Challenge Complete: Genre Decades

Back in 2015 when Becky from Becky's Book Reviews put together the Genre Decades Reading Challenge. where you choose a decade (or two or...) and read books from a particular genre published in that decade. I thought it would be nifty to do TWO decades. I was beginning to think I'd made a mistake...because fulfilling the Sci-Fi Seventies turned out to be a lot slower going than anticipated. In fact, I thought I might not make it before the end of the year. BUT--I just finished my last one tonight and I can claim this challenge as complete! See below for my lists...



I jumped in for Mysteries from the Thirties AND Science Fiction from the Seventies (so a total of 20 books).

1930s Mysteries
1.  The Avenging Parrot by Anne Austin [1930]
2.  The Case of the Painted Girl by Frank King [1931] (1/6/15)
3. Two & Two Make Twenty-Two by Gwen Bristow & Bruce Manning [1932] (7/23/15)
4.  The Case of Colonel Marchand by E. C. R. Lorac [1933] (4/27/15)
5. The Riddle of the Traveling Skull by Harry Stephen Keeler [1934] (6/21/15)
6. The Bat Flies Low by Sax Rohmer [1935]
7. The Murder of Sir Edmund Godfrey by John Dickson Carr [1936] (4/8/15)
8. Double Cross Purposes by Father Ronald A. Knox [1937] (6/3/15)
9. Brighton Rock by Graham Greene [1938] (3/2/15)
10. The Smiler with the Knife by Nicholas Blake [1939] (4/21/15)


1970s Science Fiction
1. Ringworld by Larry Niven [1970] (8/20/15)
2. Alpha 2 by Robert Silverberg, ed [1971] (1/18/15)
3. The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit & Other Plays by Ray Bradbury [1972] (12/15/15)
4. Ten Thousand Light-Years from Home by James Tiptree, Jr. [1973] (1/2/15)
5. The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle [1974] (4/12/15)
6. The Winds Twelve Quarters by Ursula Le Guin [1975] (12/9/15)
7. Spock, Messiah! by Theodore R. Cogswell [1976] (5/8/15)
8. Asimov's Choice: Black Holes & Bug-Eyed Monsters by George H. Scithers, ed [1977] (1/9/15)
9. Strange Wine by Harlan Ellison [1978] (5/21/15)
10. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams [1979] 

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays....

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit & Other Plays for Today, Tomorrow & Beyond Tomorrow (1972) is a small collection of plays based on three of Ray Bradbury's short stories. Bradbury was one of the most celebrated science fiction authors of his time. The plays featured are the titular "Ice Cream Suit," as well as "The Veldt" and "To the Chicago Abyss." I had read the short story versions of the last two but not "Suit."

In the titular story, six down-on-their-luck fellows pool their money to buy a spectacular, white (vanilla ice cream colored) suit that they all can share to impress the ladies, win new friends, and, hopefully, turn their luck around. They learn that there's much more to be gained in the friendship they develop with each other.

"The Veldt" is a very creepy story of the future. A future where two doting parents provide their children with every new gadget possible--including a playroom that can make the kids' every thought and dream come to 3-D life. When the children change their playroom to the African veldt, complete with hungry lions, the parents learn, too late, that gadgets can't take the place of love.

And, finally, "To the Chicago Abyss" takes the reader to a bleak dystopian future where all is rubble and there are few pleasures left. One old man can remember only the pleasures of the past as broadcast through the media or in the trivialities of everyday life--advertisements for coffee, cigarettes, kazoos for children, thimbles and imitation flowers. Speaking about the past--of things that no one can have now--is outlawed and the man must avoid the police and seek out those willing to listen to his memories.

The stories make for short, quirky plays and Bradbury does an excellent job adapting them. I, however, prefer the works in short story form. ★★★ and a half for the wonderful stories by a master.

The Wind's Twelve Quarters: Review

If they wish to see death visibly in the world, that is their business, not mine. I will not act Eternity for them. Let them not turn to trees for death. If that is what they want to see, let them look into one another's eyes and see it there. (from "Direction of the Road")

Ursula K. Le Guin is more than a science fiction writer. Yes, her stories have won Hugo and Nebula awards, but she is also the recipient of a number of literary prizes including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Her complete collection, The Wind's Twelve Quarters (1975), includes "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" which won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1974. Her collection includes introductions to each piece, which describe her experiences and inspirations which influenced each story. I particularly like her introduction to "Omelas" which tells us that the name was inspired by seeing "Salem, Oregon" backwards in her rear view mirror. "[… People ask me] 'Where do you get your ideas from, Ms. Le Guin?' From forgetting Dostoyevsky and reading road signs backwards, naturally. Where else?"

