google-site-verification: googlef64103236b9f4855.html Philly Reader: December 2017

Friday, December 15, 2017

Just the Facts, Ma'am 2018

Once again Bev Hankins has posted a clever challenge for those who love reading classic mystery novels. This year, we will be reading to get "Just the Facts" where those facts should fit in the categories of who, when, where, what, how and why  in our detective notebook.

If we choose to read mysteries written before 1960 in the Golden Age, our notebook will look like this.

If we choose to read mysteries written in the Silver Age between 1960 and 1989, our notebook will look like this.

There will be prizes based on the number of clues found. Of course, it is all more complicated than this and you will find all of the rules at the Just The Facts web site at https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2017/11/vintage-mystery-challenge-2018-just.html.  I am going to read Golden Age mysteries, and hope to get some of the blocks in my notebook filled.

My Golden Detective Notebook

WHO
Swan Song  by Edmund Crispin, 1947. An Academic.

Murder in a Hurry  by Richard and Francis Lockridge, 1950. A crime solving duo.

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer, 1933. An amateur detective.

 Death at the Medical Board  by Josephine Bell, 1944. In the medical field.

 The Crimson Clue  by George Harmon Coxe, 1955. A Photographer.

  The Curved Blades  by Carolyn Wells, 1915. Matriarch of family.

WHAT
Head of a Traveler  by Nicholas Blake, 1949, Pseudonymous author.

The Black Curtain  by Cornell Woolrich, 1941. Color in the title.

 Murder After Hours  by Agatha Christie, 1946. Published under more than one title.

 The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen, 1933. Means of murder in the title.

   Mrs. McGinty's Dead  by Agatha Christie, 1952. Reference to a woman in the title.

 Bad for Business  by Rex Stout, 1940, Title contains two words beginning with the same letter.

WHEN
  An English Murder  by Cyril Hare, 1951, During a recognized holiday.

The Tuesday Club Murders by Agatha Christie, 1932.

  Death of a Fool  by Ngaio Marsh, 1957. During a performance.

   The Case of Jennie Brice  by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1913. During a weather event.

    Death on the Nile   by Agatha Christie, 1937. During a cruise.

    Night at the Mocking Widow  by Carter Dickson, 1950. During a special event.

WHERE
  Fire Will Freeze   by Margaret Millar, 1944, In a country house.

  Death in the Tunnel  by Miles Burton, 1936, On a mode of transportation.

 Murder on Paradise Island  by Robin Forsythe, 1937, On an island.

 The Dutch Show Mystery   by Ellery Queen, 1931. In a hospital.

Verdict of Twelve  by Raymond Postgate, 1940. Features a courtroom scene.

 Murder of a Lady   by Anthony Wynne, 1931. In a locked room.

HOW

The Dead Can Tell  by Helen Reilly, 1940. Death by drowning.

Dark Death   by Anthony Gilbert, 1953, Two deaths by different means.

Cold Poison  by Stuart Palmer, 1954. Death by poison.

 Mystery Mile   by Marjorie Allingham, 1930. Death by shooting.

 Footsteps in the Dartk   by Georgette Heyer, 1932. Death by strangulation.

 A Blunt Instrument   by Georgette Heyer,  1938, Death by a blunt instrument.

WHY
A Dram of Poison  by Charlotte Armstrong, 1956. Won an award of any sort.

 The Greene Murder Case   by S. S. Van Dine, 1927. It made a "best of" list.

  Red Harvest  by Dashiell Hammett, 1929. Out of my comfort zone.

 Scarecrow by Eaton K. Goldthwaite, 1945. An author I have never tried.

Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh, 1939. An author I have read and loved before.

What Mrs. McGillicudy Saw  by Agatha Christie, 1957. Book made into film.