Strong Poison

Strong Poison (1930) by Dorothy L. Sayers (read by Ian Carmichael)

As I mention in my previous reviews of the audio version of the first of Sayers's books to feature Harriet Vane, this is a perennial favorite. I love listening to Ian Carmichael read the story. I love going back to the beginning of his romance with Harriet and the beginnings of the changes and growth in his character. If you would like to see what I have thought about the book previously, please see my other reviews (linked on the Revies by Author tab above).

What I like so much about Sayers is that I can reread (relisten to) the stories repeatedly and never get tired of them. I enjoy Sayers' writing and the characters--the way Lord Peter piffles and uses quotation. This time I particularly enjoyed Bunter playing the Don Juan with the cook and the parlor maid and finding out important bits of information to help the investigation along as well as Miss Climpson's "storming the citadel" to get evidence of a certain person's motive.

One thing I did notice this time that managed to escape me on the countless previous readings was a tiny little discrepancy. Miss Climpson (who is one of my favorite characters, by the way) is having a little crisis of moral regret for how she has used spiritualism to get a look at a certain elderly lady's will. She ponders whether the Almighty will forgive her actions--especially as she's doing it to help somebody "I've never even seen" Well...she's doing the job for Lord Peter (whom she most definitely seen) and in turn this bit of deception is to help prove Harriet Vane innocent. And, again, having served on the jury in Harriet's first trial...and having been the main reason it was a hung jury and a new trial had to be called, Miss Climpson most certainly has seen Harriet as well. There isn't anybody else this could be in reference to. 

 Full marks for a grand performance of a much loved detective novel. ★★★★★

First line: There were crimson roses on the bench; they looked like splashes of blood.

Last line: "If she'll have me," said Lord Peter Wimsey.

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

Deaths = one poisoned

White Orchids

 White Orchids (1935) by Grace Livingston Hill

Camilla Chrystie, in a mad rush to retrieve medicine vital for her ailing mother's recovery, manages to avoid serious injury when she becomes involved in an automobile accident. Her dilapidated "flivver"? Not so much

...a great truck came smashing down the crossroad, full power, striking the little flivver with a mighty impact, neatly removing a wheel, and sending the car spinning straight into the air in a series of somersaults. It landed in the opposite ditch with crumpled fenders, broken bumpers, a twisted axle, and a fatal injury to its internal organs.

Fortunately for Camilla, a handsome, pleasant young man in a big shining car comes to the rescue. He takes her to pick up the medicine (secretly arranging for full repairs to the broken car) and speeds her home in time to save her mother. The privileged Jeffrey Wainwright has never met anyone like Camilla--with her simple faith and her loving devotion to her mother. She and her mother don't have much of the world's goods, but they do have love for each other and a peace that he can't understand. Jeffrey's world is made up of fancy parties, glamorous women, and mother who may care for him, but who has remained distant from the time he was brought up by nannies. He doesn't quite understand what the Chrysties have, but he feels drawn to it...and to Camilla.

The night he rescued Camilla, he was supposed to be going to a dinner party hosted by his girlfriend--or the one he thinks is girlfriend (though she doesn't act too attached to him). He's been having misgivings and Camilla's accident gave him the excuse he needed to give Stephanie's party a miss and he gives Camilla's mother the white orchids he'd intended to take to Stephanie. Camilla is also drawn to this man and they have a dinner together--but she winds up telling him that they are from two different worlds. He thinks she's talking about social and financial standing, but she means something far deeper. And, if he can't find a way to bridge the gap, he'll lose this sweet woman forever. 

Stephanie, who hates to lose anything she considers hers, does everything she can to make sure he forgets Camilla....or at least can't find her. When Jeffrey has to accompany his mother to Florida, Stephanie trails along to remind Jeff of her charms and while they're there she arranges with her man of business (for she's wealthy too) for the Chrysties to be moved out of their house and the street itself to be bulldozed for a city works building. [Amazing what money can accomplish.] And she doesn't even mind footing the bill for moving expenses and dishing out a bonus (anonymously, of course) if they move quickly.

So...when Jeffrey discovers that faith will bring him into the same world as Camilla and rushes home to let her know that they now share the same values, he can't believe she's gone. And every person he thinks could help him find her is either MIA as well or has died in his absence. It's as if everything is conspiring to keep them apart. Amazingly enough, it's white orchids that will bring them together in the end.

This is another of GLH's sweet Christian romances. I read this before when I was on a Christian romance binge (back in the 80s) and don't remember it as a favorite. But I must say, I really like Jeffrey's integrity--even before he found his faith--and the way he jumps in to help Camilla and her mother early in the story. I also enjoyed the thread with Camilla and her coworker, a young woman who has had no loving influence (like Camilla's mother) to help her know how one should conduct themself in an office environment. Camilla takes the girl under her wing and helps her grow in confidence and character. Of course, it wouldn't be a GLH story without a happy ending and we get one here. A nice story with a good message. ★★★ and 1/2

First line: The light flashed Red and Camilla jammed on her brakes.

Last line: But the bridal bouquet was of white orchids!