The particular edition I read is The Wind's Twelve Quarters, Vol. 2. It contains eight of the seventeen stories found in the hardback edition. Apparently Granada Publishing wanted to get as much out of the property as they could and divided the paperback edition into two volumes. These stories explore everything from human values and emotions to basic survival to explorations of outer space and the inner man. Le Guin's work is, on the whole, lyrical and provocative. She is hard to classify. Her stories are more speculative than science, though she does use science to advantage when needed.

If all of the stories were as stunning as "The Stars Below," "Direction of the Road," and "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" then this would be a five-star book, no question. "Vaster than Empires and More Slow" and "Field of Vision" are also quite good, though not (for me) as affecting. Many readers also cite "The Day Before the Revolution"--but I found it (even as a short story) long and my attention was easily distracted. I couldn't put the book down on any of the previously mentioned stories. ★★★ and a half for the entire collection.

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects seventeen powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future. Including an insightful foreword by Le Guin, describing her experience, her inspirations, and her approach to writing, this stunning collection explores human values, relationships, and survival, and showcases the myriad talents of one of the most provocative writers of our time. - See more at: http://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/19385/Reviews#sthash.huves7Xd.dpuf

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects seventeen powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future. Including an insightful foreword by Le Guin, describing her experience, her inspirations, and her approach to writing, this stunning collection explores human values, relationships, and survival, and showcases the myriad talents of one of the most provocative writers of our time. - See more at: http://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/19385/Reviews#sthash.huves7Xd.dpuf

The recipient of numerous literary prizes, including the National Book Award, the Kafka Award, and the Pushcart Prize, Ursula K. Le Guin is renowned for her lyrical writing, rich characters, and diverse worlds. The Wind's Twelve Quarters collects seventeen powerful stories, each with an introduction by the author, ranging from fantasy to intriguing scientific concepts, from medieval settings to the future. Including an insightful foreword by Le Guin, describing her experience, her inspirations, and her approach to writing, this stunning collection explores human values, relationships, and survival, and showcases the myriad talents of one of the most provocative writers of our time. - See more at: http://www.buffalolib.org/vufind/Record/19385/Reviews#sthash.huves7Xd.dpuf

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Review

I just took myself on a little journey back to the 80s. The 1980s. That's when I discovered that marvelously funny science fiction and cult classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy written by Douglas Adams in 1979 at the age of 27. Since I needed a SF book written in 1979 for the Genre Decades Challenge and written by someone younger than 30 for the Pop Sugar Challenge, I decided to revisit an old friend and see how it holds up over 30 years later.

Quite nicely, in fact.

The book is one delicious romp--starting with Arthur Dent, a rather boring Englishman who wants one thing out of life...to save his fairly unattractive house from being demolished to make way for a new freeway. To this end, he is lying in the mud in front of a bulldozer when his friend Ford Prefect plucks him from the mud, convinces him to down several pints of beer, and helps him snag a ride onboard a Vogon ship which has just come along to demolish the Earth to make way for galactic freeway. Ford, ostensibly an out-of-work actor, is in reality an alien from Betelgeuse who has been doing research for a revised version of the Guide and has been waiting fifteen years for someone to come along and rescue him from this backwater little planet. He didn't really want it to be Vogon ship...after all Vogons hate hitchhikers and are likely to drop you out of an airlock if they find you. And if you're really unlucky they'll read their poetry to you first.

This is the story of Arthur and Prefect's adventures after they survive the horrors of Vogon poetry (oh and the demolition of a planet and being tossed out an airlock). Adventures that hook them up with Zaphod Beeblebrox, the two-headed, three-armed President of the Galaxy who's out for a good time and in search of something that his future self wants him to find but won't tell him about; Trillian a brilliant and beautiful woman whom Arthur tried once to pick up at a party and who knows how to fly a ship with Improbability Drive; Marvin, the paranoid android, who is so depressing he causes a space ship to commit suicide; Slartibartfast, award-winning designer of fjords; two white mice in search of a question; and, briefly, a large sperm whale and a surprised bowl of petunias. 

