The Thursday Turkey Murders: Review

The Thursday Turkey Murders (1943) is the second in a trio of books by Craig Rice (with help on the third by Ed McBain). These are screwball mysteries starring Rice's photographers with a penchant for landing in the middle of murder, Bingo Riggs and Handsome Kuzak. Bingo and Handsome, late of New York, have decided to head west to seek fortune and fame in Hollywood. Handsome has the added talent of being able to remember everything he has ever read (especially in newspapers) which tends to help the duo get themselves out of more than one jam. 

On their journey west, they get sidetracked in the town of Thursday, Iowa when they accidentally run over a prize turkey. Bingo hops out the car to haggle with the farmer over how much the bird was worth and before you know it, he and Handsome seem to be the proud owners of 500 turkeys with hopes of turning their $1,200 investment into $5,000 with just a few weeks of work. The fact that he and Handsome are city boys who don't know one end of turkey from the other doesn't really bother him. 

But the boys really don't seem to have much time for tending turkeys what with being accused of murdering Gus (the fellow they bought the turkeys from) as well as there being five escaped convicts, a disappearance, a second murder, links to a 15-year-old bank robbery--with the money rumored to be hidden somewhere in Thursday, and a lovely dark-haired beauty who keeps popping in and out when you least expect it. Even though Bingo and Handsome don't know what's going on half the time, they still manage to help the local sheriff round up the bad guy and dig up the missing dough. Which results in the boys coming out about a thousand dollars ahead (even if those turkeys weren't Gus's to sell).

It's quite possible that I just wasn't prepared for Bingo and Handsome's particular brand of screwball this time around. Last February (almost exactly a year ago), I found these two unlikely detectives to be a lot more entertaining in The April Robin Murders. [Yes, I know I'm reading these in reverse order--I take 'em as I can get 'em.] It's also possible that Ed McBain's assistance with the unfinished work made Robin more appealing. Regardless of the reason, I wasn't quite as interested in the shenanigans going on in Thursday. The boys seem to be up to their usual tricks and innocently getting themselves in the middle of crime and murder. The sheriff is a pleasant fellow and makes and interesting foil for our two photographers. It's even clever how the turkeys get worked into everything...but all the turkey feathers in the plot just couldn't tickle my fancy quite enough. ★★ and 1/2. 

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This counts for the "Brunette" category on the Golden Vintage Scavenger Hunt card as well as another entry in Rich's 1943 edition of Crimes of the Century. If you've got a mystery from 1943 to share, come join us!

Deception Island: Review

Warning: Spoilers ahead--read at your own risk. It's impossible for me to discuss plot and my dissatisfaction without letting a few cats out of the bad--though not the complete solution.

Deception Island (1990) by M. K. Lorens looked to be a promising entry in the academic mystery series starring Winston Marlowe Sherman, Shakespeare professor and, under the pseudonym Henrietta Slocum, mystery novelist known for the Golden Age era detective G. Winchester Hyde. Winston's expertise with fictional murders and mysteries make him the perfect person for friends and acquaintances to choose to confide in when they don't want to get mixed up with the police. When a fairly new member of their small town of Ainsley, an art dealer by the name of Richard Brant, is found murdered on the edge of Deception Island--in clothes that made him look like a rather upscale art critic, Winston is brought into the investigation by his friend Kate. Kate had a growing affection for Brant and had done a little work for him and is worried about who has stolen two beautiful paintings from Brant's art gallery. Winston and his friend Lieutenant Lloyd Agate begin digging into the case and find that there's more to the world of art than meets the eye.

Their investigation leads them to Frances Woodville, the reclusive owner of Deception Island. Frances had taken up residence on the island twenty-five years ago--barricading herself behind fences and cutting herself off from friends and lovers. Now, it looks like she may hold some of the pieces to the mystery surrounded Brant and the art world. Some thought the missing paintings were her work, but others thought they were phony. And their is more than phony artwork in the mix--double identities, false mustaches, false deaths, real bodies, and letters from a dead man. Winston has begun an episode in Hyde's career which involves spies--little does he know how real life will imitate art.