The Six Iron Spiders

 The Six Iron Spiders (1942) by Phoebe Atwood Taylor

Asey Mayo has arrived at his Cape Cod home for two days of leave from his war work at the Porter tank plant. He's expecting a little rest and relaxation. What he gets is mass confusion from start to finish. He had sent a telegram to his cousin/housekeeper Jennie warning her of his arrival and requesting a ride home. No one meets him at the station and he has to hitchhike and walk home. When he gets to his house, it looks like a bunch of lunatics have taken over, with his cousin as the chief looney. Splints and bandages are being wielded on a dummy. Everybody is zipping in and out of the rooms on mysterious errands. His friend Doc Cummings stops him from going in--telling him that he'll only be recruited for First Aid treatment and other entertainments that he wants no part of. 

Before Asey can make up his mind about that, Jennie blows a whistle and the entire gang comes rushing out of the house--mounting bicycles, jumping into cars, and even starting up a horse-drawn wagon. They're off on a "Problem"--a mock accident at a surprise (to all but Jennie) location. And they all have to get there by whatever means they can as quickly as they can. Now that the coast is clear, Asey and Doc get into the house in search of supper for the weary traveler. But instead of dinner, they find Philemon Mundy, one of the First Aid group, dead in the buttery from a bash on the head. He's apparently been laid out by an iron "spider" (a cast iron skillet). And, of course, New England's answer to Sherlock Holmes, will have to find out who killed him and why the body was stashed in Asey's larder.

Winds up that there may be a few folks with reason to get Mundy out of the way. He'd recently come to the area and already had his fingers in several of the pies. Perhaps he stepped on one too many toes. Even Jennie had been known to have words with him. But were any of the toes crumpled hard enough to warrant murder? What follows is one of the most convoluted pieces of detection I've come across in a long time...and it's full of folks shouting at one another (generally not in anger) and not letting other folks get a word in edgewise (even as the shouter is demanding said other folks to answer them). Doc Cummings shouts at Asey--because he thinks Asey's not telling him everything. Lieutenant Hanson shouts at pretty much everybody. Asey even "shouts" (though in a much quieter way) at Doc and Hanson and a few of the other characters. The mystery might have been solved a bit quicker if people had just been allowed to talk...

I find with Taylor's books (more so in her Leonidas Witherall series) that there is a definite B movie feel to a great many of them. With all the rushing about and people talking at cross purposes and some of the over-the-top characters, like Tiny Hazard, the large, feminist woman in search of a man, I can picture this as movie in the line of an Abbott and Costello film. This makes for great fun and much confusion and it definitely makes it difficult for the reader to keep track of the players...or the clues...or the motives. If you're looking for a fast read with a lot of fun and don't mind not being able to solve the mystery before Asey tells you all about it, then you'll enjoy this one.

One side note--this is one of few mysteries written during the war years that makes a great deal of the home front war effort. It's played for laughs, but we do get to see what folks were doing--clothing drives, learning First Aid, organizing rescue parties, etc. 

 ★★★★

First line: Asey Mayo heard the thin ice coating of the puddles crack under his feet as he dashed along the lane in the fruitless pursuit of his best gray felt hat, which capered like a chamois just beyond the reach of his outstretched hand.

"Hanson, in your vast an' varied experience, has it ever been the rule for bodies to disappear from the place where you found 'em? No, it ain't! It ain't been my experience either," Asey said. "The doc an' I figgered that if someone'd gone to all the trouble of leavin' Mundy in my buttery, then that was the place where they meant to leave him, an' the place where they meant him to be found. It never for a minute entered our heads that someone'd fly in through a keyhole an' whisk him away." (p. 84)

"I suppose she's been reading the back of the First Aid book again. I don't think it's sensible to read the back of any book till you come to it, do you? I mean, I think you should take things as they come. Father always reads the ends of mystery stories first, and I don't think it's fair." (Tiny Hazard; p.178)

Last line: "It's because I can't hardly wait to get back to the peace an' quiet of the Porter tank plant!"
*******************

Deaths = two hit on head

Harriet Farewell

 Harriet Farewell (1975) by Margaret Erskine (Doris Margaret Weatherby Williams)

Inspector Septimus Finch is on loan to the Ilverstoke Division. He's not expecting much in his line (homicide); the Superintendent has assured him that "financial chicanery is our usual fare." But he's not there long before the much younger, third wife of Theodore Buckler (the patriarch of the wealthiest family in Ilverstoke) is shot and killed during a Guy Fawkes celebration on the Buckler estate. Consuelo Buckler wasn't much loved by anyone in the family except Theodore. Her stepsons and their wives all despise her and  took exception to her sly, interfering ways. Harriet Buckler, especially hated her.

Harriet has just recently been released from an institution after a mental breakdown brought on by her responsibility for her and Miles Buckler's young son. The incident brought on amnesia and she seemed to be fairly calm and reasonably well when released--other than her inability to remember anything of the car accident that resulted in "Bunny's" death. That is until Consuelo started a campaign to make her remember. And when Miles mentions that his revolver is missing just hours before Consuelo is found dead near the lake, Harriet is the obvious suspect. It doesn't help that she has disappeared--as if she's avoiding capture. 

