink brought on a respiratory attack that ruptured the his already compromised system. So...did the killer get tired of waiting for the glass to do its work and decide to poison their victim? Or are there two hands at work? That's what Redmond and Haze need to find out.

The investigation is complicated by the fact that Daniel's wife Sarah was a member of the seance, invited by the hostess Mrs. Tarrant. She has never recovered from the death of their small son and was desperate to contact his spirit. So, Daniel's superior asks Redmond to take the lead in the investigation--if he refuses, then the Yard will be called in and there may be some very uncomfortable moments for the Haze family. Redmond doesn't want to step on Haze's toes, but he also wants to make things as easy as possible for his friend. So, he agrees

Initially, there seems to be little motive for the murder, Stillman had a business connection with Mr. Tarrant but no known connection with any of the other "seeker." But as the investigation progresses Redmond discovers that Mrs. Lysander, the medium, was right when she told him that every member of the seance had a connection to the victim. Whether they realized it or not... And somewhere in those connections lies the motive for murder.

Another good entry in this series. There are some anachronisms here and there, but I'm willing to overlook them for the characters. I'm enjoying the development of the Redmond and Haze friendship--and the realistic ups and downs that come in this installment. The tensions that creep in because of Sarah's involvement in the seance and Redmond's need to take the lead, test the friendship and it comes out stronger. Given the ending (spoiler--so I can't share), it will be interesting to see where Shapiro takes things next.

The mystery is fairly strong though I still would like to see more valid suspects. We have a nice bunch of possibles here in the seance, but not enough red in the red herrings to distract for long. Overall, an enjoyable series that will keep me reading. ★★★ and 1/2 [Finished 9/2/25]

First line (Prologue): A single candle in a silver holder glowed in the center of the table, casting a golden halo of light onto the tense faces of the people seated around it.

First line (1st Chapter): Jason Redmond gazed at the imposing facade of Ardith Hall as the carriage rolled through the wrought-iron gates and made its way up the sweeping drive.

Last line: He kissed first Katie, then Lily on the forehead, and left the room, eager to see what the day would bring.
*********************

Deaths = 4 (two bled to death; one run over by carriage; one war)

September Reading by the Numbers Reviews

 

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September Virtual Mount TBR Reviews

 

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September Mount TBR Reviews

 

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September Vintage Scavenger Hunt Reviews

 

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Murder Every Monday: The Case of the Missing Monday, Take Two

 

Kate at Cross Examining Crime hosts a fun mystery cover game on Instagram called Murder Every Monday. Our assignment, should we choose to accept it, is to display book covers and/or titles  from books we own that match the prompts she posts in advance (see link).

My intention is to also post about them here on the blog. Periodically, I manage to miss Monday and post on some other day. Last week, I managed to miss posting at all. So...for your viewing pleasure I bring you both this week's prompt: Titles with theft, burglary, etc in them as well as last week's prompt: Titles with a type of terrain. 

Last Week: Meet Me at the ATM: All Terrain Murder

The Desert Moon Mystery ~Kay Cleaver Strahan

Plain Murder ~C. S. Forester (just realized the author has terrain in his name as well)

Plain Sailing ~Douglas Clark

Into the Valley of Death ~ Evelyn Hervey (H. R. F. Keating)

The Valley of Fear ~Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (review is graphic novel version)

Trixie Belden & the Happy Valley Mystery ~Kathryn Kenny

The Mountain Cat Murders ~Rex Stout

The Black Mountain ~Rex Stout

The Mountains Have a Secret ~Arthur W. Upfield (another author with terrain!)

Forests of the Night ~David Stuart Davies

The Tule Marsh Murder ~Nancy Barr Mavity

Murder on the Marsh ~John Ferguson

The Yorkshire Moorland Mystery ~J. S. Fletcher

The Cornish Coast Murder ~John Bude

Crime on the Coast ~The Detection Club

And this week's theme: Where Thieves Rush In

The Country-House Burglar ~Michael Gilbert

Cold Steal ~Alict Tilton

The Theft of the Magna Carta ~John Creasey

The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar ~Maurice Leblanc

Raffles ~E. W. Hornung (named thief in title)

The Embezzler ~James M. Cain

The Shadow of Robber's Roost ~Helen Rushmore

The Great Train Robbery ~Michael Crichton

The Great Dinosaur Robbery ~David Forrest

The Word Is Murder

 The Word Is Murder (2017) by Anthony Horowitz

The wealthy Diane Cowper enters the Cornwallis funeral parlor one fine spring morning and makes her own final arrangements. Just six hours later, she's found strangled to death with curtain cord from her own front windows. There are no clues and, seemingly, no suspects. Everyone loved her. And when the Yard is stumped, they call in Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant former member of their team who exited the force under a cloud. Hawthorne decides that, like his brilliant predecessor Sherlock Holmes, he needs a Watson to follow him around, admire his deductions, and write them up in a nice, best-selling book. He chooses our narrator (and real-life author) Anthony Horowitz. 

