My first, very pleasant and entertaining meeting with sleuth Ellery Queen.
Which makes me wonder why he passed under my reading radar until n3,5 stars
My first, very pleasant and entertaining meeting with sleuth Ellery Queen.
Which makes me wonder why he passed under my reading radar until now. Maybe because he was not that well known in Hungary. I mean, I kind of remember having read the name sometimes, somewhere, but that was about it. I did some digging and only 3 of his books seems to have made it to translation into Hungarian in the 1970s, so maybe that's why.
Anyhoo, this collection of very short mysteries did whet my appetite to try out some of his full novels and quite a few are included in my Audible membership, so here we go.
This is certainly one of my favourite A.C. mysteries and Dan Stevens' superb narration enhanced the experience.
His Poirot was awesome, paying clear tThis is certainly one of my favourite A.C. mysteries and Dan Stevens' superb narration enhanced the experience.
His Poirot was awesome, paying clear tribute to David Suchet, but his voicing all the other set of characters with different English accents gave extra spice to it all.
I would never have thought to write this about an Agatha Christie book, but... UUGGHHH! *SHUDDER* *EYEROLL*!
I read it quite a long time ago and I realI would never have thought to write this about an Agatha Christie book, but... UUGGHHH! *SHUDDER* *EYEROLL*!
I read it quite a long time ago and I realised that I can't remember a thing about it, which was already a sign, but I was still hoping for something better.
Not as underwhelming as Postern of Fate (that is the AC book I found the worst), but - AND I REALLY HATE TO SAY THIS ABOUT AN AGATHA CHRISTIE BOOK- stNot as underwhelming as Postern of Fate (that is the AC book I found the worst), but - AND I REALLY HATE TO SAY THIS ABOUT AN AGATHA CHRISTIE BOOK- still boring, dragging and most of the time pointless.
"Accident" "The Fourth Man" "The Mystery of the Blue Jar" "The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl" "Philomel CottageA collection of AC short stories containing
"Accident" "The Fourth Man" "The Mystery of the Blue Jar" "The Mystery of the Spanish Shawl" "Philomel Cottage" "The Red Signal" "The Second Gong" "Sing a Song of Sixpence" "S.O.S." "Where There's a Will" "The Witness for the Prosecution"
The collection was published in 1948 in the US, though the different stories appeared in US Magazines long before. The quality varies - I really liked some (Accident, Philomel Cottage, The Second Gong and The Witness for the Prosecution), others less so or not at all because of the convoluted psychological/paranormal element (The Fourth Man) .
The interesting thing is that most of these stories feature the perpetrators, while found out, are getting away with it. I guess it was an interesting for AC to try and play with these scenarios on the other side of the spectrum of mystery....more
Honestly, much as I love the Perry Mason books, the later ones -this is #61- were losing some steam, but this one was everythWoooo-hoooo! What a ride!
Honestly, much as I love the Perry Mason books, the later ones -this is #61- were losing some steam, but this one was everything I love in Erle Stanley Gardner's courtroom mysteries: fast-space, loads of action until the very end, red-herrings and counter-decoys, plenty of suspects all round and circumstantial evidence that seems to doom Mason's -naturally innocent- client to lifelong jail.
So we have a spoiled, rich son of a powerful businessman, abusing his position by forcing himself on young women in his company & daddy trying to cover up the traces afterwards to "preserve" his good name. I found the story especially poignant as I read it first when the H. Weinstein scandal was in full swing, and thought that though it ain't easy today, women had it even worse back in the 1960s. So kudos to Erle Stanley Gardner for highlighting it. And while the story of course concentrates on Perry Mason's investigating and trying to solve the whodunit while defending his client, it still brings to attention the issue how defenseless women were, especially if their attackers happened to be privileged bastards perfectly in the know about the leeway the imperfect laws for these cases allowed them.
"Let me tell you something about the law in this state ... If a woman presents a charge for criminal attack against a man, her own previous moral character can be inquired into. Dad's lawyers even gave me the California case that determined the point... That means that with all the money at my command, I can put detectives on your back trail. I can turn you inside out on the witness stand. I can ask you names, dates, specific occasions ..." - This is Loring Lamont, who tries to assault Arlene Ferris and when she warns him that she will prosecute, that is his reply. Charming, irresistible man, is he not?
Fortunately, the victim, Arlene manages to flee before things get really serious and decides to consult Perry Mason about a possible suit against Lamont (not knowing that he got his comeuppance & was killed in the meantime). Her reasoning to herself are: "She knew that, for her own sake, it would be better to keep quiet, to say nothing. But she also felt that too many young women in Loring Lamont's life had decided to follow the line of least resistance, thereby making it doubly hard for the next young woman on whom he cast his predatory eyes."
And to Perry Mason she says: "I want to stand up for my rights. I want to stand up for my own sex."
To which Mason's reply: "If you want to put a stop to this sort of thing, we'll put a stop to it - but it isn't going to be easy. they'll throw mud, they'll claim blackmail, they'll have young Lamont testifying that you deliberately led him on, that you were the one who made passes at him, that when he was too bored to acquiesce you ran true to the old adage that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned..."
In a way it would had been much more interesting, if Lamont hadn't been killed and Arlene and Perry Mason were trying to win charges pressed against him, but maybe that would have been too progressive for the time. But the murder happens and then ESG started concentrating on the usual routine of the investigation and courtroom scenes, which were tense and exciting and had the usual, but rather satisfactory defeat Mason dealt to the Prosecution including Hamilton Burger in the end....more
Arc received by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast aArc received by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main aim of detective stories is to entertain, but the best cast a light on human behaviour, and display both literary ambition and accomplishment. And there is a reason why millions of readers continue to appreciate classic crime fiction. Even unpretentious detective stories, written for unashamedly commercial reasons, can give us clues to the past, and give us insight into a long-vanished world that, for all its imperfections, continues to fascinate."
Informative, engaging and entertaining without being too dry or incomprehensibly highbrow. It offers interesting facts, insights and trivia to a wide variety of crime fiction books in the first half of the 20th century from widely read to forgotten and unknown gems.
Martin Edwards, while certainly piquing our curiosity, kindly refrains from revealing the solution to the mysteries. It is like holding a precious map that will accompany you on a delightful exploration into the genre. You will meet your well-known and loved author-figures, while chancing upon "intriguing strangers" and familiar authors you did not even know wrote crime fiction.
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