2025 Mystery Marathon

 

Last year Rick over at the Mystillery decided that we needed to stretch our mystery-reading muscles and start training for a Mystery Marathon. [Full disclosure: I've been in training for this since my mom introduced me to Nancy Drew.] For each marathon we need to read at least 26 mystery books plus one short story. It looks like I'll finish five marathons in 2024, but I'm going to keep my goal at one--and at that point I can claim my personal challenge complete--even though I may keep running.

Marathon 1

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Short Story: 

2025 Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge

 

I'm heading out to the shooting range again with Rick and his Six Shooter Mystery Reading Challenge in 2025. The goal is pretty straight-forward--read six books on the same target (by the same author) to complete your round. Any targets started in 2024 but not yet complete will carry over to the new year, so Rick's page won't be fully ready to go for a while. But you can check out the current details at the link above.

As with his other challenges, Rick doesn't ask for a commitment. But I will set a personal goal in order to claim the challenge complete for 2025. I've been setting it at four targets--and I will be aiming for the same in the new year.  Most likely targets will include Agatha Christie, the Lockridges, and Carolyn Keene. Other authors TBD.

Target 1

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Target 2

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Target 3

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Target 4

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2025 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge

 

Once again Rick at the Rick Mills Project will be offering up the Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge as well as the Six Shooter Challenge and the Mystery Marathon. I, having no self-control when it comes to challenges--especially mystery-related challenges, will--of course--sign up for all three. For full details, check out the link above after the new year starts. Basically, just read mysteries and log the number of named corpses on his handy form.

Rick doesn't require a sign-up post, but in order to claim this one as complete on my own personal challenge tally sheet, I must submit at least 20 death certificate reports. With the number of mysteries I read per year, this doesn't prove too difficult--so, there should be plenty of toe tags signed by "Quincy" Hankins at the Mystillery Morgue.

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2025 Read It Again, Sam--My Sign-Up

 

I don't do a lot of re-reading, but it does seem that I wind up with at least a handful each year. So, I'm going to sign up for my Read It Again, Sam Challenge again.
 
There are several levels (below) and the full rules may be found at the link above.
Déjà vu: Reread 4 books  
Feeling Nostalgic: Reread 8 books
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Reread 12 books  
Living in the Past: Reread 16+ books

I'm just going to go for Déjà vu: Reread 4 books. If I find myself doing more rereads, then I'll level up.

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Déjà vu

2025 Calendar of Crime--My Sign-Up

 

As I mention elsewhere, mysteries are my genre of choice. So, I have little difficulty filling up my calendar with all sorts of mysterious dates and dastardly deeds. The goal--to read one month-related mystery book per month for a total of twelve books. See link at the Calendar of Crime for details and a link to the monthly prompts.

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

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December:

2025 Color Coded Challenge--My Sign-Up

 

Every year I think I've used up my last title with "Brown" (or a shade of brown) for the Color Coded Reading Challenge and every year I prove myself wrong (or buy more books with suitable titles). I'll keep signing up as long as I have suitable titles or author's name (I don't plan on ever using cover color...).

Here's the basic rule: read nine books with the various colors listed below in their titles, the author's name, or as a dominant color/image on their covers. For full details, click the link above. I'll list my books and date read as they come.

1. Read book with "Blue" (or a shade of blue):

2. Read a book with "Red" (or a shade of red):

3. Read a book with "Yellow" (or a shade of yellow):

 
4. Read a book with "Green" (or a shade of green):

5. Read a book with "Brown" (or a shade of brown):

 

6. Read a book with "Black" (or a shade of black):

7. Read a book with "White" (or a shade of white): 

8. Read a book with any other color:

9. Read a book a word/image that implies color (rainbow, polka dot, etc): 

2025 Reading by the Numbers Challenge--My Sign-Up

 

The Reading by the Numbers Challenge is the reading challenge at its most basic--just track everything you read. Anything counts--graphic novels or comic books, hard copy, e-books, audio novels, etc. If it is a book, it counts. And although the covers shown in the challenge image are all mysteries, you may read from any and all genres that interest you. Just set a goal and when January 1 comes around, start reading.

For the last two years, I've set my goal at 150 and I'm going to stick with it for 2025. Hopefully, I'll rack up more than that. But with 150 I can claim the challenge complete.

