I thought I would have done a few more episodes of my increasingly-occasional podcast In GAD We Trust by now, but a couple fell through and I didn’t want to rush out something to replace them that didn’t have my heart in it. Instead, to ward off the dark nights, let’s cast our minds back over a few favourites already available to you, in case you missed them first time around.
Continue readingM.G. Leonard
#1357: What Liberty a Loosened Spirit Brings! – My Ten Favourite Juvenile Mysteries
While I wasn’t entirely sure what the focus of this blog would be when I started it — I knew there would be impossible crimes, but had no idea otherwise — I’d have been surprised if you told me I’d end up doing so much reading of and writing about mysteries for 9 to 12 year-olds.
Continue reading#1081: Minor Felonies – The Arctic Railway Assassin (2022) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
I’ve been in denial about this moment for a long time. M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman have been clear for a while now that their excellent Adventures on Trains series had an endgame in mind and…this is it. With The Arctic Railway Assassin (2022) we reach the (ahem) end of the line.
Continue reading#1008: Minor Felonies – Sabotage on the Solar Express (2022) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
If the genre’s Golden Age had one commendable attribute, it’s that there was no pressure to outdo previous entries in a series by going bigger, louder, or more preposterous with each successive entry.
Continue reading#1000: A Locked Room Library – One Hundred Recommended Books
In the back of my mind when I started The Invisible Event was the idea that exactly half of what I’d post about would feature impossible crimes, locked room mysteries, and/or miracle problems — and although this proportion started an irreversible slide after the first 500 or so posts, the impossible crime remains my first love.
Continue reading#941: Minor Felonies – Danger at Dead Man’s Pass (2021) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
More Adventures on Trains! With more adventures, and more trains, than ever before!
Continue reading#878: Minor Felonies – Kidnap on the California Comet (2020) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
Following my recent podcast chat with M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman, and the nomination of this very title for an Edgar award, let’s catch up with the Adventures on Trains series. “It’s unlikely we’ll encounter another adventure quite like the last one,” Nathaniel Bradshaw tells his nephew Harrison ‘Hal’ Beck as they take their seats on the California Comet. But we readers, aware that the title of this book is Kidnap on the California Comet (2020), know better…
Continue readingIn GAD We Trust – Episode 28: Writing Mysteries for Younger Readers [w’ M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman]
There is a Golden Age of detective fiction going on at the very moment, but because most of what’s being written is aimed at 8-to-12 year-olds, it gets overlooked by, like, grown-ups. I’m trying to raise awareness of this with my frequent Minor Felonies posts, and it’s partly in pursuit of this aim that I’m delighted to welcome M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman — authors of the excellent Adventures on Trains series — to my nerdy detective fiction podcast, In GAD We Trust.
Continue reading#854: Minor Felonies – The Highland Falcon Thief (2020) by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
The only frustration I feel towards the Adventures on Trains series by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman is that I didn’t discover it sooner. Because, see, then I’d be four books deep into this wonderful, charming, clever series — with a fifth on the way soon — rather than the mere two I am.
Continue reading#781: Minor Felonies – Murder on the Safari Star (2021) by M.G. Leonard & Sam Sedgman [ill. Elisa Paganelli]
A few years ago, I got the Night Riviera sleeper train from London Paddington to Penzance. When we reached our destination, after a good night’s sleep, I was disappointed to discover that no-one had been bafflingly murdered while en route and that my skills as an amateur detective were not required.
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