This book strikes me as a slightly more intense version of the 1979 Disney movie The North Avenue Irregulars--which, by the way, I loved when I saw it in the theater way back then. In the film, a new minister and a gaggle of church ladies take on organized crime in their small town and, in true Disney fashion, it provides lots of of comical, family-friendly hijinks and entertainment. Realistic is one thing it isn't--but it doesn't really matter in the Disney world and the film makes you accept the fiction and sit back and enjoy the show. 

This would be my problem with the Lorens book. It takes place in a small town in New York. And yet Lorens would ask us to believe that this little college town is simply crawling with spies in disguise who kill with impunity. Art dealers and college professors and mimes in a festival--anybody and everybody might secretly be a spy. And, not only that, but we're asked to believe that a rag-tag bunch of amateur actors and middle-aged ladies could fool these seasoned spies (and a spy master) into believing that they are a group of IRA sympathizers in the market for the plans to a top-secret weapon--with less than 24-hours to prepare for their parts. Uh-huh. The most believable part is that the spy master knows when our hero Winston cottons on to him and is ready when he crashes the "IRA" party. (But up till then he's been taking the bait--hook, line, & sinker).

If the entertainment value had been high enough, then, like the Disney movie, it just wouldn't matter. But Lorens doesn't quite reach that level of entertainment with this story. It all just seems like a little too much. Not only with the high level of spying going on, but with all of the events crammed into the story as well. The saving grace of the novel is characterization. Lorens has built a successful protagonist in Winston Sherman. I enjoyed a previous outing (Ropedancer's Fall) very much and was pleased when I found this novel and Sweet Narcissus. The supporting cast is also solid and the individual characters are distinct and well-done. ★★ and 1/2.

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This counts for "Protagonist is a Writer" on the Mystery Reporter Challenge.

Deal Me In Week #6: "Vidocq & the Locksmith's Daughter"

This is my first year participating in Jay's Deal Me In Challenge . In a nutshell--we line up 52 short stories for the year, we match those stories up to a card in a regular deck of card, and each week we shuffle our deck (of real cards) and draw a card from whatever remains in the deck. Week #5 gives me the nine of clubs: "Vidocq & the Locksmith's Daughter" by George Barton which appears in The World's Best One Hundred Detective Stories Vol. 7 by Eugene Thwing, ed.
 

image credit

I almost forgot to post this week...so this is going to be a bit shorter than usual. Barton's story revolves around a spate of robberies which the Paris police cannot solve. So, Monsieur Henry, the Prefect, calls in Vidocq, former thief and master in the art of disguise, to help put an end to the crime wave. M. Henry's colleagues scorn the idea, but Vidocq goes undercover and fools the chief of thieves, Constantine. And proves that the Prefect's confidence in him was not in vain.
 

Challenge Complete: Travel the World

I started this journey back in 2012 (for 2013).  It was originally sponsored by Stacey over at Have Books, Will Travel as the Around the World in 80 Books Reading Challenge.  But something happened and her blog seems to have gone away. Tanya over at Mom's Small Victories has adopted it in partnership with I’m Lost in Books and Savvy Working Gal and renamed it the Travel the World in Books Reading Challenge. They have graciously allowed those of us who had started the journey with Around the World to claim the countries already "booked" and continue our trip from there.

New Rules for this challenge: 

The Goal 
Travel the world in books, of course! Expand your horizons and read books set in or written by authors from countries other than the one you live in. Visit as many different countries in books as you wish.

My original commitment was five years to complete a voyage of 80 countries. I began on October 1, 2012 and my end date was September 30, 2017. I also set the following year-end goals in order to count the challenge:

Year one = 16 books read
Year two = 32 books read
Year three = 48 books read
Year four = 64 books read
Year five = 80 books read

Additionally, I pledged to donate 80 books to my local library--pledge completed July 14, 2014.