But there is more going on in Ilverstoke than just the death of Consuelo. There is a missing French artist and a stolen ivory art piece from the Buckler collection. And not long after Harriet was sent away to the institution, Miles' and her home was burned down. Finch suspects a connection, though it will take some time to work out the pattern. Unfortunately, more deaths will occur before he puts the final piece in the puzzle. 

This was the first Erskine mystery I ever came across and was the reason I put her on my To Be Found list. I first read Harriet Farewell in the early 90s--long before blogging was a thing for me. I decided it was time to revisit the story and see how it holds up. The mystery plot itself is pretty solid. Though not a Golden Age book, it does follow GAD standards for clue dropping and puzzle points. It could use a few more credible suspects, though. Erskine tries to spread suspicion among all the Bucklers, but doesn't really accomplish that goal. We've got, at most, three good suspects--with a bit more effort we could have had six (which is the number I think she was shooting for). But it was a good bit of entertainment and made for a fast-paced read. And it was a definite pleasure getting reacquainted with Inspector Finch. ★★★  and 1/2

First line: Emma, the youngest of Theodore Buckler's three daughters-in-law, came hurrying through the woods, scuffling up the gold-brown leaves as she walked.

Last line: "I'd say it was more educational," Finch assured her solemnly.
**************

Deaths = 7 (one auto accident; one shot; two natural; two hit on head; one crushed by tree)

Tied Up in Tinsel

 Tied Up in Tinsel (1972) by Ngaio Marsh
[read by Wanda McCaddon]

Agatha Troy Alleyn, who is finishing up a portrait of her host, is spending Christmas at Hilary Bill-Tasman's country house. Bill-Tasman is from an old family, but had re-purchase the family pile with earnings from a lucky and lucrative business partnership as well as a few big win in the pools.  But it's not a typical country house Christmas. The entire staff of the manor are "oncers"--men who have murdered once, in a kind of brainstorm of passion and have been released from prison for good behavior. The authorities believe they aren't dangerous. Less likely to do it again because they know what being in prison is like now. In addition to this rather unconventional lot of servants, there is the Christmas festivities themselves. A kind of mash-up of druidic/pagan, Christian, and Santa Claus all rolled into a weird bundle. And--once all the guests arrive, there is an odd kind of tension. We have Bill-Tasman's fiancee, the lovely and totally mod Cressida Tottenham, who punctuates every sentence with "you know" and who thinks Alleyn (once he arrives) is "the mostest." We have Bill-Tasman's Uncle Flea (Colonel Fleaton Forrester) and Aunt Bed along with Uncle Flea's former batman cum valet, Moult. And we have honorary uncle & business partner, Bert Smith. None of them are too fond of the staff--especially after a series of practical jokes referencing the style of the various "oncers" is played upon them.

Uncle Flea is all set to do his usual round as a Father Christmas turned Druid when he has one of his "turns" (weak heart) and Moult steps in to take his place. But things get really tense when Moult disappears directly after handing out the gifts. A search of the house and as much of the grounds as is practical in the obligatory snow storm gives no trace of the man. Where is he? Why has he disappeared? And...is he still alive? There was a kind of armed truce between Moult and the manor house staff--and the staff were certain that Moult was behind the practical jokes meant to make things look bad for them. Would they go so far as to do away with the man? Alleyn has been out of the country on special assignment, but he arrives home just in time to be invited to join the house party (ostensibly so he won't have to be alone for the holidays, but Bill-Tasman really wants him to lend the local constabulary a hand). And when Moult's body is discovered, it turns into a real busman's holiday and Alleyn is asked by the local police to take over. 

As I said when I last reviewed the book, this is a mixed bag for me. Marsh does the country house set-up well. She's got quite a crew of eccentric characters--though. The plot is pretty good--but I don't see any way that the reader could know the motive for the killing. I just don't. I believe I went down the same garden path that Marsh led me down before. I absolutely thought that one of the "practical jokes" had been staged by the person it was perpetrated upon--and, of course, it wasn't. 

I knew--or remembered--exactly where Moult's body would be found as soon as we knew he was missing. I'm still nonplussed at Marsh's attempt to use "hip" late 60s/early 70s slang. If felt forced--"like, you know?" [to quote one of the characters. Alleyn and Troy are delightful as always, but Alleyn's appearance comes much too late in the game. And we barely get to see Fox at all. A decent mystery for the Christmas season, but not one of Marsh's strongest. I've just realized that this is one of two Marsh novels nominated for the Edgar for Best Novel. I'm a bit baffled at the nomination. ★★★

First line: "When my sire," said Hilary Bill-Tasman, joining the tips of his fingers, "was flung into penury by the great slump, he commenced scrap merchant."

Last line: "I bet you anything you like," said Alleyn.
*****************

Deaths = Two (one hit on head; one natural) [for the purposes of the Medical Examiner's Challenge, it's a shame that all those people that the "oncers" knocked off weren't given names....]