What will our brave heroes learn on there journey? Why, nothing much--just the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. Oh wait. That's an entirely different book in the series. ;-) 

I absolutely loved this book when I discovered it back in high school. I thoroughly enjoyed all the witty dialogue and the outrageous adventures of our heroes. I didn't mind that there really (if you think about it much harder than you should) isn't much of a plot. When you're having so much fun imagining the events that Adams puts in front of you, you don't really notice that the story line doesn't have much of an arc. And, you know what? Over thirty years later...I still didn't notice. This is an excellent, crazy, off-the-wall science fiction adventure. I enjoyed every minute. ★★★★★

The Bat Flies Low: Review

The Bat Flies Low by Sax Rohmer (1935)

illustrations by John Richard Flanagan

From the pen of the author who brought the world Dr. Fu Manchu, comes a tale of adventure and romance with a dash of mystery and intrigue. The story begins in New York City but the heart of the mystery lies in the burning sands of Egypt. Lincoln Hayes, wealthy eligible bachelor, comes into possession of a portion of an ancient manuscript which seems to hold the secret of an ancient lamp with an extraordinary source of light on the same evening he makes the acquaintance of a mysterious Egyptian, . Hayes owns a prominent lighting company and hopes his associates, Captain Rorke and Ulrich Stefanson will be able to recreate the process. Before his experts can complete an examination of  and fully decode the document, there is a flash of blinding light and the document and notations made by Stefanson disappear along with the Egyptian, Mohammed Ahmes Bey. Stefanson, however, possesses an incredible memory and begins reconstructing the documents and notes. Rorke's memory is for a map that leads to the original source of the lamps. And Hayes decides that the group should head to Egypt to find more information.
 
Hayes's secretary will be hypnotized and the documents Stefanson puts together from memory will also be stolen. Then Stefanson's memory will be wiped while a shadowy bat-like form haunts their dreams and follows where they go. Agents for a rival company are out to beat Hayes to the secrets and the Bey's men are also on the trail. There are mysterious doings at a hidden fortress in the desert and a bang-up finish back in the States when the wrath of the gods is visited upon those who try to apply the wisdom of the ancients without sufficient wisdom of their own.

Rohmer is so well-known for his Fu Manchu, "yellow peril" novels that one expects to be stepping into a world where racial stereotypes abound when opening a Rohmer novel. Surprisingly, there is little of that going on here--I won't say there isn't any, but prejudices are not in full flower as they have been in my previous Rohmer experiences (The Golden Scorpion and The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu). Perhaps it is because there is no super villain looking to crush our heroes. This is more of an adventure featuring a bit of (mild) industrial espionage and efforts by Bey to keep ancient wisdom out of the hands of those who aren't ready to use it.

But Rohmer does keep up his standards in the action adventure arena. He's still your man if you're looking for fast-moving, pulpy fun. And if you're into beautiful, mysterious, women who are strangely enslaved to the mysterious shadow figures, but have a fondness for our gallant heroes while alternately helping and hindering (according to the master's bidding), then he's got the goods. It makes for an exciting story with little mystery to unravel, but a good read for a lazy summer afternoon.

Just a couple of quibbles--our gallant hero in this outing, Lincoln Hayes, is not a particularly likable fellow. He's not horrible or mean. He's just kind of blah. No real personality to speak of through most of the story and he speaks in a very terse speech pattern that tends to leave out the subjects in his sentences. The speech pattern doesn't help the lack of spark. Fortunately his associates make up for his deficiencies.

Also, how many times do items have to be stolen or destroyed and shadowy figures have to be eavesdropping and/or watching before Hayes and company figure out that just maybe the important documents need to be kept locked up? It seemed like it would have been easier to just put the things on a table with a big neon arrow pointing down and words flashing "Secret Documents! Ancient, Irreplaceable Artifacts! Please Steal!" I realize that we wouldn't have as many plot "twists" without them--but I see little point in making a man have a phenomenal memory, letting him use it, and then finally wiping it clean just to ensure that the documents are irreplaceable. Just have the things stolen once and everybody have a mind like a sieve and be done with it.... 