 List of books read and location:
1. The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime by Michael Sims, ed (11/5/12) [England]
2. The Bone Is Pointed by Arthur W. Upfield [Australia] (11/16/12)
3. The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas  [France] (12/15/12) 
4. Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke [US] (12/19/12) 
5. The Man Who Went up in Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö [Hungary] (1/8/13)
6. Whip Smart: Lola Montez Conquers the Spaniards by Kit Brennan [Spain] (2/9/13)
7. The Perfect Landscape by Ragna Sigurdardottir [Iceland] (3/12/13)
8. The Lady Vanishes (aka The Wheel Spins) by Ethel Lina White [takes place on train ride through the "Balkans" which could conceivable be part of several countries. I have arbitrarily decided that the bulk of the action takes place in Bulgaria] (3/17/13) 
9. The African Queen by C. S. Forester [Tanzania] (4/6/13) 
    Death in Zanzibar by M. M. Kaye [Tanzania] (6/25/13)
10. Blood Makes Noise by Gregory Widen [Argentina] (4/30/13) 
11. The Talking Sparrow Murders by Darwin L. Teilhet [Germany] (5/6/13) 
12. Finding Camlann by Sean Pidgeon [Wales] (5/18/13)
13. Death at Crane's Court by Eilis Dillon [Ireland] (5/23/13) 
14. The Curse of the Bronze Lamp by Carter Dickson [Egypt] (5/27/13) 
15. Murder on Safari by Elspeth Huxley [Kenya] (6/8/13)
16. Devoured by D. E. Meredith [Malaysia (& England)] (6/22/13)

Year One Challenge Goal met!
 
17. Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov [Russia] (6/23/13)
18. The Scarlet Macaw by S. P. Hozy [Singapore] (8/10/13)
19. The Monster of Florence by Magdalen Nabb [Italy] (8/17/13)
20. Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen [Denmark] (8/20/13)  
21. Cold Earth by Sarah Moss [Greenland] (10/18/13)
22. Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell [Sweden] (1/5/13)
23. The Xibalba Murders by Lyn Hamilton [Mexico](1/18/14)
24. Exit Actors, Dying by Margot Arnold [Turkey] (2/4/14)  
25. Murder in the Vatican by Ann Margaret Lewis [Vatican City] (3/5/14) 
26. The Poisoned Island by Lloyd Shepherd [Tahiti (French Polynesia)] (3/8/14) 
27. The Coral Princess Murders by Frances Crane [Tangier, Morocco] (4/5/14) 
28. Decoded by Mai Jia [China] (4/5/14) 
29. Gale Warning by Hammon Innes [Norway/Norwegian Sea] (4/15/14) 
30. The Lady of Sorrows by Anne Souroudi [Greece] (4/26/14) 
31. 20.12 by Dustin Thomason [Guatemala] (6/6/14) 
32. DeKok & Murder in Ecstasy [Netherlands] (6/27/14) 

Year Two Challenge Goal Met!

33. The 7 Professors of the Far North by John Fardell [Arctic Circle] (6/29/14)
34. Murder at the Villa Rose by A. E. W. Mason [Monaco] (7/14/14)
35. The Tattooed Man by Howard Pease [Panama--one of major stops/scenes of action in the sea-faring tale] (7/17/14) 
36. The Dark Ring of Murder by Misa Yamamura [Japan] (11/19/14) 
37. A Dead Man in Trieste by Michael Pearce [Austria] (1/27/15)
38. Death Over Deep Water by Simon Nash [Malta] (2/8/15)
39. Into the Valley by John Hersey [Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands] (2/28/15) 
40. The Wilberforce Legacy by Josephine Bell [Trinidad & Tobago] (4/19/15)
41. Safari by Parnell Hall [Zambia] (4/21/15) 
42. Double Cross Purposes by Ronald A. Knox [Scotland] (6/3/15)
43. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood [Canada] (8/16/15)
44. Death in Kashmir by M. M. Kaye [India] (8/25/15)
45. The Bat Flies Low by Sax Rohmer [Egypt] (9/10/15)
46. The Albert Gate Mystery by Louis Tracy [France & Italy] (9/14/15)
47. Briar Rose by Jane Yolen [Poland] (9/14/15)
48. Black Alibi by Cornell Woolrich [Brazil] (9/23/15)


Year Three Challenge Goal Met!

49. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie [then--Yugoslavia in what is now present-day Croatia] 9/23/15 
50. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters [Egypt] (9/28/15)
51. Paris in the Twentieth Century by Jules Verne [France] (10/11/15)
52. The Ghost Writer by John Harwood [Australia & England] (10/16/15)
53. In Spite of Thunder by John Dickson Carr [Switzerland] (11/7/15)
54. The Red Redmaynes by Eden Philpotts [England & Italy] (11/14/15)
55. The Girl in the Cellar by Patricia Wentworth [England] (1/9/16)
56. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham [Hong Kong] (2/5/16)
57. The Bridal Bed Murders by A. E. Martin [Australia] (2/13/16)
58. The Bachelors of Broken Hill by Arthur W. Upfield [Australia] (2/22/16)
59. The Calcutta Affair by George S. Elrick [India] (2/28/16)
60. House of Darkness by Allan MacKinnon [Scotland] (3/7/16)
61. The Philomel Foundation by James Gollin [Switzerland & Germany] (3/11/16)
62. The Chalk Circle Man by Fred Vargas [France] (4/21/16)
63. Death in Cyprus by M. M. Kaye [Cyprus] (4/22/16)
64. The Family Tomb by Michael Gilbert [Italy] (5/10/16)

Year Four Goal Met!

65. Running Blind by Desmond Bagley [Iceland] (5/11/16)
66. Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö [Sweden] (5/20/16)
67. Good Blood by Aaron Elkins [Italy] (5/23/16)
68. Murder in Amsterdam by A. J. Baantjer [Netherlands] (6/3/16)
69. The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji [Japan] (7/2/16)
70. The Warsaw Anagrams by Richard Zimler [Poland] (7/17/16)
71. The Mirabilis Diamond by Jerome Odlum [begins & ends in Mexico (Baja California)] (7/31/16)
72. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre [East Germany/Germany] (8/24/16)
73. The Seventh Mourner by Dorothy Gardiner [Scotland] (9/21/16)
74. Death in the Andamans by M. M. Kaye [India] (9/25/16)
75. Beyond the Ice Limit by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child [waters off the coast of Chile] (10/28/16)
76. Black Widower by Paticia Moyes [Caribbean] (11/6/16)
77. Grendel by John Gardner [Denmark] (12/28/16)
78. Murder at the Masque by Amy Myers [French Riviera]  (1/16/17)
79. When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin [China] (1/24/17)
80. Spice Island Mystery by Betty Cavanna [Grenada] (2/10/17)

Year Five Goal Met! 