Destination Unknown

 Destination Unknown (aka So Many Steps to Death; 1955) by Agatha Christie

Destination Unknown is one of Agatha Christie's non-series books. As seems to be usual for her stand-alone books, this is a foray into spy/thriller territory. This time we have scientists and chemists and medical researchers disappearing at an alarming rate. In the Cold-War-Era climate, this is particularly disturbing and England's secret service becomes especially interested when a young scientist by the name of Thomas Betterton vanishes. They suspect that his wife knows where to find him even though she does quite a good job of portraying the wife at her wit's end. When she suddenly decides to leave England for her health on "doctor's orders" they decide to keep close tabs on her.  Then her plane crashes and she isn't expected to live.

Enter Hilary Craven. Hilary's husband has deserted her for another woman and her daughter has just died from a long illness. She thinks that taking a trip will somehow change her life. But when she arrives in Morocco she finds that what she has been trying to run away from is herself...and you can't do that. Thinking that she has nothing left to live for, she goes from pharmacy to pharmacy gathering enough sleeping pills to end her life. But Hilary has caught the eye of one of the secret service men...or rather her red hair has. And he offers her a bargain...take an assignment that means almost certain death (and which might just get her interested in living again) rather than taking pills which may not be as pleasant a way out as she anticipates.

What is wanted is for Hilary to take the place of Mrs. Thomas Betterton and her particular shade of red hair makes her the perfect candidate. The scientist's wife is definitely not going to survive her injuries and Hilary is to take on her persona. If anyone contacts her about joining her husband, she is to follow along and lead the agents to where the scientists have been taken. It will be dangerous and she's going to have to be letter-perfect in her role. Will she do it?  Hilary decides she will.  Off towards a destination unknown.

Generally speaking, I haven't been as big a fan of Christie's stand-alone novels as I am of Poirot and Miss Marple and Tommy & Tuppence. The one big exception is And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians, etc), which I think is absolutely awesome. But this one is pretty darn good. Christie loves to take the standard of various plots in the mystery/detective world and give them her own little twist. Here she does it with the "scientists defecting to the other side" motif. Only....are they? Or, rather, are they going where they think they are and for the purpose that they believe in? That's the real question.

Hilary Craven is a very intelligent and likeable character. It is easy to see why she might have been full of despair, but being the type of woman she is, it's also easy to see why she would take up the challenge offered her by Jessop. It's not that she despises life in general--she just wants a reason for living. As she says to herself when contemplating suicide:

The reality of herself and what she could bear, and what she could not bear. One could bear things, Hilary thought, so long as there was a reason for bearing them. (p. 31)

And Jessop provides that for her. The plot--her taking on another woman's persona, especially with such a short time to learn her part--may be a bit shaky, but it's got enough grounding to make the reader willing to believe it. There are other interesting characters--including Jessop; Andrew Peters, a young American scientist; and Mrs. Calvin Baker, an American tourist who's not quite what she seems. Mrs. Baker may not be on the side of the angels, but I did enjoy the persona she embodied. A fun and quick read. ★★★★

First line: The man behind the desk moved a heavy glass paperweight four inches to the right. [sound a bit like Poirot, needing things positioned just so]

W: Nobody's so gullible as scientists. All the phony mediums say so.  Can't quite see why.

J: Oh, yes, it would be so. They think they know, you see. That's always dangerous.

~Wharton; Jessop (p. 3)

"I'm handicapped," said the man behind the desk bitterly. "I never believe anybody." ~Jessop (p. 5)

I don't go in for being sorry for people. For one thing it's insulting. One is only sorry for people if they are sorry for themselves. Self-pity is the biggest stumbling block in our world today.

~Jessop (p. 53)

E: When one has at last reached freedom, can one even contemplate going back?

HC: But if it is not possible to go back, or to choose to go back, then it is not freedom!

~Ericsson; Hilary Craven (p. 120-1)

Last line: "You Frenchmen are so well-read," said Jessop.
****************

Deaths = one natural; one plane crash; one poisoned

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (audio novel)

 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926) by Agatha Christie
  (read by Hugh Fraser)

My synopsis of the story (for those who have not yet read it...and why not, I ask you): 

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd actually begins with the death of Mrs. Ferrars, widowed within the last year. The rumor mill of King's Abbot had been grinding away--envisioning wedding bells between Mrs. Ferrars and the wealthy Roger Ackroyd. But Mrs. Ferrars is found dead from an overdose of veranol in what is first supposed to be an accident, but the village grapevine suspects is suicide. Dr. James Sheppard, our narrator, is confronted by his  sister when he returns home after the discovery.

My sister continued: "What did she die of? Heart failure?"
"Didn't the milkman tell you that?" I inquired sarcastically.
Sarcasm is wasted on Caroline. She takes it seriously and answers accordingly.
"He didn't know," she explained. (p. 3)

 When Sheppard insists on accident, Caroline rejects the idea. She's convinced the woman killed herself out of remorse. Because obviously she killed the husband who was cruel to her. 