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2025 Virtual Mount TBR Challenge--My Sign-Up

 

Every year my goal is to read from my own stacks (hence the original Mount TBR Challenge). And every year I decide that there are TBR books that I don't own that I just have to Read. So--with my Virtual Mount TBR Challenge, I get to count that mountain too. As per usual, I'm starting with Rum Doodle and, hopefully, I won't get too carried away with library books. Though it would be nice to say that I've climbed the steps to Vulcan's Mount Seleya....

Click to enlarge

If you have tons of books on your want to read list that you don't own, then please join me as we tackle fictional mountains in the TBR world. Just click on the link above.

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Rum Doodle

2025 Mount TBR Challenge--My Sign-Up

 

I'm ready to kick off my fourteenth climb up Mount TBR as well as the fourteenth year I've sponsored the challenge. It will come as a surprise to no one that my TBR mountain range is no smaller than when I started. I just seem to trade one mountain for another, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to keep trying to read more than I take in. Once more the goal is to climb Mount Everest (100 of my own books) with the hopes of planting a flag atop Mount Olympus on Mars. I've managed that feat in two of the past years--but it's unlikely that I'll get very far on Mars this year. Grab your hiking boots and come join me on a TBR trek in 2025!

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Pike's Peak

Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt My Sign-up

 

My own Vintage Mystery Reading Challenge is near and dear to my heart. It's the first challenge I sponsored here on the Block and mysteries are my genre of choice--if I'm forced to choose. We're back again for another round of the Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt. The mission is to find as many objects on the scavenger hunt list as possible, although finding a total of eight on either card will technically fulfill the challenge. You can play along in either the Golden or Silver (or, for the more adventurous, both) and all the rules may be found at the link above. I will be searching for both gold and silver treasure--eight on each card will allow me to count my challenge complete, but I will definitely be trying to find them all. Hope you will join me!

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Nightmare at Noon

 Nightmare at Noon (1951) by Stewart Sterling (Prentice Wenchell)

Fire Marshall and pyro-hunter Ben Pedley is on the hunt again when an out-of-control fire breaks out in the already heated noon at the beginning of July. The fire was started in the home of Pedley's nemesis, attorney Rudy "The Key" Denhom. Denhom earned his nickname as the lawyer who most often turned the defense key that would let slimy criminals go free after mistrials and hung juries botched up the works of justice. Most recently, Denhom had arranged for the mistrial in the case of Manno Bourne--a man against whom Pedley was sure they had an airtight case for arson.

Now it looks like the man who extinguished the flame of justice has been extinguished himself. The burned body wearing Denhom's pajamas and trademark wristwatch is pulled from the building. But certain signs make Pedley doubt that the body is really Denhom's. And when an investigation reveals that Denhom had written a $60,000 check to self, made reservations in an assumed name for a Mexican flight, and gotten pally with a man who could have taken his place in an identity parade, it begins to look like The Key had unlocked his own escape hatch. But what was he running from? The Bourne brothers who didn't seem completely satisfied with the results of the mistrial? A junior partner who seemed to take too much interest in his private affairs? The gaggle of women he'd gotten himself entangled with? Or something else? And did he really escape after all?

Meanwhile, Robin Kozpet, the junior partner, is squawking about how Pedley is running roughshod over the law firm--something about how the Marshall has it in for them, is intimidating Kozpet & the staff & Denhom's wife, is mishandling the fire investigating, and needs investigating himself--and the Commissioner is getting ready to hold a suspension meeting. Pedley is going to have to move fast to wrap up the investigation before he loses the power to investigate.

Stewart had his origins in the pulps and it shows. Pedley is a flashy, smart-mouthed investigator who doesn't always play by the rules and sometimes downright breaks them when "interviewing" a few of the more reluctant suspects. Action, excitement, and danger is far more important than plotting and clues, but generally the adventure is a fun ride and there are enough clues to satisfy most mystery buffs (as long as you remember that Stewart is no Christie when it comes to tight plotting). However, this one didn't quite meet up to the usual Stewart standard. The plot feels even more all over the place than usual and there are some very confusing bits that were hard to follow. There is an interesting twist on the identity of the corpse and there are clues to the motive though not clearly tying it to the culprit. Pedley holds the identifying clue close to his chest and we only get to see it at the end. ★★ and 1/2

First line: The perforated panel on the dash spoke hollowly: "Here's a funny one, skipper."

