John Horton is a mild-mannered small-time businessman stuck in a bad marriage. His wife, Ethel, spends more time with artistic 'modern' young men who John finds utterly vapid. There are only a few sparks in his dull routine-life: his secretary, Mary Brown and an annual weekly tour of the countryside on a cycle. When the … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Exit John Horton by J. Jefferson Farjeon (1939)
Tag: Friday’s Forgotten Books
Friday’s Forgotten Book: This Death was Murder by March Evermay (1940)
When Rachel Haskell Dunlop recommends her artist friend, Erich Humphrey, to remodel her ancestral home, Pine Acres, she has no idea that her widowed mother, Marcella Haskell would fall in love with Erich who is fifteen years her junior and wish to marry him. She is livid as are her siblings: Millicent, Raymond, Fred, and … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: This Death was Murder by March Evermay (1940)
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Death Greets a Guest by Charles Ashton (1936)
The Thaxton, Heatherling and Seventrees Archaeological Society (Thasas) is having its meeting at Heatherling Hall, the manor of the chairman, Stamford Eastwood. Among the twenty-five people who have come to hear a presentation by distinguished archaeologist, Dr. Cunningham, are the Vicar, the Reverend Henry Bloxford; Gentleman-farmer, Mr Rowson; Village bore, Mr Peter Musprat; and Messers … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Death Greets a Guest by Charles Ashton (1936)
Friday’s Forgotten Books: Two Mysteries by Cecil John Street
This year I read two books by Cecil John Street which curiously enough employed the same method of murder. In Miles Burton's Death Leaves No Card (1939) which I read way back in February, young Basil Maplewood is staying with his uncle, the miserly Geoffrey Maplewood, when he is found dead inside the bathroom. The … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Books: Two Mysteries by Cecil John Street
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder on Bag Hill by Clive Ryland (1945)
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned an obscure GAD writer, Clive Ryland. By a stroke of good luck, I was able to borrow another of his books, at around the same time. Though published in 1945, Ryland's novel begins just before the war. Jim Erroll is taking leave from his hostess Lady Mounteney and … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Murder on Bag Hill by Clive Ryland (1945)
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)
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)
Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Legacy by Robert Eton (1939)
I was successful once and might have done something, and now it has come to this. Last year, I discovered an author by the name of Laurence W. Meynell. The book, Third Time Unlucky, was very interesting and made me determined to read more of the author. A few weeks back, while browsing through library … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: The Legacy by Robert Eton (1939)
Friday’s Forgotten Book: What Came to Cinderella by Curtis Yorke (1926)
"I must have freedom," she declared. "My life embraces so much. I have so many interests. While you - you poor little soul - you are merely a - a veritable Cinderella." "Oh well, we know who came out on top in that story," laughed Faith good-naturedly. Faith Norman, the eponymous Cinderella, lives in an … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: What Came to Cinderella by Curtis Yorke (1926)
Friday’s Forgotten Book: Scandal at the Home Office by Frank A. Clement (1937)
This Friday's Forgotten Book happens to be an obscure title: Scandal at the Home Office by Frank A. Clement, published in 1937. Chief Commissioner of Police, Admiral Lord Arthur Kippering, has plans of an evening out. First theatre with his wife and daughter, Lady Doddington and then dinner. However, he receives a call from the … Continue reading Friday’s Forgotten Book: Scandal at the Home Office by Frank A. Clement (1937)
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