Reporter Challenge 2017

MYSTERY READER'S CHALLENGE 2017
Sponsored by Ellie at Dead Herring 
Thru Goodreads Group: The Challenge Factory

The challenge runs from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017.

REPORTER CHALLENGE:
Who? What? Where? When? How?
Why? – because it’s fun to read!

Read books that fulfill the various categories under the reporter's standard questions.

Cub reporter: 5 books (1 from each category) [2/13/17]
Columnist: 10 books (2 from each category) [5/1/17]
News Anchor: 15 books (3 from each category) [5/9/17]
Editor: 20 books (4 from each category) [6/11/17]
Newspaper Mogul: 25 books (5 from each category) [7/7/17]

BONUS CATEGORY: Pulitzer Prize Winner (Newspaper Mogul plus Bonus Category) = 30 books [10/29/17]


As in past years, my declared commitment will be for Cub Reporter and I can consider the challenge fulfilled at that level. My ultimate goal will, of course, be to try for all thirty books--but I can see some tricky ones on the list, especially since I want to fulfill all my challenges with books I own. Not sure I have any more books with dead people or set during a snow storm or where two attempts are made on the same person. We'll see...

WHO
Protagonist is a religious person (priest, nun, cleric, minister, deacon, etc): Nun Plussed by Monica Quill (3/30/17)
Protagonist is in the medical profession (doctor, nurse, EMT, hospital staff, etc.): Episode of the Wandering Knife by Mary Roberts Rinehart [Nurse] (2/17/17)
Protagonist is a dead person (ghost, skeleton, vampire, zombie…anybody who is dead)
The Ghost & the Dead Deb by Alice Kimberly (6/16/17)
Protagonist is a writer: Deception Island by M. K. Lorens (2/13/17)
Protagonist is an innkeeper (Inn, B&B, hotel, motel, etc): Grounds for Murder by Kate Kingsbury (4/26/17)

WHAT
A Short Story from an Anthology: "The Riddle of the Rainbow Pearl" by Thomas W. Hanshew (1/4/17)
Poison in the title: Deadly Nightshade by Elizabeth Daly (5/19/17)
Weather in the title: Storm Center by Douglas Clark (5/1/17)
A Cold Case (crime investigated is over 10 years old): The Case of the Seven Sneezes by Anthony Boucher
Time in the Title (minute, week, clock, year, hour, etc): Murder at Teatime by Stefanie Matteson (5/9/17)

WHERE
Set in a big city [NYC]: The 24th Horse by Hugh Pentecost (1/13/17)
NOT set on land (cruise ship, boat, airplane, spaceship, etc): The Fennister Affair by Josephine Bell [cruise ship] (4/28/17)
Set in a state beginning with the letter ‘N’ [New York]: Death Takes a Bow by Frances & Richard Lockridge (2/5/17)
Set in England: Death at Swaythling Court by J. J. Connington (1/4/17)
Set in Europe (anywhere but England) [France]: Murder at the Masque by Amy Myers (1/16/17)

WHEN
Set during a competition (Olympics, ballroom dancing, cooking contest, etc.)
The Vanishing Violinist by Sara Hoskinson Frommer [International Violin Competition] (4/30/17)
Centers around a holiday [Christmas]: Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon (6/11/17)
Set during summer [July]: All for the Love of a Lady by Leslie Ford (2/9/17)
One where the protagonist has to beat the clock (time is crucial to solving mystery): Coffin's Dark Number by Gwendoline Butler [working desperately to try and prevent another little girl's death] (4/16/17)
Set during a courtroom trial (Not the whole book): The Killing of Katie Steelstock  by Michael GIlbert (6/30/17)

HOW
Framed for Murder: Death of a Racehorse by John Creasey (1/7/17)
Attempted Murder (victim recovers): A Losing Game by Freeman Wills Cofts (1/31/17) [Murderer attempts drowning a second victim, but she recovers]
Fire (burned, smoke inhalation, etc.): Where There's Smoke by Stewart Sterling (6/4/17)
Drowned: Stroke of Death by Josephine Bell (4/12/17)
Supernatural death (exsanguinations, staked, voodoo, magic, etc): Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (7/7/17)

