Life of Crime

 

This is an entertaining and informative history of the many facets of crime fiction and the people who wrote/write it. Edwards does a fine job of intertwining the lives of the authors, the cultures in which they lived, and their work. The result is this very readable history of the genre and the subgenres within it. 

We see the evolution of the genre and how authors were inspired by the work that preceded them. I found some new-to-me authors to look for and very much enjoyed reading about more familiar ones. As is to be expected, I was more interested in some chapters than others--simply a matter of personal taste and preference. I found even the chapters about the kinds of crime fiction I am not interested in quite interesting. The book is very well-written and I loved the inclusion of radio dramas in the book--I'm a big fan of old radio mysteries. I am not a watcher so was less interested in the discussions of visual adaptations, although I found it interesting that Hollywood adaptations ruined the characters for some authors.

Most chapters begin with an anecdote from an author's life, which I found fascinating. For anyone who wants to research any topic in more depth, the book includes a select bibliography, an index of titles, and an index of names.

If you're at all interested in crime fiction of any kind, I highly recommend this book.

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Not Buying It

  Last night, Bill was listening to the radio feed of the Boston Red Sox game on the Major League Baseball site. It was an early game so I was not yet in the other room listening to something else--at least not for the first half of the game. At every break they play the same old commercials. One of them was about how the time has arrived to welcome fall with a houseful of new furniture. I was reminded of ads on the radio here, heard during our first few months in Ireland, about how there was still time to have a new kitchen installed before Christmas.

Who knew? All this time I've been doing quite a good job of welcoming autumn and celebrating Christmas and not once did this involve new furniture or a new kitchen. Ah, marketing. 

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Dandy!

 We walked down the lane to drop off our glass for recycling and came across these two having a lunch date on a dandelion.

They were quite into their food--did not move as I came in closer and took their picture.

I'm still not used to things as they are now. When we would go to recycle glass in Bunbeg, we walked a mile and a half down a busy road and had to shout at each other to make ourselves heard if we tried to have a conversation. It was like a speedway. Now we walk down a country lane, chatting in normal voices and listening to birdsong. It's a lovely walk. Today the sky was a bit dramatic.

It's not as cool as I would like, but I am starting to feel the stirrings of an autumnal vibe. This makes me so, so happy. It's been chilly enough at night to close one of the windows, to wrap up in a shawl in the mornings and evenings, and to put my wool blanket on the bed. I might have to take it off again a few nights hence, but for now, I'll just be happy about it.

I hope your day is filoled with good vibes, too--whatever that means for you.
 

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Dickens and Christmas

This is a fascinating and sometimes myth-busting account of Charles Dickens and how his work impacted both his own life and the culture at large. He was among those who were drivers of the cultural changes that led to the way we celebrate Christmas and the ways in which it is marketed to us. The book includes excerpts from the work of Dickens and others and contains photos and illustrations.

Lucinda Hawksley does a good job of intertwining the parts of Dickens' personal life that inspired his Christmas writing--and while the book mentions his other work, some of which was being written at the same time as the Christmas stories, she does focus on the Christmas work. A Christmas Carol was the first of these stories and not only did it change the way Christmas was viewed, but the popularity of it profoundly changed his own life too, in ways both good and bad. There's a lesson in unintended consequences there.

The book is well-written and an enjoyable read.

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A Christmas Carol Gone Wrong

 Murder at the Theatre Royale

The perfect murder mystery for Christmas 2022

by Ada Moncrieff

published by: Random House UK, Vintage on 13 October, 2022

ISBN 9781529115314

It's 22 December 1935. Agony aunt Daphne King works for a newspaper but wants to use her journalism skills on the crime beat. Her boss isn't keen on the idea and wants her to stay where she is--she's good for the bottom line. She solved the case of a kidnapped contessa and ever since circulation has gone through the roof. However, he needs someone to fill in for a guy who has become ill, so he sends her to the premiere of a play--A Christmas Carol--being staged by a formerly well known playwright. So it is that Daphne is there at the dress rehearsal when the leading man, in his role as Ebenezer Scrooge, drops dead. Inspector Marklow soon arrives and decides it was probably heart trouble. Daphne thinks otherwise and it doesn't take her long to ruin Marklow's pre-Christmas plans. Daphne and her new friends are soon on the hunt for the killer.

