In October, I finished ten books. That total is a bit misleading because two of them were nonfiction books that I had been reading off and on for a good while. But still, each of those had about 150 pages left that I read during this month, so they count. The third nonfiction book I read was started in early September and finished in late October.
All of the mysteries I read were published before 1985, so no recent fiction reads this month. Three of the novels were published either in 1955 or 1956.
And these are the books I read in October...
Nonfiction / Biography
Ross Macdonald: A Biography (1999) by Tom Nolan
Ross Macdonald, pseudonym of Ken Millar, was the author of the highly regarded Lew Archer detective series. Ken Millar was born in northern California, spent his childhood in Ontario, Canada, and met his wife Margaret Millar while going to college in Canada. The couple moved to Santa Barbara in 1946 and were living there when Ken died in 1983. He was a very interesting man, and this biography was very well done. The emphasis is on his personal life although there is some evaluation of his writing. This was my favorite read of the month.
Nonfiction / Mystery reference
The Golden Age of Murder (2015) by Martin Edwards
This book looks in depth at mystery authors who were members of the Detection Club in the UK, in the years leading up to World War II. A lot of the focus is on the founding members of the club: Dorothy Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, and Agatha Christie. This very informative and readable book won these two awards: the Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction (2015) and the Edgar Award for Best Critical/Biographical (2016)
Nonfiction / Books about Books
The Book of Forgotten Authors (2017) by Christopher Fowler
Before publishing this book, Christopher Fowler wrote a column called Forgotten Authors in a British newspaper. He has been interested in finding out about such authors for many years. I found some authors in this book that I did not consider forgotten, some authors I did not think would appeal to me anyway, and many authors that might deserve checking out. Regardless, each of the authors was interesting to read about. Fowler's essays are entertaining and opinionated, and this was a book well worth reading.
Crime Fiction
The Keys of My Prison (1956) by Frances Shelley Wees
This is a vintage mystery by a Canadian author, set in Toronto, Canada. It is domestic suspense and the author has been compared favorably to Margaret Millar. It was a very good read and not at all what I expected. My thoughts on the book are here.
Shooting in the Dark (1984) by Carolyn Hougan
This story takes place during the Iran hostage situation, and at the time of the coronation of Queen Beatrix in the Netherlands, in late April 1980. Claire Brooks is getting ready to go to the dentist when her husband announces that he is leaving her. To get away from it all, she takes a quick trip to Amsterdam, not realizing that the city will be overrun with people celebrating the new queen's coronation. She meets a reporter and they both get caught in an inept plot relating to Iran and the Shah. The situation is similar to the plots of Eric Ambler's spy fiction; Claire is the amateur unwittingly caught in a dangerous situation that she is not prepared for. I enjoyed reading this fast-paced story.
Sky High (1955) by Michael Gilbert
The US title of this book is Country House Burglar, and both titles are very apt. I knew I was going to like this story when it starts out with a church choir practice. It is mostly set in a small village in the UK, where everyone seems to be ex-military. A seemingly harmless man is killed when the house he lives in is blown up. Another investigation involves a number of country houses in the area that have been burgled when the owners were away. A lovely story with excellent characters.
Poirot Loses a Client (1937) by Agatha Christie
This is the 16th Hercule Poirot mystery and was also published as Dumb Witness. An elderly woman is concerned about a fall on the stairs and writes a letter to Poirot. He doesn't get it until two months later, but when he visits the woman, he finds she died shortly after she wrote the letter. Her death was ruled natural, but Poirot decides to investigate. Hastings narrates, which I consider a plus.
An Overdose of Death (1940) by Agatha Christie
Another Poirot mystery, #22 in the series, and published three years after Poirot Loses a Client. This was originally published as One, Two, Buckle My Shoe in the UK, and has another alternate title in the US, The Patriotic Murders. Hercule Poirot visits his dentist, and shortly after he has left the office, the dentist dies, apparently a suicide. Inspector Japp investigates but he leans towards accepting that the death is a suicide. Poirot thinks the case is not that simple.
Poison in the Pen (1955) by Patricia Wentworth
This is the 29th book out of 32 in the Miss Silver series. Our elderly heroine takes on an undercover assignment in this book. Actually she uses her real name but pretends to be taking a holiday at Willow Cottage in Tilling Green, staying with Miss Wayne, the town gossip. Detective Inspector Frank Abbott of Scotland Yard has asked Miss Silver to quietly investigate a case of poison pen letters that may have led to the death of a young woman.
The Fever Tree and Other Stories (1982) by Ruth Rendell
This collection contains 10 short stories and one novella. All of the stories are excellent. My review is here.
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