BONUS CATEGORY
WHO - Protagonist is industrious (deaf, blind, wheelchair-bound, ADHD, Aspergers, etc.): Best Max Carrados Detective Stories by Ernest Bramah [blind detective] (8/17/17)
WHAT – Title starts with the same letter as your pet’s name (or the pet of someone close to you): The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton (Tim Pratt) [had cat Cindy and my mother-in-law's dog was Colette] (5/23/17)
WHERE - Set at work (main event occurs at protagonist’s workplace): Publish & Perish by Sally Wright [set at a college] (6/22/17)
WHEN – Book set during a snowstorm: Fire Will Freeze by Margaret Millar (10/29/17)
HOW – 2 different attempts to kill the same victim (killer can be successful on 2nd attempt): Deed Without a Name by Dorothy Bowers (6/18/17)

The Making of The African Queen: Review

Bogart: Katie, what's happened to you? You're a decent human being.
Hepburn: Not anymore I'm not. If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.

The Making of the African Queen OR How I Went to Africa with Bogart, Bacall and Huston and Almost Lost My Mind (1987) by Katharine Hepburn is the actress's recollections of her great African adventure some thirty years after the fact. She tells us straight off that she never kept a diary, but later in life she often wished she had because "when you've lived as long as I have...you can't even remember the plot of many of the movies you've made--or the plays--really not anything about them or who or why." So, the reader might be tempted to take her memoir with a grain of salt. But she also tells us that "there are some happenings you can't forget. There they are. A series of facts--pictures--realities. This happened to me with The African Queen. I remember it in minute detail--I can see every second of its making and of me at the time...." And we know that there are, indeed, memories like that and are ready to take her at her word.

Of course, as with many celebrity books, one is also tempted to wonder if Katharine Hepburn really did write this. I don't know if she did sit down and write it all out (or type it all out...), but this is most distinctly her voice. If she didn't write it herself, I suspect she dictated it to someone who produced it exactly as she told it. Full of vim and vinegar and a spirit of adventure that comes through in so many of her characters--particularly that of Miss Rose Sayer in this movie. Hepburn tells us that she always wanted to go to Africa and she certainly didn't want to miss out on any adventures while she was there--up to and including going on an elephant hunt (she didn't shoot any and neither did any in her party) with John Huston who was a very poor shot and certain NOT to be much protection if there was any danger. 

If I have one complaint about her memoir, it is that it is less about the making of the movie than it is the use of the movie's production as a backdrop to Hepburn's memories of Africa. Not that those memories and her story aren't worth reading about--they are, but it's not quite the story the reader expects. [Which explains a four-star rating instead of five.] 

The book has an overall feel of an afternoon visit with Hepburn. The memories pour out of her like the reminiscences which might come up in a friendly chat . It makes for an enjoyable read and an interesting peek into the life of one of America's great actresses. She not only gives great descriptions of the locales in Africa, but has also given us plenty of pictures from behind the scenes on location. 
★★★★

52 Books in 52 Weeks

Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge

January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017

Sign-Up

Hosted by Robin at My Two Blessings

The rules are simple. Just read one book per week for a total of 52 books in the year. This will be my fifth year joining in.  I generally have no problem reading at least one book a week...so this is one of my slam dunk challenges.  I will list my books below as I read them.  If you'd like to join as well, just click on the link below the picture.