Then that evening Roger Ackroyd is found dead--stabbed to death by his own decorative dagger and rumors are flying about blackmail. But then there is also the fact that Ackroyd's nephew, known to have disputes with his uncle over money, has disappeared from the scene. And what about the maid who gave notice that very afternoon? And the mysterious stranger who was looking for Ackroyd's home at about the time of the murder? And who made the phone call to the doctor that brought him to Ackroyd's house and resulted in the discovery of the crime?

Fortunately for King's Abbot, a funny little foreigner who "looks like a hairdresser" has come to the countryside for his retirement. A foreigner by the name of Hercule Poirot. He's sure to get to the bottom of the mystery, for as he tells Ackroyd's niece (who has asked him to investigate): What one does not tell to Papa Poirot he finds out.

If you would like to see my full review of the mystery, please follow the link above, but be aware that there are spoilers. This review is devoted to the audio edition which I borrowed from Hoopla through the local library. Hugh Fraser is my favorite reader for Christie novels which do not feature Miss Marple. I think he is perfect as Captain Hastings in the Poirot television series and even though Hastings does not appear here (except as Poirot references him) it is still delightful to listen to Fraser tell us the story of Poirot and murder in King's Abbot. He manages to give each character a bit of distinction so you aren't confused about who is speaking--even when there's a longer bit of dialogue. Reading--or in this case, listening to--an Agatha Christie novel is a comfort read for me. And it was fun to settle in and let Fraser's words flow around me. ★★★★★
 

First line: Mrs. Ferrars died on the night of the 16th-17th September--a Thursday. 

Last line: But I wish Hercule Poirot had never retired from work and come here to grow vegetable marrows.
*********************

Deaths = 3 (two poisoned; one stabbed)

The Avenging Chance

 The Avenging Chance & Other Mysteries from Roger Sheringham's Casebook (2004*) by Anthony Berkeley

The collected short works of Anthony Berkeley [Cox] and this second edition contains added material--one "lost story," an article by Berkeley on why he writes detective stories, and one parody. I originally read the first edition back when it first came out and was pleased to find this copy at our annual community book fair in 2018. I remembered reading some of these--especially the title story since it has appeared in various anthologies and was the basis of Berkeley's novel, The Poisoned Chocolates Case. But I didn't remember the solutions to most of them. My favorites among the stories are "White Butterfly" and "Perfect Alibi," but all of them have their merits and only "Unsound Mind" and the parody (which didn't strike me as at all amusing) were well and truly disappointing.  ★★★★

"The Avenging Chance": A box of poisoned chocolates--sent to one man and brought home by another--kills Joan Beresford. Who was the intended victim? [one poisoned]

"Perfect Alibi": Eric Southwood, a notorious rake, very conveniently dies while visiting the home of his latest conquest. He was shot while out in the woods--but everyone with a motive also appears to have an iron-clad alibi. [one shot]

"The Mystery of Horne's Copse": Could also be called "The Case of the Reappearing Corpse." Frank Chappell keeps finding the corpse of his cousin (and the man who would be his heir). But when he brings the authorities to examine the body, it disappears. Is he going crazy? Or is someone trying to drive him there? [one stabbed]

"Unsound Mind": A man rings up the police station to announce that he's just taken prussic acid and left a note to explain everything. But when Chief Inspector Moresby gets there, he's sure it's murder. But can he prove it? [one poisoned]

"White Butterfly": Mr. Warrington says that his pretty but volatile wife has left him for another man. But the village gossips say that he has done away with her and got rid of the body. Sheringham is certain the woman has been killed, but just who did it and where her body is, is the question. [one strangled]

"The Wrong Jar": Cynthia Bracey is poisoned by arsenic in one of her medicines. But how did it get there? Did the doctor accidentally grab the wrong jar when making up the medicine? Did the nurse have it in for her patient? Was the husband tired of his wife? Did the doctor's assistant meddle with the prescription? Sheringham will find out. [one poisoned]

"Double Bluff": Several witnesses all claim to have recognized James Meadows as the man who shot  Mrs. Greyling in the middle of the busy town. Can they all be wrong? Sheringham believes so. [one shot]

"'Mr. Bearstowe Says...'": Mrs. Hutton is quite taken with Mr. Bearstowe and impresses this upon Roger Sheringham when they have a chance meeting at a party. Two years later, Mr. Hutton has gone missing while bathing and a body is found drowned. Sheringham has to wonder what exactly Mr. Bearstowe said to Mrs. Hutton and what did he (and she) do? [one drowned]

"The Bargee's Holiday": An additional short, short story, found after the first edition of this collection of stories, in which Roger Sheringham correctly deduces when and where the next major campaign of WWII will take place simply by speaking with a couple of men on leave and meeting up with their commanding officer in a bookstore. The reader is asked to figure out how Sheringham did it.

First line (1st story): When he was able to review it in perspective Roger Sheringham was inclined to think that the Poisoned Chocolate Case, as the papers called it, was perhapes the most perfectly planned murder he had ever encountered.

Last lines (last story--the parody): I wish I could remember my idea. It was such a brilliant one.

*All stories originally written/published pre-1960

My Reader's Block All Challenges Drawing Winner!