Overall, a fun adventure for those willing to suspend their disbelief and go along for the ride.  ★★★

Ringworld: Review

I'm sorry Larry Niven, but what love I had for you (back in the 80s when I discovered science fiction) is rapidly disappearing. I read The Mote in God's Eye recently and wasn't nearly as thrilled with it as expected. I'm very tempted to go back and reread Lucifer's Hammer to see if it really is as good as I remember. I enjoyed that one when I read it. My memory tells me that it actually had a plot with a real story arc.

Ringworld doesn't really.  Oh, yes...there's a plot of sorts. Let's have Louis Wu,our hero, team up with a Pierson Puppeteer (a two-headed, three-legged, horse-like [?] creature with it's real brain in a camel-like hump on its back), a Kzin (a huge, war-like, cat-like alien), and a human woman, Teela Brown, whose main purpose seems to be to love [and make love to] Louis...until she doesn't any more, to serve as a "good-luck charm" for the expedition, and to, occasionally, offer some fairly good insight into rather complex ideas [Hey, look, the woman has a brain! Why isn't she allowed to use it all the time?], and send them off to investigate an unexplored area of the universe in the hopes of finding a safe place for all the species when the radiation effects from explosions at the center of the galaxy reaches inhabited space. They discover this massive artificial structure shaped like (surprise!) a ring and orbiting a sun and make a pretty half-baked effort to investigate it. There you go. Sure, they meet people (really--very human-like people), but don't really interact with them much. They kindof, sortof explore--but not really.

Here is the plot in a nutshell: Long, lead-in where the Puppeteer convinces Louis and company to join the team. Smaller portion where the team is with the other Puppeteers getting ready to launch the trip. Long portion for travel to Ringworld. Another long portion traveling around on Ringworld. The End. There is no real goal--investigate and report back; conquer Ringworld; whatever. The story just really stops. I understand that this is part of a series and this was basically the book setting everything up--but 342 pages of setup? Add to that the fact that we really don't learn a whole lot about the characters and they don't seem to learn a whole heaping lot about themselves during this great grand adventure. Probably because there aren't many large problems for them to work through.

The science fiction conceit is brilliant. The idea of Ringworld itself is fabulous and was a major draw for me to read this story. But I really expected to be more engaged with the characters. To be honest--Louis and Teela didn't interest me much. Louis isn't very knowledgeable about space and exploration and seems more interested in making it with Teela than anything and Teela seems to be more decorative than anything else. The most interesting character is Speaker, the Kzin. I would love to have learned more about Speaker and his people. Both stars are for the basic idea and the potential that I can see for great stories--I certainly hope the rest of the series builds on this and ups the ante with some good story-telling. I'm not sure whether I'll be reading any more to find out, however. ★★

The Avenging Parrot: Review

John over at Pretty Sinister Books first brought Anne Austin* to my attention with his terrific review of One Drop of Blood. At the time I thought I might read Murder at Bridge (available through Project Gutenberg, but I'm such a book in hand kind of girl that I never got round to it. Instead, I picked up a lovely hardback edition of The Avenging Parrot (1930) at last year's Red Cross Book Sale.


From researches online, it appears that Parrot is the second of Austin's mysteries. However, the novel reads as if it were the very first of the James "Bonnie" Dundee series. Bonnie got his name from "a sentimental lass he lost his heart to in high school [who] found a Rab Burns poem called 'Bonnie Dundee' and made him a present of the nickname." It stuck. The book opens with Dundee arriving in the office of his uncle Police Commissioner O'Brien in Hamilton (Midwest, USA**) fresh from a six-month stint with Scotland Yard, as a records officer. [Perhaps the first novel, The Black Pigeon, takes place in London?] Dundee is determined to make a name for himself as a detective. But Lieutenant Strawn, O'Brien's best detective is none too sure about the new man, particularly when he finds out Bonnie's been to college and spent his time "reading everything on criminology [he] could lay his hands on."

Hmm! A story-book detective. I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed in Hamilton as a crime center, Dundee. Offhand, I can't recall a single case where a rich old man was found dead in his library, a carved dagger in his heart, and doors and windows barred. And so far as I know, there's not a single house in all Hamilton with a secret passage--

Dundee will have to work hard to impress Strawn and Sergeant Turner, a seasoned officer who resents the nephew's status, and refute any talk of nepotism.

