Host: My Reader's Block
Name: Vintage Mysteries
Dates: Jan - Dec
# Target Books: 8 - 16
Limitations: Mysteries published BEFORE 1960
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What I read:
1. Final Curtain by Ngaio Marsh (1947) qualifies as #4 leave it to the professionals
2. The Cape Cod Mystery by Phoebe Atwood Taylor (1931) qualifies as #3 amateur night
3. Why Shoot a Butler by Georgette Heyer (1933) qualifies as #23 the butler did it...or not
4. The Case of the Late Pig by Margery Allingham (1948) qualifies as #8, dangerous beasts
5. Hamlet, Revenge by Michael Innes (1937) qualifies as #13 staging the crime
6. Peril at End House by Agatha Christie (1932) qualifies as #33 international detectives
7. Lord Edgware Dies (aka Thirteen at Dinner) (1933) qualifies as #11, a book with a man in the title
8. Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club by Dorothy Sayers (1928) qualifies as #14 scene of the crime
9. The Daughter of Time. (Inspector Grant #5). Josephine Tey. 1955 qualifies as #35 authors who wrote under a pseudonym
10. The Red Box. Nero Wolfe. (Nero Wolfe #4) 1936. qualifies as #1 a book with a color in the title
11. Envious Casca. Georgette Heyer. 1941. qualifies as #16 a locked-room mystery
12. Strong Poison. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1930 qualifies as #27 as psychic phenomenon*
13. The Five Red Herrings. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1931. qualifies as # 2 murder by the numbers
14. A Blunt Instrument by Georgette Heyer (1938) qualifies as #12 murderous methods
15. The Case of the Cautious Coquette by Erle Stanley Gardner (1949) qualifies as #10 a book with a woman in the title
16. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (1937) qualifies as #18 murder on the high seas
17. Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie (1935) qualifies as #19 planes, trains, and automobiles
18.The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (1929) qualifies as #17 country house murder
19. The Rubber Band. (Nero Wolfe #3) Rex Stout. 190 pages. qualifies as #6 mystery set in USA
20. They Found Him Dead. Georgette Heyer. 1937. Sourcebooks. 325 pages qualifies as #5 mystery set in Britain
21. Behold, Here's Poison. Georgette Heyer. 1936/2009. Sourcebooks. 330 pages. qualifies as #34 mystery someone else has already read
22. The League of Frightened Men. Rex Stout. 1935. Bantam. 320 pages. qualifies as #25 dynamic duos
23. Clouds of Witness. Dorothy L. Sayers. 1926/1966. Avon. 224 pages. qualifies as #22 repeat offender, starring favorite detective
24. The Case of the Worried Waitress: A Perry Mason mystery. Erle Stanley Gardner. 1966. 151 pages. qualifies as #29 Old Bailey
Mission read & match mystery categories:
7. World Traveler: one mystery set in any country except the US or Britain
9. A Calendar of Crime: a mystery with a date/holiday/year/month/etc. in the title (Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Holiday Homicide, etc.)
15. Cops & Robbers: a book that features a theft rather than murder
16.
20. Murder Is Academic: a mystery involving a scholar, teacher, librarian, etc. OR set at a school, university, library, etc.
21. Things That Go Bump in the Night: a mystery with something spooky, creepy, gothic in the title (The Skeleton in the Clock, Haunted Lady, The Bat, etc.)
24. A Mystery By Any Other Name: any book that has been published under more than one title (Murder Is Easy--aka Easy to Kill [Christie]; Fog of Doubt--aka London Particular [Christianna Brand], etc.)
26. Size Matters: a book with a size or measurement in the title (Death Has a Small Voice, The Big Four, The Weight of the Evidence, etc.)
28. Book to Movie: one vintage mystery that has appeared on screen (feature film or TV movie).
29.
30. Serial Killers: Books that were originally published in serial format, probably from the pulp era. Frank Packard's works come to mind.
31. Killed in Translation: Works that originally appeared in another language and have been made available in English (works published in English post-1960 would be acceptable, provided the original was published pre-1960). Georges Simeon's works come to mind. OR If your native language is not English, then works that originally appeared in English and have been made available in your native language (same dating rules apply).
32. Blondes in Danger: A variation on "Colorful Crime". Books that feature a blonde in the title role, like The Blonde Died First, or Blonde for Danger.
36. Hobbies Can Be Murder: A mystery that involves a hobby in some way: stamp or coin collecting; knitting (a la Patricia Wentworth's Miss Silver); bird watching; hunting (particularly the British hunt); scrapbooks; etc. [thanks to S from Snaps and Snippets for the idea]
37. Get Out of Jail Free: This is a freebie category. One per customer. You tell me what special category the book fits ("It's got an awesome cover!"..."First book I grabbed off my shelf") and it counts. Only thing I won't take is "It's a Vintage Mystery!"--that's a given. :-)
*Strong Poison does feature a seance. It's all pretend, the work of Miss Climpson. But it's so memorable and it works really well. And I'm unlikely to ever ever read any mystery where it's presented as "real."
© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