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List of books donated:
Had a clear-out of books today (11/11/12)
1. Some Men Are More Perfect Than Others by Merle Shain
2. The Four Million & Other Stories by O. Henry
3. All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein & Bob Woodward
4. The Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer
5. Weeping on Wednesday by Ann Purser
6. Theft on Thursday by Ann Purser
7. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
8. God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert
9. My Fair Lady by Monica Dickens
10. The Romance of Tristan & Iseult retold by Joseph Bedier
11. The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley
12. I Been There Before by David Carkeet
13. J.B. by Archibald MacLeish
14. The Island of the Day Before by Umberto Eco
15. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
16. The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
17. The Valley of Horses by Jean M. Auel
18. The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M. Auel
19. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee
20. Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck
21. Time Flies by Bill Cosby 
22. The School of Night by Louis Bayard (donated 11/17/12)
23. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (donated 11/17/12)
24. Death in the Memorial Garden by Kathy Deviny (donated 12/8/12) 
25. Plum Pudding Murder by Joanne Fluke (donated 12/21/12) 
26. The Cat Who Came to Christmas by Cleveland Amory (donated 12/21/12) 
27. The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (donated 1/13/12)
28. Whip Smart by Kit Brennan (donated (2/9/13) 
29. Ten Little Indians by Agatha Christie (donated 2/16/13)
30. A Holiday for Murder by Agatha Christie (donated 2/16/13)
31. The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco (donated 2/16/13) 
32. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith (donated 3/7/13) 
33. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin (donated 3/9/13) 
34. Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (donated 3/11/13)
35. A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield (donated 3/24/13) 
36. In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff (donated 4/9/13) 
37. The Silence of Herondale by Joan Aiken (donated 4/21/13) 
38. Blood Makes Noise by Gregory Widen (donated 4/30/13) 
39. And Having Writ... by Donald R. Bensen (donated 5/11/13)
40. How Not to Murder Your Grumpy by Carol E. Wyer (6/21/13)
41. Mystery Train by David Wojahn (6/21/13) 
42. Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold (7/6/13)
43. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (8/6/13) 
44. A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (8/10/13)
45. Age of Desire by Jennie Fields (8/13/13) 
46. The Temple of Death by A. C. & R. H. Benson (9/16/13) 
47. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (10/6/13) 
48. Unsinkable by Richard Cibrano (10/12/13) 
49. The Water Room by Christopher Fowler (10/25/13)
50. The Ten-Second Staircase by Christopher Fowler (10/25/13) 
51. Kemp's Last Case by M. R. D. Meek (11/4/13)
52. Commodore by Simon Sobo (12/21/13)
53. A Christmas Promise by Anne Perry (12/21/13)
54. A Habit for Death by Chuck Zito (12/21/13) 
55. Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson
56. Smart & Simple Financial Strategies for Busy People by Jane Bryant Quinn
57. Yes, You Can Become a Successful Income Investor! by Ben Stein & Phil DeMuth 
58. Braid by Roger Mitchell 
59. Shakespeare's Planet by Clifford D. Simak (1/11/14) 
60. Death by Chick Lit by Lynn Harris (3/5/14)
61. The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie (3/5/14) 
62. Erasmus-Luther: Discourse on Free Will by Ernst F. Winter (trans & ed) [3/12/14]
63. Martin Luther: Selections from His Writings by John Dillenberger (ed) [3/12/14]
64. John Calvin & Jacopo Sadoleto: A Reformation Debate by John C. Olin (ed) [3/12/14] 
65. John Smith: Last Known Survivor of the Microsoft Wars by Roland Hughes (3/16/14)
66. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (3/18/14)
67. The Awakening & Selected Stories by Kate Chopin (3/18/14)
68. Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye by Kenneth P O'Donnell & David F. Powers w/Joe McCarthy (3/18/14)
69. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (3/18/14)
70. The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence (3/18/14)
71. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence (3/18/14)
72. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (3/18/14) 
73. A Deadly Place to Stay by Josephine Bell (3/29/14) 
74. Naked Is the Best Disguise by Samuel Rosenberg (4/8/14) 
75. My Antonia by Willa Cather (4/20/14) 
76. Undead & Unpopular by MaryJanice Davidson (6/22/14) 
77. The Day They Kidnapped Queen Victoria by H. K. Fleming (7/3/14)
78. A Long Fatal Love Chase by Louisa May Alcott (7/3/14) 
79. Selections from the Essays of Montaigne by Michel de Montaigne (7/14/14)
80. The 7 Professors of the Far North by John Fardell (7/14/14)

Spice Island Mystery: Review

Spice Island Mystery (1969) by Betty Cavanna takes place on the island of Grenada, known as "Spice Island" because of the numerous nutmeg plantations and scent of nutmeg which permeates the air. Marcy Baptiste, seventeen and a native of Grenada, has just returned home after living in the United States and attending high school there while serving as a companion for the daughter of one of the plantation families and caretaker for Claire's younger brothers. 

Marcy, who has a longing to attend college as her friend Claire will be doing in the fall, sets about finding herself a job while she figures out her future. She is hired by Harlan W. Fletcher of the Fletcher Development Corporation to be secretary, payroll clerk, and general gofer. On her first day at work, she meets Richard Strang, a handsome young architect who also works for the the Corporation. While Marcy tries to navigate her new feelings for Richard, she also is working through old relationships. Some of her former friends wonder if she's become too Americanized, but Coffee Parkinson, a young man she knew well before leaving for the States, seems determined to renew their friendship and possibly make it a little more.

But as Marcy settles in to work and her new lodgings, she notices some things that don't quite add up. Coffee seems to have more money to spend than he could possibly make as a construction worker. The same holds true for several young men she knows. Coffee presents her with an expensive bottle of perfume as a welcome home gift. Another young man buys his father a new motorcycle. There are gold watches and motorbikes among the others. Marcy sees Coffee set out at odd hours to visit a luxury boat in the harbor and later he calls in sick to work only to be spotted with a wealthy tourist by Marcy while she's at lunch. Marcy and Richard, who have begun to see one another away from the job, have several encounters with ruffians and bundles of dried plants...is someone smuggling nutmeg for a higher profit? Or are the stakes higher than that? Marcy's mother always told her that her curiosity would get her in trouble one day. She will have to be very careful in her amateur investigations not to make her mother's prophecy come true. 