Last line: "If that's what she thought," Pedley said, "--she was right, wasn't she?"
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Deaths = 3 (one hit on head; one stabbed; two shot)

The Penny Detective (spoilers at the end)

 The Penny Detective (2014) by John Tallon Jones

Stanley Morris-Shannon (aka Morris, aka "Moggsy") is a detective. At least that's what he says. Up till now his cases have involved tracking down missing cats and dogs and photographing insurance liabilities (like dangerous cracks in sidewalks). But in walks Karl Ashford, minor league villain and tough guy, with an offer Morris can't refuse. Karl's brother Billy has been nabbed for the murder of his (Billy's) wife's ex-lover. And Karl says Billy didn't do it. Billy has an alibi. But, since the alibi consists of robbing a warehouse, they're not exactly keen to produce it for the cops. Karl wants Morris to track down the real killer so Billy will be cleared without need of an alibi. Oh...and have we mentioned that Billy's disappeared? Which, of course, has made the cops doubly suspicious. But the more Morris and his sidekick Shoddy dig up, the more it looks like Billy really did do it. But then things take an unexpected turn....

Spoilers ahead!

I would have loved to have been able to give this a glowing review. One of my Secret Santas in 2016 sent me this and the second Penny Detective novel as part of my gift. But I just can't do it. I'm not a huge private eye/hardboiled detective fan, but when I do read them I want them to be good. And this one just isn't. I assume the title is a reference to how much Morris Shannon's services are worth, because he certainly isn't a very good PI. Of course, he really hasn't been all that good or dedicated at any of the jobs he's had up till now, so why would opening up his own private detective business be any different? If he didn't have his ex-cop bestie Shoddy to do his leg work, he wouldn't be solving anything ever. And even when Shoddy serves him up clues on a silver platter, he takes an incredibly long time connecting the dots. Some of the time, he doesn't even connect them, but manages to stumble into the right answer anyway. Added to this, I found it annoying to be set up for some sort of crooked gangland argument turned murder only to find Shannon in the middle of a secret agent/double agent spy thing. the icing on this not-so-delicious cake was the need for a real editor. I don't know if G-L-R (Great Little Reads) is a publisher or Jones' self-publishing moniker, but the number of grammatical errors and editing gaffes is large enough that it was pretty distracting. If the story is engaging enough, I can ignore them and enjoy the story. But I wasn't invested enough in Shannon and his adventures to do that here. I seem to be the outlier among the folks who have given written reviews on Goodreads--so your mileage may vary. ★ and 1/2

First line: I was christened Stanley Morris-Shannon, but only my mum calls me Stanley, and only then when she is ticked off with me.

Last lines: I told him I would think it over.
                 And I still am.

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Deaths = 7 (one hit on head; one car bomb; two natural; three shot)

The Case of the One-Penny Orange

 The Case of the One-Penny Orange (1977) by E. V. Cunningham (Howard Melvin Fast)

This is the second Masao Masuto mystery and my first introduction to the Zen detective working on the Beverly Hills police force. The story opens with Masuto checking out a suspected robbery at the Beverly Hills mansion of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Briggs. When the couple returned from the funeral of Ellen Briggs's mother, they found the house ransacked. But upon closer inspection it seemed that absolutely nothing was taken. Masuto's boss knows that he likes odd little mysteries, so he tells the detective that he can take look if he wants even though "there's nothing in it." Masuto has barely begun interviewing the couple when a call comes through directing him to the shop of Ivan Gaycheck, a prominent stamp dealer. Once again there's been a break-in, but apparently no robbery. But this time there is a murder. Gaycheck has been killed by a .22-caliber bullet.

The deeper Masuto digs, the more he suspects a connection between the two non-robberies. And when he hears about the existence of an extremely rare stamp--the 1947 one-penny orange--he becomes even more certain. The trail leads him to the shadow of Nazi Germany and the Buchenwald concentration camp and winds up with him in a face-off with three bicycle-chain-wielding thugs. But did they kill Gaycheck? And what happened to the famous stamp?

An interesting look at Beverly Hills in the 1970s and at a first-generation Japanese man making his way at that time. I found the historical ties to WWII interesting and well-played--especially since this was written well before the current WWII historical mystery explosion (at least it seems like an explosion to me--I see them everywhere). The plot neatly ties the modern murders to the historical background and I thought the wrap-up was a nice touch--Masuto has echoes of Holmes and Poirot serving out their own brand of justice. Fortunately, his Zen background allows him to conveniently ignore the law he serves. ★★★ and 1/2.

