Category Archives: Challenges

Seeing Is Believing by Carter Dickson aka John Dickson Carr

Posted on October 30, 2012 by

A simple experiment in hypnotism to prove that you cannot make someone act against their nature. A woman is hypnotised and given a gun that she believes is real and asked to kill her husband. As expected, Vicky Fane cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Carter Dickson, Challenges, John Dickson Carr, Locked Rooms and Impossible Murders, Old Author October, Sir Henry Merrivale | 13 Comments

International Booksellers’ Week, The Puzzly for June 2012 and more!

Posted on June 30, 2012 by

It’s Independent Booksellers’ Week in the UK from 30th June to 7th July and what better excuse to plug my local Independent Bookseller again, along with an upcoming event that any fan of crime-writing is going to want to go … Continue reading →

Posted in Ben H Winters, Book Of The Month, Challenges, Frances Brody, Martin Edwards, Stephen Booth | 1 Comment

The Ten Teacups aka The Peacock Feather Mystery by Carter Dickson aka John Dickson Carr

Posted on June 10, 2012 by

At the start of the year, I set myself some challenges – one of which was to keep working on my Ellery Queen and Sir Henry Merrivale pages. Well, in the course of the five months to date, I’ve manage … Continue reading →

Posted in Carter Dickson, Challenges, John Dickson Carr, Locked Rooms and Impossible Murders, Sir Henry Merrivale | 29 Comments

Wine of Violence by Priscilla Royal

Posted on May 7, 2012 by

Well, I’ve spoken before about misleading blurbs, but this one on Kindle takes the biscuit. Let me quote: “Roman Britain in 91 AD is a raw frontier province, a troublesome part of the mighty Empire ruled by Domitian Caesar. Tension … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Historical Fiction Challenge, Historical Mysteries, Priscilla Royal | 7 Comments

The Hanover Square Affair by Ashley Gardner aka Jennifer Ashley

Posted on March 4, 2012 by

London, 1816. Captain Gabriel Lacey, wounded in the Peninsular Wars – those blasted Frenchies again – stumbles upon the beginnings of a riot outside number 22 Hanover Square, where a man is demanding the return of his daughter. It seems that … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Mysteries, Challenges, Historical Fiction Challenge, Ashley Gardner, Jennifer Ashley, Captain Lacey | 5 Comments

The Affair Of The Bloodstained Egg Cosy by James Anderson

Posted on March 3, 2012 by

In the interval between the Wars, a crucial undercover peace talk is taking place at the family seat of Lord Burford, Alderley. A high society jewel thief, the Wraith, is on the prowl. A suspiciously large collection of guns is … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Historical Fiction Challenge, Inspector Wilkins, James Anderson | 5 Comments

The Ambush Of My Name by Jeffrey Marks

Posted on February 26, 2012 by

Ulysses S. Grant, victorious general of the American Civil War has returned to his hometown of Georgetown, Ohio. With Andrew Johnson apparently struggling in the White House following Lincoln’s assassination, people are looking to Grant to stand for the Presidency. … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Historical Fiction Challenge, Historical Mysteries, Jeffrey Marks, Mystery Tour of the USA, Ulysses S. Grant | 8 Comments

The Mystery Tour of the USA

Posted on January 30, 2012 by

Fifty States, fifty books. Sounds reasonably simple, doesn’t it? I was reading my most recent book, A Cold Day For Murder by Dana Stabenow, which was set in Alaska when I had this thought. I’ve got near the top of … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Mystery Tour of the USA | 10 Comments

Enter Second Murderer by Alanna Knight

Posted on January 25, 2012 by

Edinburgh in the 1870s, the haunt of Robert Louis Stevenson and the young Conan Doyle. While recovering from a bout of typhus, Detective Inspector Jeremy Faro missed the notorious “Gruesome Convent Murders”, a pair of women from a nearby convent, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alanna Knight, Challenges, Historical Fiction Challenge, Historical Mysteries, Inspector Faro | 6 Comments

Sherlockian Shorts – An Explanation

Posted on January 22, 2012 by

There’s a problem with calling myself a fan of mystery fiction – the man in the street knows, on average, no more than three literary detectives – Miss Marple, Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. Now I consider myself well-read on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenges, Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes, Short Stories, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | 4 Comments