 

I'm a week behind on this announcement--my apologies. I hope you haven't been waiting all this time with bated breath...But I finally remembered to pull out the Custom Random Number Generator to find us a winner in the Block's All Challenges prize drawing. After a lengthy warm-up (much needed here in the wintery midwest!), it has given me entry #10--Barbara H! Congratulations, Barbara. I'll be sending you an email telling you how to claim your prize in just a few moments.

Thank you to everyone who participated in my challenges in 2025! I hope you had fun and also hope that you are joining me again in 2026. Happy reading everyone!

Color Coded & Read It Again, Sam Headquarters

 

These remain fairly popular, so as long as there is a demand I will continue to offer them. However, since I don't monitor these quite as closely as my other challenges, I am setting these up on the same headquarters site. Will continue to use the Google form method for review links.

2026 Challenge Post (Both)

2026 Challengers

2026 Reviews

Click on the first link to submit your review. At the second link you can see links for all reviews submitted for that color prompt and may visit others' reviews, if you'd like.

Color Coded Reviews:

Blue Reviews (reviews submitted)

Red Reviews   (reviews submitted)

Yellow Reviews (reviews submitted)

Green Reviews (reviews submitted)

Brown Reviews (reviews submitted)

Black Reviews (reviews submitted)

White Reviews (reviews submitted)

Any Other Color Reviews (reviews submitted)

Implies Color Reviews (reviews submitted)

Read It Again, Sam

2026 Read It Again, Sam Reviews (reviews submitted)

All 2025 Challenges Wrap-Up

The Ultimate My Reader's Block Challenge Wrap-Up

I'm still playing catch-up on so many things in the blogging world after being away so much during November & December. [New links/headquarters for the 2026 challenges coming soon!] Here is the wrap-up one-stop shopping plan for all of the Block challenges in 2025. If you participated in any of the Reader's Block challenges, then you may submit your wrap-up posts here. The linky will be open until Sunday, January 18th. Then on Monday, January 19th, I will pick a random winner from all the challenges to select a prize from the prize vault. If you have participated in more than one challenge, you are welcome to submit a separate wrap-up post for each challenge and earn yourself an entry for every challenge.

Please list your name in the following manner (especially if you've got more than one entry): 

Name (challenge name) [example-- Bev@My Reader's Block (Vintage Scavenger Hunt)]

If you don't blog and don't have an URL to link up, you may post your wrap-ups in comments below (one comment per challenge) and I'll add you into the drawing. I will keep my eye on the entries and enter everyone onto a spread sheet in the order I see the entries appear. That order will determine the number for the random number generator to select.

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Reminder: My Reader's Block Challenges for 2026

The new year is almost upon us and I just wanted to remind my faithful challengers and all those looking for reading challenges that the posts for my regular Reader's Block Challenges went up a little late this year, but are ready and waiting. The Headquarters links in the sidebar will be updated for next year's challenges as soon as possible. Here's a handy list of each one. Come join me for new reading adventures in 2026!

 

Vintage Scavenger Hunt

Mount TBR Reading Challenge

Virtual Mount TBR Reading Challenge

 

Reading by the Numbers Challenge

Calendar of Crime

Color Coded and Read It Again, Sam Challenges

Reprint of the Year: The Yellow Room

 For several years, Kate at Cross Examining Crime has been rounding up the vintage mystery bloggers and having us perpetuate her brilliant brainstorm (one of many that she has had). In the wake of various publishing houses recognizing the virtues of Golden Age (and more recent) vintage crime novels through reprint editions of both well-known and more obscure titles, Kate thought those of us who love those vintage mysteries would like the chance to feature the year's reprints and make a pitch for our favorites to be voted Reprint of the Year. We loved the idea so much that we keep coming back for more.

My second contender for the 2025 ROY Awards Ceremony is The Yellow Room (1945) by Mary Roberts Rinehart. If you're not on the hunt for a vintage copy of your own, then Otto Penzler's American Mystery Classics will be your source for the 2025 reprint edition. Rinehart is most often associated with the Had I But Known school as well as "the butler did it" trope. Although she wasn't the first to have a murderous butler, she did, indeed, feature a killer manservant in at least one of her books. This one? My lips are sealed.

If you go by the blurb on the edition of this book that I first read (back in 2012), then you would expect The Yellow Room to be a more Gothic, Had-I-But-Known story. But it's really more of a twisty-turny mystery (and she delivers on the twisty-turny solution!). Shoot, if you read the blurb on that first edition, you'd think that some evil terror hangs out in the Yellow Room of Carol Spencer's family home in the country and that she goes in mortal fear of her elder brother.

See?:

As a child, Carol Spencer had always thought of Crestview as a place of light and laughter. But Carol was a young woman now, a lovely young woman, and a badly frightened one. The old mansion on the hill was no longer a refuge from the world. It was a prison from which even the man she loved could not rescue her...a nightmare from which she could not awaken...where every heart beat brought her closer to the strange menace of--The Yellow Room

And:

Brother and Stranger: It had been years since Carol Spencer had seen her brother Greg. Time and war had separated them, but Carol still could vividly remember his flashing smile, his easy grace, in the days when he had been a kind of a god to his younger sister. Now they were together again at Crestview--and it was as if Carol were facing a stranger...a stranger whom she knew she should help but could only fear...a stranger with bitterness curling his mouth...hate in his eyes...and blood on his hands....