First line: They say that a house that might sell for a hundred thousand dollars in Scarsdale, New York, would easily fetch a quarter of a million on a good street in Beverly Hills, and without such niceties as cellar and attic.

Last line: "Then don't answer the phone, dear one," Masuto said, closing his eyes and relaxing into the heat of the bath.

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Deaths = 4 (two shot; one beaten to death; one heart attack)

Death for a Dietitian

 Death for a Dietitian (1988) by E. X. Giroux

A departure novel for Giroux--her usual sleuth barrister Robert Forsythe is buried in cases and so when Gavin Lebonhom, aspiring mystery author, invites Robert and his secretary Miss Abigail Sanderson, to a celebrity mystery murder party (with murder plot written by the author himself) set at an isolated inn on an island, Sandy opts to go. It helps that Gavin is married to one of Sandy's friends' daughter. Since Forsythe (known for his sideline in detective work) won't be on hand to play detective for the murder party, Sandy is asked to take his place. She's not sure she can fill her boss's shoes, but she can't turn down a challenge.

Among her fellow guests are Jamaican pop star Reggie Knight, romance novelist, Dolores Carter-White, society's favorite hostess Sybil Montrose, and world-famous chef's chef Felix Caspari and his wife/dogsbody, Alice. Also on hand are the island's handy-woman, Fran Hornblower, and cook, Heilkje. In addition to being a well-known chef, Felix is also known as an incorrigible practical joker and Gavin fears that Felix will ruin the mystery of the plot with one of his jokes. He's right to be concerned because Felix does have a "funny" little surprise planned...except a killer decides to surprise Felix with a deadly joke of their own.

In keeping with mystery tradition, a heavy storm cuts the island off from the mainland. In placid weather, the island is reachable by boat or a somewhat dilapidated causeway--but just to make sure no one can get away, the killer bashes in the bottom of the boat and cuts the phone lines. Are there more victims on the killers to-do list? When questions are asked about connections to the dead man, it winds up that everyone except Sandy has connections to the dead man. So, Sandy is elected to investigate while they wait for the storm to subside. Will she be able to unmask the killer before the island turns into a version of And Then There Were None?

Sandy does a pretty good job filling Robert's shoes and I found this entry in the series to be a nice change of pace. Usually Sandy is doing the research/leg work to help Robert figure things out. Here she has to rely on conversations with the suspects and her observations over the course of the party. She has no access to materials/information that could help verify what the others say. With those handicaps, she does very well indeed. Giroux provides a nice set of red herrings to keep readers guessing and I didn't catch on until right before the close. ★★★

First line: Robert Forsythe cursed explosively and jabbed the bell connecting his desk with his secretary's.

Last line: "Amen." Robert Forsythe touched his glass to hers and they both drank.
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Deaths = 7 (two car accident; two natural; one shot; two stabbed)

Murder Every Monday: Who Got Done In?

 

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 titles from books you own that meet prompts which she posts well in advance (see link). 

 

Today's theme is title with the victim's name in it. So...we're looking for who got done in instead of whodunnit.

About the Murder of Geraldine Foster ~Anthony Abbot

The Mysterious Death of Miss Jane Austen ~Lindsay Ashford

A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy ~Ann Cleeves

Dead Mrs. Stratton (aka Jumping Jenny) ~Anthony Berkeley

Lord Edgware Dies ~Agatha Christie

Penelope Passes (or Why Did She Die?) ~Joan Coggin

Let's Kill George ~Lucy Cores

What Nigel Knew ~Evan Field

Who Killed Beau Sparrow? Roger Fuller

The Late Miss Trimming ~Carol Carnac

The Case of Robert Quarry ~Andrew Garve

Death & Mr. Prettyman ~Kenneth Giles

Why Kill Arthur Potter? ~Ray Harrison

Who Killed Sweet Sue? ~Henry Kane

The List of Adrian Messenger ~Philip MacDonald

A Wreath for Rivera ~Ngaio Marsh

The Deaths of Lora Karen ~Roman McDouglad

The Murders of Mrs. Austin & Mrs. Beale ~Jill McGown

File on Claudia Cragge ~Q. Patrick

Mrs. McGinty's Dead ~Agatha Christie

Goodbye, Nanny Gray ~Susannah Stacey