Betty Cavanna provides an interesting teenage mystery with just enough romance to add a bit of spice, but not to overwhelm the amateur sleuthing. Marcy is a well-drawn, strong young character and the supporting cast are quite interesting as well. The main mystery (what kind of smuggling is going on) isn't to hard to figure out, but Cavanna does manage to keep the reader guessing on who is really involved and who isn't. A good solid read for young people (and us older folks as well). ★★★

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This counts for the "Boat" category on the Silver Vintage Scavenger Hunt card. I will also note that this book (like my last read) seems to have a bit of a discrepancy in the publishing date. My copy says it is a second printing in 1970 with an original date of 1969. There are several sites that are placing the original pub date as 1970. But...I am going with my copy and counting it for 1969 and an entry in the Birth Year Challenge.

My Kind of Mystery Challenge

My Kind of Mystery Challenge

February 1, 2017 – January 31, 2018

Carolyn at Riedel Fascination is tempting us again with her My Kind of Mystery Challenge. And of course I'm joining--Because you know I have a thing for mysteries. Her mystery challenge allows for all sorts of mystery-related reading from crime novels to true crime; from author biographies to writing tips for wanna-be authors. If it's related to mysteries, it counts. She has made a few adjustments to the challenge rules, so there are more details to be found...check them out at the link above.

My Sign-Up: Carolyn isn't requiring that we post a commitment--and doesn't list challenge levels this year as she has in the past, but as a personal challenge I'm going for the "Invisible Floor" level (41-70 mysteries) from previous years again in 2017. 

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

3. Spice Island Mystery by Betty Cavanna (2/10/17)

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

5. The Thursday Turkey Murders by Craig Rice (2/13/17)

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

7.  A Wild Surge of Guilty Passion by Ron Hansen (2/18/17)

8. Zadok's Treasure by Margot Arnold (2/22/17)

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. Thrilling Stories of the Railway by Victor L Whitechurch (3/9/17)

