Book review for the 1961 Club: A Grave Undertaking

Posted on April 17, 2026 by WordsAndPeace

The #1961Club

After The Winter of our Discontent and Call For the Dead, here is my third and last review for The #1961Club.

📚 A Grave Undertaking,
by Lionel White
Mystery
1961
160 pages
Counts for my Classics Club 5th list

I had never read any book by this Lionel White, and A Grave Undertaking was a delightful discovery.
And thanks to his comment, I realize this is thanks to Neeru that I added this to my TBR, back in 2024, when she nominated it for the Reprint of the Year Award. Thanks Neeru!

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Book review for the 1961 Club: Call for the Dead

Posted on April 15, 2026 by WordsAndPeace

The #1961Club

Yesterday, I reviewed The Winter of our Discontent.
Today, we are going from literary fiction to a famous spy mystery, but both authors have the same first name!

📚 Call for the Dead (George Smiley #1),
by John Le Carré
Spy mystery
1961
144 pages
Counts for my Classics Club 5th list

Years ago, I read The Spy Who Came from the Cold, the third book in the George Smiley series, and I enjoy spy novels, even though I haven’t read many.
As this book, the first one in the series, was published in 1961, I decided to read it for the 1961 Club.
And I discovered my library had it in audio with Simon Vance as the narrator, so I listened to it. I hadn’t listened to Simon Vance for several years, that was a great delight.

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Book review: Morts thématiques

Posted on March 14, 2026 by WordsAndPeace

Morts thématiques
(Une enquête du commandant Gaspard Cloux, Tome 1)
Literally: Thematic Deaths
– not yet available in English
by Éric Fouassier
Mystery
November 5, 2025 by Le Livre de Poche
274 pages
Received through Netgalley.fr

This is a bilingual review: first in French then in English.

Avant de voir le polar Morts thématiques offert sur Netgalley.fr, j’avoue n’avoir hélas jamais entendu parler de l’auteur Éric Fouassier. Quelle belle découverte !

Le corps d’un homme est retrouvé au Panthéon, devant le tombeau du célèbre mathématicien Lagrange. Un étrange poème, en réalité une énigme mathématique, est épinglé sur sa poitrine.

Before spotting the thriller Morts thématiques [litt. Thematic Murders] offered on Netgalley.fr, I have to admit I had never heard of the author Éric Fouassier. What a great discovery!

A man’s body is found at the Pantheon in Paris, outside the tomb of the famous mathematician Lagrange. A strange poem, actually a math puzzle, is pinned to his chest.

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