1. Death at Swaythling Court by J. J. Connington (1/4/17)

2. The Snake on 99 by Stewart Farrar (1/11/17)

3. The Black Count by Tom Reiss (1/21/17)

4. When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin (1/24/17)

5. Death Takes a Bow by Frances & Richard Lockridge (2/5/17)
6. All for the Love of a Lady by Leslie Ford (2/9/17)

7. Deception Island by M. K. Lorens (2/13/17)

8. Episode of the Wandering Knife by Mary Roberts Rinehart (2/17/17)

9. Search for a Scientist by Charles Leonard (2/24/17)
10. Death in the Wrong Room by Anthony Gilbert (2/27/17)

11. The Body Missed the Boat by Jack Iams (3/6/17)

12. Murder at Government House by Elspeth Huxley (3/13/17)

13. The Green Turtle Mystery by Ellery Queen, Jr. (3/19/17)

14. Silence Observed by Michael Innes (3/28/17)

15. I Could Murder Her by E. C. R. Lorac (4/7/17)

16. Murder Comes First by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4/11/17)

17. They Tell No Tales by Manning Coles (4/19/17)

18. Who Is the Next? by Henry Kitchell Webster (4/24/17)

19. Storm Center by Douglas Clark (5/1/17)

20. Murder at Teatime by Stefanie Matteson (5/9/17)

21. Death Cracks a Bottle by Kenneth Giles (5/13/17)

22. The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton (5/23/17)

23. Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes (5/28/17)

24. Where There's Smoke by Stewart Sterling (6/4/17)

25. Death Finds a Foothold by Glyn Carr (6/14/17)

26. Publish & Perish by Sally Wright (6/22/17)

27. Frame Work by Anne G. Faigen (6/26/17)

28. Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (7/7/17)

29. Murder in Little Shendon by A. H. Richardson (7/13/17)

30. Juliet Dies Twice by Lange Lewis (7/17/17)

31. Your Turn, Mr. Moto by John P. Marquand (7/25/17)

32. Murderer's Choice by Anna Mary Wells (7/29/17)

33. Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard (8/2/17)

34. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (8/8/17)

35. Best Max Carrados Detective Stories by Ernest Bramah (8/17/17)

36. Dead as a Dummy by Geoffrey Homes (8/26/17)

37. Natural Suspect by William Bernhardt (8/31/17)

38. The Title Is Murder by Hugh Lawrence Nelson (9/5/17)

39. The Menehune Murders by Margo Arnold (9/16/17)

40. My House Gathers Desires by Adam McOmber (9/19/17)

41. Stag Dinner Death by John Penn (9/26/17)

42. Night Walk by Elizabeth Daly (10/3/17)

43. Death in the Doll's House by Hannah Lees & Lawrence Bachmann (10/9/17)

44. Case With Three Husbands by Margaret Erskine (10/15/17)

45. Ghost of a Chance by Kelley Roos (10/28/17)

46. Blue Ice by Hammond Innes (10/31/17)

47. Murder at Beechlands by Maureen Sarsfield (11/7/17)

48. Trial by Terror by Frances & Richard Lockridge (11/21/17)

49. Murder in Ordinary Time by Sister Carol Anne O'Marie (11/29/17)

50. Crime for Christmas by Richard Dalby, ed (12/3/17)

51. The Corpse in the Snowman by Nicholas Blake (12/20/17)

52. The House on Foster Hill by Jamie Jo Wright (12/27/17)

Reading Bingo 2016

Prompted by The Puzzle Doctor over at In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel, I am reminded that it’s Bingo Time! This is a game to help highlight some of the reviews from the past year. The Bingo card has twenty five categories – all I have to do is find a book that I’ve reviewed over the past year for each category. Let's see if I can fill them all in...

A Book With More Than 500 Pages
Didn't quite make this one--the closest I got was with The Master of Mysteries by Gelett Burgess and Beyond the Ice Limit with Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child. Each of these topped out at 480 pages. [Maybe if I count all those blank pages at the end of the Burgess book, I could get by with that one....]

A Forgotten Classic
The Suicide Club & Other Stories by Robert Louis Stevenson. I'd be willing to bet that most people don't even know that he wrote these stories. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde...sure. Treasure Island...you betcha. But these? Nah.

A Book That Became A Movie
The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. Excellent, excellent movie made from, what was for me, a very good read.