He gets his first chance when O'Brien's secretary brings in a "crank" letter. Old Mrs. Hogarth writes from the Rhodes House, a local boarding house, praising O'Brien for a recent speech in which he said that "crime prevention is of even greater importance than crime detection." Mrs. Hogarth challenges him to put his belief to the test by preventing her murder. Neither O'Brien nor Strawn are prepared to take her seriously, but after rereading the letter, Dundee asks to be allowed to go under cover as a boarder and investigate the old lady's claims.

He settles into his new lodgings that very afternoon and soon discovers that the woman has stirred up plenty of reasons for folks to plot her death. Rumored to have a miser's hoard stashed somewhere in her room, Mrs. Hogarth has fastened on each of her fellow-boarders in turn, making the current favorite her heir in an ever-changing will. As soon as the blue-eyed boy or girl upsets her, she chooses a new favorite and makes them the heir. And Mrs. Hogarth isn't the easiest woman to play favorite for. She expects little presents and constant attention since she isn't well enough to venture far from her room on the second floor.

After meeting all the inmates at dinner that first night--from the current heiress, a lovely girl by the name of Norma Paige, and her fiance (and previous favorite) Walter Styles to the pompous businessman Lawrence Sharp and his wife to Cora Baker, pianist for the local picture show as well as another previous favorite, to Bert Mangus, Cora's admirer, to Henry Dowd, a mystery man whose former employer seems to have gone out of busines,s to various other hangers on and possible candidates for heir or heiress of the week--Dundee tries to have a private talk with Mrs. Hogarth to let her know a detective is on the job. However, the other residents keep popping in and out and he has no chance for an in-depth discussion. He decides to go for a walk--and report his initial impressions to Strawn--and plans to visit the older woman when he returns.

Somebody decides they've had enough of Mrs. Hogarth--whether it's because of the revolving will and the rumored hoard or another reason yet to be discovered. When Dundee visits her room the second time, he receives no answer to his knock and finds the door unlocked. Mrs. Hogarth in her fear of murderers had been scrupulous in locking her door when visitors left. He enters the room and finds Mrs. Hogarth strangled with her own scarf and her room ransacked. Did the murderer find what he or she was looking for? The only eye witness to the cold-blooded crime was her pet parrot. Dundee is convinced that bird's squawking has a clue to the murderer's identity, but O'Brien and Strawn thinks it only wishful thinking. How Dundee used the avenging bird and a handful of clues found amongst trash and other bits and pieces to solve the murder makes for an absorbing read.

This is a lovely Golden Age mystery with clues fairly planted and the opportunity for the reader to solve the mystery before Dundee breaks the case. A handy map is also provided as so often happens in the books of this period. Dundee is an appealing young detective. He's sure of his ability to make a detective of himself, but not so cocky as to alienate the reader (or his colleagues...too much). He makes some mistakes and works hard to find the right answers as well as trying to smooth the ruffled feathers of the more experienced officers. The solution may be a little more obvious to modern readers, but I suspect it may have proved a bit of a puzzle for Austin's contemporaries. Dundee's fellow boarders are given enough attention to round out their characters fairly well for the time period. ★★★★


*From Amazon: Born in 1895, Anne Austin began by writing romance novels about young women in the mid 1920's but soon turned her talents to producing a string of mysteries through the 1930's, some of which appeared as serials in newspapers.. Many of these mysteries feature as the detective “Bonnie” Dundee, Special Investigator for the District Attorney, including Murder Backstairs, The Avenging Parrot, Murder at Bridge, and One Drop of Blood. Several of her mysteries were translated into French, including Le Pigeon Noir and Le Crime Parfume. Despite her success as a novelist, Anne Austin disappears from the public record after the 1930's.  Amazon lists Murder Backstairs as an available reprint from Resurrected Press

**John has made an argument for somewhere in Michigan based on references in One Drop of Blood to the Eastern time zone and five hour train ride from Chicago. After a discussion with him, I'm plumping for Iowa based on all the references in The Avenging Parrot to various Iowa towns which seem to be "near by." I'm banking on the fact that Austin changed the location at some point in her books (sort of like Dr. Watson's moving wound from Afghanistan and various chronological issues in the Holmes stories) and am going to claim this for Iowa in the Reading Road Trip Challenge.