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

14. Miss Christie Regrets by Guy Fraser-Sampson (3/15/17)

15. Dread & Water by Douglas Clark (3/15/17)

16. Trixie Belden & the Gatehouse Mystery by Julie Campbell (3/16/17)

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

18. Fit to Kill by Hans C. Owen (3/22/17)

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

20. Nun Plussed by Monica Quill (3/30/17)
21. Nero Wolfe of West Thirty-Fifth Street by William S. Baring-Gould (4/4/17)
22. I Could Murder Her by E. C. R. Lorac (4/7/17)
23. A Grave Case of Murder by Roger Bax (4/10/17)
24. Murder Comes First by Frances & Richard Lockridge (4/11/17)
25. Stroke of Death by Josephine Bell (4/12/17)
26. Coffin's Dark Number by Gwendoline Butler (4/16/17)
27. They Tell No Tales by Manning Coles (4/19/17)
28. Death With Blue Ribbon by Leo Bruce (4/20/17)
29. Who Is the Next? by Henry Kitchell Webster (4/24/17)
30. Grounds for Murder by Kate Kingsbury (4/26/17)
31. The Fennister Affair by Josephine Bell (4/28/17)
32. The Vanishing Violinist by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (4/30/17)
33. Storm Center by Douglas Clark (5/1/17)
34. The Polka Dot Nude by Joan Smith (5/2/17)
35. The Invisible Intruder by Carolyn Keene (5/4/17)
36. The Shivering Sands by Victoria Holt (5/6/17)
37. Murder at Teatime by Stefanie Matteson (5/9/17)
38. Blind Man With a Pistol by Chester Himes (5/10/17)
39. Death Cracks a Bottle by Kenneth Giles (5/13/17)
40. The Mystery of the Talking Skull by Robert Arthur (5/13/17)
41. Murder in Mount Holly by Paul Theroux (5/15/17)
42. Deadly Nightshade by Elizabeth Daly (5/19/17)
43. The Constantine Affliction by T. Aaron Payton (5/23/17)
44. Decision at Delphi by Helen MacInnes (5/28/17)
45. If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O by Sharyn McCrumb (5/29/17)
46. The Case of the Seven Sneezes by Anthony Boucher (5/31/17)
47. Where There's Smoke by Stewart Sterling (6/4/17)
48. Mystery in White by J. Jefferson Farjeon (6/11/17)
49. Death Finds a Foothold by Glyn Carr (6/14/17)
50. The Ghost & the Dead Deb by Alice Kimberly (6/16/17)
51. Deed Without a Name by Dorothy Bowers (6/18/17)
52. The Wailing Siren Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon (6/18/17)
53. The Secret of the Wooden Lady by Carolyn Keene (6/19/17)
54. Publish & Perish by Sally Wright (6/22/17)
55. Mink Is for a Minx by Leo Margulies, ed (6/23/17)
56. Tree House Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner (6/23/17)
57. Frame Work by Anne G. Faigen (6/26/17)
58. The Arctic Patrol Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon (6/26/17)
59. The Killing of Katie Steelstock by Michael Gilbert (6/30/17)
60. Those Who Hunt the Night by Barbara Hambly (7/7/17)
61. Death Before Bedtime by Edgar Box (7/9/17)
62  Murder in Little Shendon by A. H. Richardson (7/13/17)
63. Quick Curtain by Alan Melville (7/14/17)
64. Juliet Dies Twice by Lange Lewis (7/17/17)
65. The Barker Street Regulars by Susan Conant (7/20/17)
66. Room for Murder by Doris Miles Disney (7/22/17)
67. Your Turn, Mr. Moto by John P. Marquand (7/25/17)
68. Lie of the Needle by Cate Price (7/28/17)
69. The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie (7/29/17)
70. Murderer's Choice by Anna Mary Wells (7/29/17)
71. Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan L. Howard (7/30/17)
72. The Big Grouse by Douglas Clark (8/4/17)
73. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (8/8/17)
74. The Happy Valley Mystery by Kathryn Kenny (8/16/17)
75. Best Max Carrados Detective Stories by Ernest Bramah (8/17/17)
76. What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw! by Agatha Christie (8/18/17)
77. Every Second Thursday by Emma Page (8/20/17)
78. Salt Is Leaving by J. B. Priestley (8/22/17)
79. Dead as a Dummy by Geoffrey Homes (8/26/17)
80. Honeybath's Haven by Michael Innes (8/29/17)
81. Murder Is Served by Frances & Richard Lockridge (8/30/17)
82. Natural Suspect by William Bernhardt et al (8/31/17)
83. The Far Traveller by Manning Coles (9/2/17)
84. Let Dead Enough Alone by Frances & Richard Lockridge (9/3/17)
85. The Title Is Murder by Hugh Lawrence Nelson (9/5/17)
86. Case With No Conclusion by Leo Bruce (9/9/17)
87. Coffin from the Past by Gwendoline Butler (9/11/17)
88. McGarr at the Dublin Horse Show by Bartholomew Gill (9/13/17)
89. The Menehune Murders by Margot Arnold (9/16/17)
90. The World's Best 100 Detective Stories Vol 7 by Eugene Thwing (9/19/17)
91. My House Gathers Desires by Adam McOmber (9/19/17)
92. The Gloved Hand by Leigh Bryson (9/21/17)
93. Mr. & Mrs. North & the Poisoned Playboy by Frances & Richard Lockridge (9/23/17)
94. The Small World of Murder by Elizabeth Ferrars (9/25/17)
95. Journey's End by Evelyn Berckman (9/25/17)
96. Stag Dinner Death by John Penn (9/26/17)
97. To Wake the Dead by John Dickson Carr (9/30/17)
98. Night Walk by Elizabeth Daly (10/3/17)
99. Sherlock Holmes & Mr. Mac by Gary Lovisi (10/8/17)
100. Death in the Doll's House by Hannah Lees & Lawrence Blochman (10/9/17)
101. The Sound of Murder by John & Emery Bonett (10/11/17)
102. Case with Three Husbands by Margaret Erskine (10/15/17)
103. Casebook of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov (10/20/17)
104. Ghost of a Chance by Kelley Roos  (10/28/17)
105. Fire Will Freeze by Margaret Millar (10/29/17)
106. Blue Ice by Hammond Innes (10/31/17)
107. Penelope Passes or Why Did She Die? by Joan Coggin (11/4/17)
108. Murder at Beechlands by Maureen Sarsfield (11/7/17)
109. Maniac Rendezvous by Marc Brandel (11/9/17)
110. Murder by Experts by Ellery Queen (11/13/17)