Can we say melodramatic and over-the-top? Just a little bit. But Rinehart does this sort of thing so well when she's on the top of her game--which she is here.

Seriously, there are some mysterious goings-on at Crestview but not quite on this scale. Carol and her help (a housekeeper/cook and two maids) arrive at the family home to open it in time to receive her elder brother Greg who is home on leave from service in WWII. He's come back from the Pacific theater to receive a Medal of Honor and their mother wants him to have a chance to relax in the cool country air before returning to "that awful tropical heat." When the women reach the train station, there is no taxi to meet them as expected. When they reach the house, there is no caretaker to greet them with breakfast and a warm fire as expected. The gardener/handyman has disappeared. And what exactly is that odd smell?

Before the morning is over, they discover that the handyman is in the hospital with appendicitis and the caretaker has fallen down the stairs the previous Friday and is in the hospital with a broken leg. Oh, and there's a dead body in the linen closet. That somebody tried to burn to prevent identification. By the end of the book, there is another murder and a shooting. The local chief of police goes from having the usual respect (of the period) for the upper crust, to an all-out effort to make one of the Spencer family out as the guilty party. He's all set to lock up Carol but then finds out that Greg, the war hero, was maybe in the area at the right time and has secrets that he might do anything to keep hidden. He thinks he'll settle for the war hero. 

Carol doesn't know what to think. Did Greg do it? Did her sister Elinor, who has always been devoted to Greg, do it? Or is she just covering up for him? Or maybe it's somebody else altogether. She turns to her neighbor, Major Dane, for help. He just happens to be a recovering Army Intelligence officer of some sort...and soon he's uncovering all the evidence that the local police miss.

Rinehart has plenty of tricks up her sleeve and she uses the Major's investigation to provide all the surprises. Just when you think he's collected the final clue, along comes another to make you rethink the solution. Of course, with Rinehart, there is the standard romance and there are a few loose ends that don't quite get tied up in this one (not to mention a few vital clues that are kept just a little too ambiguous), but over all a fun outing and an example of Rinehart at her best. Another real contender for the Reprint of the Year. It's very enjoyable and fast moving--I read this one in just one day! 

First line: As she sat in the train that June morning Carol Spencer did not look like a young woman facing anything unusual.

Last line: And sat down abruptly on the nearest chair.
*********************

Deaths = 5 (three natural; one plane crash; one hit on head)

2026 Read It Again, Sam Challenge: 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.

1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie (3/22/26)

2. Tied Up in Tinsel by Ngaio Marsh (4/4/26)

3. Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie (4/3/26)

4. Harriet Farewell by Margaret Erskine (4/8/26)

Déjà vu
5. The Six Iron Spiders by Phoebe Atwood Taylor (5/30/26)
6. White Orchids by Grace Livingston Hill (5/31/26)
7.
8.

2026 Color Coded & Read It Again, Sam Challenges

 

There continues to be a lot of love out there for both the Color Coded and Read It Again, Sam Challenges. Since I don't monitor these quite as closely as my other challenges and my linky provider limits the number of linky "parties" I can provide, I am setting these up on the same sign-up and headquarters sites again this year. The Headquarters with review links and wrap-up links will be updated on the sidebar at the beginning of the year. Here are the challenge descriptions and sign-up links:

Color Coded Reading Challenge

 

I've opened the possibilities up just a bit further--the color may be named in the title, in the author's name, or it may appear as the dominant color for the cover of the book. For "implies color" the image implying color should dominate the cover--for instance a large rainbow, a field of flowers, or the image of a painter. Get ready for a rainbow of reading in 2026. 

General Rules:

~Challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2026 and any book read after January 1 may count regardless of when you sign up. You may sign-up any time.

~Read nine books in the following categories:

1. A book with "Blue" or any shade of Blue in the title/author name/on the cover.

2. A book with "Red" or any shade of Red in the title/author name/on the cover.

3. A book with "Yellow" or any shade of Yellow in the title/author name/on the cover.

4. A book with "Green" or any shade of Green in the title/author name/on the cover.

5. A book with "Brown" or any shade of Brown in the title/author name/on the cover.

6. A book with "Black" or any shade of Black in the title/author name/on the cover.

7. A book with "White" or any shade of White in the title/author name/on the cover.

8. A book with any other color in the title/author name/on the cover.title/on the cover (Purple, Orange, Silver, Pink, etc).

9. A book with a word/image that implies color in the title/author name/on the cover. (Rainbow, Polka-dot, Plaid, Shadow, Paint, Ink, etc).

~Crossovers with other challenges are fine.

~To Sign Up please fill in the form below. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge on your site and enter the url link. You may also enter a link to a Goodreads or Library Thing list, Instagram, etc. If you can't use the form for any reason, you may also sign up by commenting below.

~If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #ColorCoded2026.

