Michael Frayn's Booker-nominated Spies immediately went on my wishlist when I came to know that it was inspired by Hartley's The Go-Between. Later, when I won a Reading Challenge, I claimed the book as my prize. And now as a GR reading group, I am a member of chose it as one of its reads … Continue reading War Anxieties: Spies by Michael Frayn (2002)
Category: Mystery
#1970 Club: Six Mysteries
As the 1970 Club draws to a close (and what a fulfilling event it has been) here are short notes on the mysteries read of this year. In alphabetical order: Beyond This Point are Monsters by Margaret Millar Devon, a young woman from the East coast does not feel at home in California. She had … Continue reading #1970 Club: Six Mysteries
#1970 Club #ClassicsClub: The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
Inspector Peter Glebsky, tired of his job of investigating bureaucratic crimes and wanting some time away from his family, comes to a hotel called The Dead Mountaineer's Inn on account of a mountaineer staying at the inn dying while trying to scale a mountain. The first words that the owner, Alek Snever speaks to Glebsky … Continue reading #1970 Club #ClassicsClub: The Dead Mountaineer’s Inn by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky
#1970 Club: The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark
Like the previous read for the club, 84, Charing Cross Road, Muriel Spark's book had long been on my wishlist because though I knew nothing about it, I had heard it praised highly. Lise, the protagonist of the book, has been working in the same office for a number of years and when the novel … Continue reading #1970 Club: The Driver’s Seat by Muriel Spark
A Baker’s Dozen: Favourite Mysteries from the 1930s
As you must be aware, people have been sharing ten of their best mysteries from the 1930s. John set the ball rolling and was followed by Brad and Kate. Aidan who posted about it today asked his readers to blog about their favourites too, if they wanted. Well, I needed no second invitation and jumped … Continue reading A Baker’s Dozen: Favourite Mysteries from the 1930s
Two books by Marie Belloc Lowndes: Cressida: No Mystery (1928) and One of Those Ways (1929)
Marie Belloc Lowndes is quite a favourite of mine and the past few weeks, I read two of her books. Cressida: No Mystery begins with the engagement of heiress Lizzie Bowden to Captain Larry Wortle. Lizzie is an orphan who has inherited a fortune from her father, and her guardians, her aunt: Lady Alice Bignor … Continue reading Two books by Marie Belloc Lowndes: Cressida: No Mystery (1928) and One of Those Ways (1929)
Friday’s Forgotten Book: And Death Came Too by Anthony Gilbert (1956)
Are there people who are born under a dark star? People who are dogged by tragedy at every step? Arthur Crook's lawyer-friend, Thomas Fogg thinks so. He has saved his client, Ruth Garside, from being sentenced on the charge of trying to murder her father, but is not happy with the verdict of "not-proven". He … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: And Death Came Too by Anthony Gilbert (1956)
Phantom Ships: The Forgotten Fleet Mystery by F. Van Wyck Mason (1936)
A morning like this makes of hope something more than an empty word. A fleet of four German ships lies abandoned off the coast of Maryland. When the novel opens, Geneva Connolly, the daughter of the Captain who is taking care of the ships is looking for men to recruit as watchmen when she is … Continue reading Phantom Ships: The Forgotten Fleet Mystery by F. Van Wyck Mason (1936)
A Traitor in Our Midst: Les Mystifies by Alain Reynaud-Fourton (1962)
Johny Gaddar (Johny the Traitor), released in 2007 and directed by Sriram Raghavan, is a Hindi neo-noir film that I absolutely love. So when recently I came to know that it is based on a French novel, Les Mystifies, I simply had to read that novel. Thankfully, I found it at that invaluable site, Internet … Continue reading A Traitor in Our Midst: Les Mystifies by Alain Reynaud-Fourton (1962)
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Die by the Book by Laurence Meynell (1966)
I knew, therefore, that this thing, this Book of Hours, was a rare and beautiful expression of man's attempt to imprison heaven's wonder in the cage of form... Leonard Umberton is an obsessive collector of books. For decades, he has been yearning for the legendary Mexe Book of Hours, an illuminated script produced in the … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Die by the Book by Laurence Meynell (1966)
a hot cup of pleasure