A Book Published This Year
Death in Profile by Guy Fraser-Sampson. A very good debut for a promising new series in the mystery field.

A Book With A Number In The Title
The 7th Mourner by Dorothy Gardiner is good solid entertainment and if you are looking for light mystery fare, then this is just the thing. If you don't expect complex plotting and serious sleight-of-hand with clues, then you'll be ready to settle down for a pleasant afternoon's read.

A Book Written By Someone Under Thirty
I'm going to cheat here a bit. Clair Blank first published the first book in her Beverly Gray series when she 18 years old. In fact, the first four books of the series were published before she turned 19. The first book I've ever found of that series is Beverly Gray's Mystery (1948) which was published when she was 33. I would normally try to start a series from the beginning--so I"m totally counting this.

A Book With Non-Human Characters
The Platypus of Doom & Other Nihilists by Arthur Byron Cover. If a Platypus of Doom, an Armadillo of Destruction, an Aardvark of Despair, and a Clam of Catastrophe aren't non-human...then I don't know what is.

A Funny Book
Oh Myyy! by George Takei--which recounts the actor and activist's adventures on the internet.

A Book By A Female Author
Checkmate to Murder by E. C. R. Lorac: I must have a thing for Lorac's fog-shrouded, black-out-centered mysteries, because I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Inspector MacDonald is a very thorough yet very human policeman. He is never quick to judge and he has a way of seeing everything--even the things the witnesses and suspects think they've hidden properly.

A Book With A Mystery
There's an embarrassment of riches in that category here on the Block. Let's see...I think I'll go with House of Darkness by Allan MacKinnon--this year's surprise favorite. This, quite honestly, is the most fun I've had reading a mad-dash, mystery thriller in a long time. Even though I had never heard of Allan MacKinnon before, I snatched it right up when I saw this near-fine Dell Mapback edition sitting at my favorite used bookstore--just waiting for me. What a delight to find such a cracking good yarn with engaging characters, apt descriptions, and humorous dialogue.

A Book With A One-Word Title
Sunday by Georges Simenon is the only one-word title I've got. Not a big winner on the Block, but there are many 4- and 5-star reviews on GoodReads so I'm thinking Simenon just isn't the author for me.

A Book Of Short Stories
Avon Mystery Story Teller byJoseph Meyers and E. B. Williams (eds.): These are stories of murder and spine-tingling adventure. And, of course, as with all collections, some are better told and more spine-tingling than others. (For instance, "The Man in the Black Hat" by Michael Fessier really doesn't seem to belong here--it's more on the fantastic side than the mysterious. But over-all this is a very fine collection.

Free Square
Do Not Murder Before Christmas by Jack Iams--a nice Christmassy murder to give you that nice warm holiday feeling.


A Book Set On A Different Continent
Death in the Andamans by M. M. Kaye is set on an Island off the coast of India. This is another solid mystery outing from M. M. Kaye using her own experiences to inform her novel. Kaye spent a bit of time on Ross, the island in question, just prior to the outbreak of World War II under circumstances very similar. The story is up to her usual standard in terms of atmosphere and setting. The reader can definitely imagine the beauties of the island, settle back into the pre-war atmosphere, and then feel the building tensions as the storm approaches.

A Book Of Non-Fiction.
A Is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup is a very good read for anyonewith an interest in poisons-- whether scientifically or because you're plotting your very own Golden Age style mystery--and/or Agatha Christie. Harkup gives the reader an A through V (Arsenic through Veronal) look at the poisons the Queen of Crime used in her stories.

The First Book By A Favourite Author
The Norths Meet Murder by Frances & Richard Lockridge is a lovely beginning to Frances & Richard Lockridge's series which features (to varying degrees) Pam and Jerry North as the slightly "screwy," yet classy amateur sleuth husband and wife team and the sharp Lieutenant (later Captain) Bill Weigand and his faithful, often confused sidekick Detective Aloysius Mullins.