~At the beginning of the new year, I will put up posts for review links for each color category and the sidebar image will be updated to the new challenge links.

 

 

Read It Again, Sam

For those of you who love to revisit old friends in the book world, I present another round with Sam at the piano for all your reading music needs. While not quite as popular as the Color Coded Challenge, this one still has its devotees.

Rules:
~Challenge runs from January 1 to December 31, 2026.

~Levels:

   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

  Just Give Me a Time Machine Already...: 24+ books

~Once you choose your challenge level, you are locked in for at least that many books. If you find that you're lost in a nostalgic haze and want to tackle a higher level, then you are welcome to upgrade. You cannot change down, however.
~Any book read after January 2026 will count no matter when you sign up.
~Crossovers with other challenges are fine. 

~If you post on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media to log a book, please use #ReadItAgain2026.

 

 
~~To Sign Up for either or both please fill in the form below. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge/s on your site and enter the url link. You may also enter a link to a Goodreads or Library Thing list, Instagram, etc.
~No blog or social media site or can't use the form for any reason? No problem! Post a comment below to announce your entry into the challenge/s and when you have completed just post a comment on the most current review site with a list of your books.
~Please use the Headquarters Page (updated link coming in January) to post review links and a final wrap-up post and/or comments. [Reviews are not required--but we'd love to see what you think about the books you've read if you do review.]

Crooked House

 Crooked House (1948) by Agatha Christie

At the end of World War II, Charles Hayward meets Sophia Leonides in Egypt and falls in love. He realizes that they haven't really had a chance to get to know each other properly, so he tells her that once he winds things up in Egypt he'd like to come and visit her back in England. That way they can see if they still feel the same way back in the normal world. 

It takes him two years to get things settled and when he returns to England he finds that Sophia's grandfather Aristide Leonides, a wealthy entrepreneur, has just died. When he and Sophia meet, she tells him that she fears that her grandfather has been murdered. The family doctor apparently agrees that there's been some monkey business because he refuses to sign the death certificate and now Scotland Yard is involved. Fortunately Charles's father is the Assistant Commission of Scotland Yard, so Charles has an in with the detectives (he's also served in military intelligence so can sleuth on his own). She says that she can't even think about marriage until the cloud is cleared from the family. 

The family...the entire family has lived with Aristide at house called the Three Gables. His young second wife, Brenda; Sophia's parents Philp Leonides & Magda West (her stage name, being an actress) as well as her younger brother (Eustace) and sister (Josephine); Philip's older brother Roger and his wife Clemency, a scientist; Edith de Haviland, Aristide's sister-in-law; Laurence Brown, the children's tutor; and Janet Rowe, nanny to the Aristide children, cum cook to the household. When it is proved that the head of the household was poisoned with eyedrops substituted for his insulin, suspicion falls upon them all. They'd love for the killer to be Brenda--no one likes the spoiled young woman who was young enough to be Aristide's granddaughter instead of his wife. But Charles, who manages to wander through the house like he belongs there--asking questions and learning the lie of the land, soon realizes that none of them really think she did do it. So, who did?

Charles finds an ally in young Josephine, a born snoop who seems to know everything that happens in the house. She's on the case and gives Charles clues ever so often--whenever she's feeling generous. Her snooping reveals that Roger, who had been put in charge of one of Aristide's businesses, was about to leave the country with his wife, running away from bankruptcy. He'd had an argument with his father the night of the murder. Brenda has been writing love letters to Laurence Brown (whose admiration for the young widow has been apparent). Magda was upset that her father-in-law wouldn't back a play. Sophia even had a motive--revealed when the will everyone expects to be valid turns up unsigned and another will (lodged with an old friend of Aristides instead of his lawyer) is produced naming Sophia as his sole heir. Edith de Haviland never liked her brother-in-law, but had her dislike tuned into something more? In fact, who hated the old man enough to poison him? 

I hadn't read this one since my first Christie binge back in the 80s or so. I own several copies, but I elected to listen to the audio version narrated by Hugh Fraser so I could listen on the way to work and while I did other things. It was very interesting to listen to "Hastings" read this non-Poirot mystery. As per usual, Fraser does an excellent job with all the voices. He's a delightful narrator who gets the tone of the Christie novels just right.

The mystery itself is very good as well. Lots of red herrings and I didn't pick up on the two clues that should have told me who the killer was if I'd just paid attention to them properly. I did feel that Charles could have been a stronger character--stronger just in himself, but also a stronger detective. He does seem a bit slow on the uptake for someone who had worked in intelligence. But that's a minor quibble. The scenes with Magda are fun. She's always playing a part and you never know who she's going to be for her next appearance. I'm glad I revisited this one and that Hugh Fraser was my tour guide for the adventure. ★★★★

First line: I first came to know Sophia Leonides in Egypt towards the end of the war.

Last line: "I've thought so for some time. Poor child..."
*********************

Deaths = two poisoned; two fell from height (in car crash)

*Cover shown above is the dustjacket which belongs to the hardback edition I own. Unfortunately, I don't own the dustjacket. Picture courtesy of Facsimile Dustjackets LLC.

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)