Two & Two Make Twenty-Two: Review

Two & Two Make Twenty-Two (1932) by Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning takes us to Paradise Island off the coast of Louisiana in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. A cozy island get-away for the rich and elite, Paradise Island and its exclusive Peacock Club makes every wish come true for those who can afford its delights. Brett Allison, the mysterious owner, provides entertainment in the form of sports and gaming tables, enough to keep even the most demanding guests occupied. Or so you would think.

But somebody on Paradise Island has time enough to indulge in a little diamond-smuggling here and a little drug-running there with enough left over for the a spot of murder. The guests are shocked to find themselves in the midst of a real-life game of Clue and the murderer is someone sharing the island with them as a brutal storm keeps them all captive.

For quite some time Federal authorities have known that drugs were being smuggled into the country via the Gulf of Mexico. But just when they get close to finding the source and the point of entry, their agents have a way of dying--through the most innocent-seeming ways possible. Most recently, an agent on the way with what was to be "absolute proof" went down in his plane, taking the proof with him. No evidence of tampering, just a fluke accident. Or so it would seem.

Major Jack Raymond and Andrew Dillingham aren't so sure and when they are sent to Paradise Island to investigate whether that lovely playground of the rich is the entry-point for the smugglers they discover indications that a woman may be involved...and may have had a hand in the agents' deaths. Another agent, Linton Barclay, meets them there and directs their attention to the beautiful Eva Shale. Eva has wealth from an unknown source and skillfully runs her own boat all over the Gulf. Unfortunately for Andrew, who has fallen for Eva, there seems to be good cause for suspicion. 

But there is also reason to suspect their genial, though rarely seen host. Brett Allison also has made his wealth through mysterious means and little is known about the Island's owner. Is it possible that the money comes from the drug game? Circumstantial evidence piles up....and just as the three are preparing to spring a trap to catch the drug runners, Linton Barclay is murdered in his cottage and the last person known to be with him was Eva. 

Allison contacts the mainland police and is put in charge until the storm will allow the officials to reach the island. A night of questions and alibis, confessions and surprises will reveal that more than one person on the island may have wanted Barclay dead. There is the jealous husband, Tracy Cupping, who thought his (much younger) wife Imogen was spending too much time with the handsome Barclay. There is Judith Garon who initially held Barclay's attention until Imogen and then Eva came along. There is Foster the man who wants to buy Paradise Island and who had rivals in the business. And then there is Mrs. Penn, the club housekeeper, who visited Barclay's cottage that night on an undisclosed errand as well.  

Plenty of strange goings-on to confuse the issue. Allison would like to clear the matter up before the authorities arrive--but Barclay's thuggish boat crew make things difficult when drugs and diamonds are finally discovered and someone bashes the island's radio operator over the head and wrecks the radio set to prevent further communication with the outside world. Fortunately, the good guys have a secret weapon--Daisy Dillingham, Andrew's grandmother and daughter of the late Judge Dillingham. She may be to quote one of her fellow club residents "two years older than Adam" but her wits are sharp and she's on the ball when it comes to noticing vital clues. Daisy is fully capable of outwitting a murderer and handing Major Raymond a drug runner on a platter.

  For the record...Daisy Dillingham makes this book. Bristow and Manning give us an islandful of well-drawn characters, but Daisy is the star of this show. And not just because she's the amateur sleuth who gets to the bottom of everything. She's sprightly and spunky and not willing to take anything from any of these people. She's lived long enough to do as she pleases and she has the social clout to get away with it. She's exactly the kind of feisty grandma we all want on our side. 

Oh, and the mystery is pretty good too. It may sound like it's a grubby little drug-ring caper, but the murder in the cottage makes it a good old-fashioned clue and time-table driven mystery. Armchair detectives have a fair chance to put the clues together themselves. I managed to figure out the how, but Bristow and Manning did a good job keeping me from figuring out the who. If you have the chance to get hold of a copy of this one, I'd be interested to know if you put it all together.  ★★★★ for a very nifty Golden Age mystery.


Gwen Bristow and Bruce Manning were a married couple who wrote many books and screenplays separately and co-authored four mystery novels together (The Invisibile Host [aka The Ninth Guest], 1930; The Gutenberg Murders, 1931; The Mardi Gras Murders, 1932; and this one). Bruce Manning was born on July 15, 1902 and gives me another July author to add to the Birthday Month Challenge.

My copy = no dust jacket

This  fulfills the "Number in Title" square on the Golden Vintage Bingo card as well as completing two more Bingos.