Horowitz isn't particularly taken with Hawthorne and initially turns him down. But he finds himself drawn into the investigation anyway and, once he visits Diane Cowper's home and begins to feel like he knows her, he's hooked. He and Hawthorne have a few run-ins during the course of the story, but he can't walk away and not know what happens. They soon find that the victim wasn't quite the universally beloved woman they were led to believe (is anyone ever, really?). She was responsible for the death of one child and the devastating injuries of his brother. Has the family finally sought revenge? There was also rumored to be an argument with the theater board--leading to her resignation. Her famous, movie star son seems more interested in the effect on him and his career than the fact that she's been murdered and her daughter-in-law seems to have actively disliked her. And who was the man who left the foot mark on her carpet--the only real clue at the scene? When a second murder follows Diane's and the home of the judge involved in the car accident case (Diane walked free with barely a slap on the wrist), it begins to look like a case of revenge after all--but are there other reasons for revenge that have yet to come to the surface? And will that revenge reach out for one of our heroes?

An interesting take on the Holmes/Watson detective team. Hawthorne, initially, is far more unlikeable than Holmes and Horowitz is a far more reluctant sidekick. Over the course of the investigation there are signs that the two might become a close team, but there's still a ways to go. It took me a while to warm up to either character, but the mystery is definitely a good, twisty one and I absolutely missed the clue in the first chapter (that Horowitz goes out of his way to tell us is there). He does a good job with the red herrings and even though (as he tells us) there isn't quite the jeopardy in the confrontation scene as there could be (obviously since he's narrating the thing, we know Horowitz isn't going to die...) it is still an effective meeting. 

As much as I enjoyed his Magpie and Moonflower Murders, I believe I'm going to like this series better. We'll see what I think once I get to the next in the series. ★★★★

First line: Just after eleven o'clock on a bright spring morning, the sort of day when the sunshine is almost white and promises a warmth that it doesn't quite deliver, Diane Cowper crossed the Fulham Road and went into a funeral parlour.

Last line: By the time I reached the other side of the river, I knew exactly what I was going to do.
*****************

Deaths = 7 (one strangled, two natural, one car accident; three stabbed)

Clouds of Witness

 Clouds of Witness (1926) by Dorothy L. Sayers (narrated by Mark Meadows)

It looks like I'm plunging into another reread (re-listen) of Lord Peter Wimsey books. If you would like a more complete review of the story itself, please see my previous review (HERE). As I mentioned in my latest review of Whose Body?, I've read these stories so often that I don't often have much that is new to say about the mysteries themselves, but I do love listening to them when I want a nice comfortable story that I'm familiar with. I had forgotten that I'd listened to Meadows narrate this one and thought I might have something original to say about the audio version. But, alas. I listened to his version just a couple years ago. Here's what I said last time:

My main reaction to this visit to Riddlesdale Lodge is focused on the audio version itself. Hoopla promised me Ian Carmichael. It said so right there on the website. But when the audio started, I got Mark Meadows. He's a fine narrator in every way but two. He is not by any stretch of the imagination Lord Peter Wimsey. I've been spoiled by Ian Carmichael and Edward Petherbridge and I'm afraid that his take on Lord Peter just doesn't sit well. And he has turned Bunter into the most dreadfully supercilious-sounding manservant I've ever heard. Bunter is, indeed, Peter's valet and a superior one at that--but he has also been his comrade in arms in the Great War and there is an underlying friendship and affection that stays just on the correct side of the man and master relationship. There is little of that to be found in Meadows' rendition. The only real hint of it we get is when Peter is nearly potted in the bog and even then Bunter sounds more annoyed that Peter has gotten himself mired than alarmed.

Meadows does do an excellent job with the rest of the characters--giving distinct voices to everyone from the Duke of Denver to Sir Impey Biggs to the Dowager Duchess. He manages the female voices better than most male narrators. And I really enjoyed listening to his French--I don't understand nearly as much as I used to (when my French classes were much fresher in memory), but his accent is beautiful.

I will say that on this second round with Meadows that his LPW doesn't seem to be quite as far off as I initially thought. But his Bunter still grates. 

  ★★★ and 1/2 (for this particular audio version)

First line: Lord Peter Wimsey stretched himself luxuriously between the sheets provided by the Hotel Meurice.

Last lines: "Mr. Parker an' all," said Inspector Sugg, adding devoutly. "Thank Gawd there weren't no witnesses."

****************

Deaths = 2 (one shot; one hit by car)