A Book You Heard About Online
The Seven Wonders of Crime by Paul Halter. The Puzzle Doctor himself first brought Paul Halter to my attention and I'm pretty sure this was the book that I first noticed on his site. I wish I was as excited about Halter as he and JJ at The Invisible Event are....

A Best-Selling Book
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie: Considering that Dame Agatha still outsells just about everybody whose ever been on the planet, I'm pretty sure this counts whether or not this particular book is on the best seller list right now or not.

A Book Based On A True Story 
Another little cheat....this one is VERY loosely based on the real murders by Jack the Ripper and uses the life of Robert Louis Stevenson in a highly fictionalized manner...but it's the best I got for this square. The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello.

A Book At The Bottom Of Your TBR Pile
The Clock Ticks On by Valentine Williams. I have so many piles strewn all about the house that it's difficult to say which one was at the absolute bottom. But I'm quite sure that this one was at the bottom of one of those stacks...and I only pulled it out because it fit Rich's February Crimes of Century date (1933).

A Book Your Friend Loves
I guess I'll have to co-opt Christie for this one too. I know that Brad over at Ah Sweet Mystery Blog has a real thing for the Queen of Crime. I don't think he'll quibble too much if I say he loves The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie.

A Book That Scares You
Beyond the Ice Limit with Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child--mentioned above as not-quite-big-enough for the 500 page category. This book creeped me out more than anything else I read this year. Of course, I'm a big weenie when it comes to scar--so your mileage may vary on this one.

A Book That Is More Than 10 Years Old
That's about as hard to find on my blog as a mystery...in fact, most of my books are more than ten years old. I'm not a current book reader in general. So, let's just pick one out of the hat....How about Poacher's Bag by Douglas Clark (at 1980--that's a bit more recent than most)?

The Second Book In A Series
I'm still looking...It seems that this was the year to read the third in a series. Not sure I have a second in the series anywhere. Back in a minute...Found one! Cocktails and the Killer (aka Ladies Won't Wait) by Peter Cheyney. It's the second of the Michael Kells books. Of course, there were only two...but we're not going to argue about that, are we?

A Book With A Blue Cover
Cold Steal by Alice Tilton: This is another fast-paced, hilarious romp with Witherall and company. It's the kind of silly heavy-on-the-fun and light-on-the-detection kind of mystery that one needs to be in the mood for in order to enjoy. But when you're in that mood--these are delightful. It's like getting on a roller-coaster that runs at top-speed the whole ride and when you come to a stop, you catch your breath and try to figure out if you've still got all the clues with you.

Deal Me In Challenge

Jay at Bibliophilopolis has launched the 7th annual Deal Me In Challenge for 2017. While I have watched this one go by during the past two years or so, I've never participated--being more focused on whole books.  I've decided this year to take the plunge and mix some short stories through-out the year, rather than cramming whole books of them into single sittings.


Please see the link above for the full run-down, Here's the short version--
~Compile a list of 52 short stories.
~Match each story to a card from a regular deck of cards.
~Have a deck of cards handy throughout the year.
~Read one short story per week.
~Choose your short story by drawing a new card from the deck. I will draw my card on Sunday.

Clubs

A – "Common Stock" by Octavus Roy Cohen

2 – "Pink Bait" by Octavus Roy Cohen (5/9/17)

3 – "Farrar Fits in" by Edmund Snell (9/20/17)

4 – "The Pathologist to the Rescue" by R. Austin Freeman (catch-up post 9/12/17)

5 – "The Blue Sequin" by R. Austin Freeman (2/16/17)

6 – "The Divided House" by Thomas W. Hanshew (2/25/17)

7 – "The Riddle of the Rainbow Pearl" by Thomas W. Hanshew (1/4/17)

8 – "The Mystery of the Steel Room" by Thomas W. Hanshew (4/9/17)

9 –  "Vidocq & the Locksmith's Daughter" by George Barton (2/11/17)

10 – "Suspicion" by William B. Maxwell (5/5/17)

J –  "The Wedding Album" by David Marusek (catch-up post 9/12/17)
Q - "10 to the 16th power to 1" James Patrick Kelly (catch-up post 7/18/17)

K -  "Winemaster" by Robert Reed (finished in December, logged 12/30/17)

[A - 10 from The World's Best One Hundred Detective Stories Vol. 7 by Eugene Thwing, ed.; J-K from The Year's Best Science Fiction 17th Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois, ed.]