I was interested in this book because of the connection to Christmas and A Christmas Carol. I do love a Christmas cozy! As it happens, that was pretty secondary to the plot and was almost an afterthought in the story, although winter weather did play a small part. I enjoyed the book anyway, but it wasn't what I expected.

I was a bit confused for a while, because it was clear that Daphne knew Marklow pretty well and that there had been other cases before this one. Some reference was made to these cases, which made me think this was one of a series, but I was unable to find any other books with this character.

This was a fun read. I liked Daphne and her new friend Veronica quite a lot. I enjoyed the way Daphne grew in confidence as she went along and was determined to get her boss to change her role at the paper. She is also fond of wordplay as I am, so I found myself chuckling at some of her comments. The mystery was a good one and the ending was not predictable. The author tended to move into the future quite a lot, writing things like, 'For years, Daphne would remember this moment as a turning point...' Sometimes she would use this device to let the reader know about the future selves of some of the characters. I don't know if this will be a series. It seems like it would lend itself well to that and it would be interesting to see how Daphne evolves and grows over time. If you like cozy mysteries, this is a nice way to spend a few hours.

It may be published as A Stage for Death in the US--I have seen it reviewed under that title.

I received a free advanced reader's copy of the e-book in exchange for a fair review. I thank NetGalley and the publisher.

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Just Hanging Out

 These guys are hanging out at the Harvest Fair this weekend--listening to some music, having a bite to eat, and enjoying a nice, cold beverage while they greet people coming into town.

It's supposed to rain on the parade tomorrow, so they might as well take advantage of the sunshine while they can. Not sure how those pumpkin heads will do in the rain! 😃😉

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Marple

 Marple: Twelve New Stories

by Agatha Christie; Naomi Alderman; Leigh Bardugo; Alyssa Cole; Lucy Foley; Elly Griffiths; Natalie Haynes; Jean Kwok; Val McDermid; Karen M. McManus; Dreda Say Mitchell; Kate Mosse; Ruth Ware

ISBN 9780008467319

Love. I’ll just start there. I loved Miss Marple as soon as I was introduced to her. I don’t remember what book it was, but I could not get enough of the character. I have always wished that Agatha Christie had written more Marple stories. I enjoy Poirot, but do wish that instead of the huge number of novels and short stories featuring him, there were more with her. Still, I read all the Miss Marples and kept wishing. Now comes this wonderful book, in which 12 contemporary writers have created short stories featuring Jane Marple. The love continues.

I loved this book. I was unsure how I would feel about it at first, thinking I might be disappointed, but not reading it wasn’t really an option and it became clear almost immediately that I needn’t have worried. It was a joy to read about Jane’s new adventures, some of which took place around the time as the original stories and some that were set in the future. In one story, Miss Marple is involved with the young adult granddaughter of her nephew, Raymond West! That would put her well into her 100s, but that’s OK. 

The stories were well-written and stylistically varied. As with any collection, I had favourites—the ending of the last story was fabulous! Some stories placed Jane in entirely new places with new people, while some unfolded in more familiar settings with familiar people. It was fun to hang out for a while with Sir Henry Clithering and the Bantrys again. Some stories made reference to some of Miss Marple’s original cases, but it is not necessary to have read the originals to enjoy this book. 

I felt that all of the authors stayed true to the essence of the character. That’s not to say that these stories were indistinguishable from the stories Christie wrote—there were subtle differences. But that’s to be expected and did not in any way detract from my great enjoyment of the book. I cannot recommend it highly enough. 

I received a free e-galley in exchange for this unbiased and fair review. I thank NetGalley and the publishers, HarperCollins UK.

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