Spades

A – "Galactic North" by Alastair Reynolds (catch-up post)

2 – "Dapple: A Hwarhath Historical Romance" by Eleanor Arnason (4/8/17)

3 – "People Came from Earth" by Stephen Baxter (finished in December, logged 12/30/17)

4 – "Green Tea" by Richard Wadholm (finished in December, logged 12/30/17)

5 – "The Dragon of Prpyat" by Karl Schroeder (5/22/17)

6 – "Written in Blood" by Chris Lawson (catch-up post 7/18/17)

7 - "Hatching the Phoenix" by Frederik Pohl (catch-up post 9/12/17)

8 – "Suicide Coast" by M. John Harrison (catch-up post 9/12/17)

9 – "Hunting Mother" by Sage Walker (catch-up post 9/12/17)

10 – "Mount Olympus" by Ben Bova (catch-up post 11/14/17)

J – "Border Guards" by Greg Egan (2/3/17)

Q – "Scherzo with Tyrannosaur" by Michael Swanwick (6/17/17)

K – "A Hero of the Empire" by Robert Silverberg (catch-up post 11/14/17)

[from The Year's Best Science Fiction 17th Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois, ed.] 

Diamonds

A – "How We Lost the Moon: A True Story" by Frank W. Allen" by Paul J. McAuley (1/14/17)

2 – "Phallicide" by Charles Sheffield (4/18/17)

3 – "Daddy's World" by Walter Jon Williams

4 – "A Martian Romance" by Kim Stanley Robinson (catch-up post 9/12/17)

5 – "The Sky-Green Blues" by Tanith Lee (catch-up post 7/18/17)

6 – "Exchange Rate" by Hal Clement (3/31/17)

7 - "Everywhere" by Geoff Ryman (6/10/17)

8 – "Hothouse Flowers" by Mike Resnick (5/31/17)

9 – "Evermore" by Sean Williams (3/23/17)

10 - "Of Scorned Women & Causal Loops" by Robert Grossbach finished 12/30/17)

J – "Son Observe the Time" by Kage Baker (catch-up post 11/14/17)

Q – "The Locked Room" by John Dickson Carr (catch-up post 11/14/17)

K – "Human Interest Stuff" by Brett Halliday (3/4/17)

[A-J from The Year's Best Science Fiction 17th Annual Collection by Gardner Dozois, ed.; Q-K from Murder by Experts by Ellery Queen, ed.]

Hearts

A – "The Blast of the Book" by G. K. Chesterton (4/25/17)

2 – "P. Moran, Diamond-Hunter" by Percival Wilde (3/517)

3 – "The Age of Miracles" by Melvilled Davisson Post (catch-up post 11/14/17)

4 – "The Witness for the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie (catch-up post 11/14/17)

5 – "The Hound" by William Faulkner (catch-up post 11/14/17)

6 – "The Dancing Detective" by Cornell Woolrich (catch-up post 7/18/17)

7 – "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" by Thomas Burke (1/25/17)

8 – "The Little Dry Sticks" by Cora Jarrett (catch-up post 11/14/17)

9 – "The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor" by Ernest Bramah (3/16/17)

10 – "Puzzle for Poppy" by Patrick Quentin (catch-up post 9/12/17)

J – "Death Draws a Triangle" by Edward Hale Bierstadt (1/16/17)

Q – "Persons or Things Unknown" by Carter Dickson (5/23/17)

K – "Almost Perfect" William MacHarg (6/18/17)

[from Murder by Experts by Ellery Queen, ed.]