Book Review: The Black Spectacles by John Dickson Carr

A sinister case of deadly poisoned chocolates from Sodbury Cross’s high street shop haunts the group of friends and relatives assembled at Bellegarde, among the orchards of ‘peach-fancier’ Marcus Chesney. To prove a point about how the sweets could have been poisoned under the nose of the shopkeeper, Chesney stages an elaborate memory game to test whether any of his guests can see beyond their ‘black spectacles’; that is, to see the truth without assumptions as witnesses.

During the test – which is also being filmed – Chesney is murdered by his accomplice, dressed head to toe in an ‘invisible man’ disguise. The keen wits of Dr Gideon Fell are called for to crack this brazen and bizarre murder committed in full view of an audience.

Also known by its US title The Problem of the Green Capsule, this classic novel is widely regarded as one of John Dickson Carr’s masterpieces and remains among the greatest impossible crime mysteries of all time.

John Dickson Carr (1906–1977) was a hugely popular and prolific author of crime fiction, regarded as one of the finest writers of ‘Golden Age’ mysteries. Though born in Pennsylvania, USA, Carr developed a distinctly ‘British’ style to his mystery writing from his time living in England and became one of only two Americans ever admitted to the Detection Club.

This was a paper version from the British Library Crime Classics Imprint and received as part of the subscription service

This has been sitting on my admittedly huge TBR for a while so falls under my own #BeatTheBacklog reading challenge

he main characters are as follows:

Detective-Inspector Elliot is the Main investigative character in the story.

Marcus Chesney – It is his death that is being investigated. A rich man who was very controlling, belligerent and not well liked, is poisoned at the end of a set piece he has set up to confirm his belief that others were not very observant.

Marjorie Willis is the niece of Marcus, and nominated as his heir (“he was her acting parent”). Amongst other things she is believed by many locals to be behind the fatal poisoning of some children, which makes her an automatic suspect for the death of her uncle.

She is engaged to George Harding. In theory Marjorie and George met whilst on holiday, but during investigations it turns out that everyone in the house (bar Marcus) knew they had been seeing each other for a year or more.

Dr Joseph Chesney is Marcus’s brother. He, along with Marjorie and George constitute the witnesses to Marcus’s little charade.

Wilbur Emmet, as unattractive as George is attractive, works for Marcus and seems to be in love with Marjorie. He is barely a character in the story, more a prop to help things along. He is a Business Manager for Marcus.

Major Crow, the chief constable, and Sergeant Bostwick are as helpful as they are a hindrance, and are primarily used to bounce ideas off, and generally provide red herrings.

Dr Gideon Fell comes in about half way through the story, pulled away from taking “the waters” in Bath and ultimately he is the brains behind the investigation.

Professor Gilbert Ingram “that fat fellow with the bald head is just a friend of the family. He doesn’t work but he would if I had any say in the matter”.

To be honest, I confused Dr Joseph and Professor Ingram enough that I struggled to differentiate them enough, even for this review. In a way, I wonder if the two characters could have been merged

Marcus plans an event to check on how much people pay attention. He is dead at the end of the event, either by accident or by design, and it is the requirement of many to sort out the truth from the lies and work out who the killer is. That is where the rest of the book comes in as we work out who did what.

There are a couple of devices, specifically the fatal poisoning of some chocolates in a store, which both helps and hinders the investigations. Even at the end, some plot points don’t seem to go anywhere (who threw the stone through the glass window for example), which is disappointing.

This is apparently #10 in the “Gideon Fell” series from the same authour. To me, this is #2 – the previous one being “He who Whispers” by the same authour. I will acknowledge that I enjoyed this book more than I did the previous one and much due to the fact I read this over a weekend, rather than several months

Book Review: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

A wonderfully entertaining coming-of-age story, Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen’s “Gothic parody.” Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist.

The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey. Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with art.

Executed with high-spirited gusto, Northanger Abbey is a lighthearted, yet unsentimental commentary on love and marriage.

This was Jane Austen’s micky take on the Gothic romances and the stupidity/vacuity of some girls.

Catherine gets introduced to Henry Tilney, and manages to secure an invite to the Tilney’s old house for an extended stay. Every where she looks she imagines that something horrendous is going to happen (e.g. looking for hidden doors behind tapestries, candles being blown out for other reasons than there just being a draught). In fact, not an awful lot happens during her stay (apart from her and Henry falling in love natch!).

Henry’s father is a drunk and a bully (generally not particularly nice person) and tries to put a stop to any marriage by threatening to cut Henry off, which in all Gothic novels would have instantly happened and that would have put an end to things. However, Henry stands up to his father, and he and Catherine get married.

I first read this after seeing a BBC adaptation in the 1980s, but it was only on re-reading it much later that I realised just hw awful Henry’s father was.

 

Book Review: Salt and Broom by Sharon Lynn Fisher

 

A gifted healer unravels the mysteries of a cursed estate—and its enigmatic owner—in a witchy retelling of Jane Eyre .

“Salt and broom, make this room
Safe and tight, against the night.”

Trunks packed with potions and cures, Jane Aire sets out on a crisp, clear morning in October to face the greatest challenge of her sheltered girls’-school existence. A shadow lies over Thornfield Hall and its reclusive master, Edward Rochester. And he’s hired her only as a last resort. Jane stumbles again and again as she tries to establish a rapport with her prickly new employer, but he becomes the least of her worries as a mysterious force seems to work against her. The threats mount around both Jane and Rochester—who’s becoming more intriguing and appealing to her by the day. Jane begins to fear her herb healing and protective charms may not be enough to save the man she’s growing to love from a threat darker and more dangerous than either of them imagined.

This was in an ebook format – I believe it was part of the Amazon offering. It forms part of my attempt to clear down my existing TBR, and therefore is part of my #BeatTheBacklog 2024 challenge.

This book follows the main story of Jane Eyre, but with some significant changes. Jane Eyre is now Jane Aire, who has grown up at the Lowood school for orphans as the local herbalist/witch (something the school has a reputation for, even if not outright condoned.) Jane is sent to help out Mr Rochester in his sprawling house. The rest of the book is, of course, pretty much original and therefore subject to a certain set of spoilers.

The principal characters are similar to those in Jane Eyre, at least by name if not by actions. Jane finds out that the Doctor who attended Mrs Rochester as she died also loved her, so there is motive about attending her etc. The marriage with Rochester was mainly financial (rather that a love match). Many of the events have Mrs Rochester at the centre, much like the original. There is also a take on Jane and her being an orphan (spoiler!). Aire is forced to leave, as per the original, but comes back to use her skills in order to solve the issues at hand.

The Ending was close to the original but there is no “reader, I married him” moment. It was different enough to be satisfying

The title does tie up with the ore witchcraft side of things which this book is fairly heavy one – it’s certainly not a book for those who are not open or interested in these things.

 

Book Review: Expiation by Elizabeth von Arnim

A satire of middle-class prudery and closed-minded cruelty, what was mostly ignored in the years after Expiation’s first publication was how laugh-out-loud hilarious it is, so funny that we genuinely believe it to be much better than the more well-known books by ‘Elizabeth’ (the name she wrote under). It is also extraordinarily atmospheric and perceptive about the English: in some respects it is Forsterian (the greatest compliment we can pay). It too would make a wonderful play or film.

I got this in paper form from Persephone Books as part of their subscription service. As you can see from the cover it’s one of the greys (number 133 for anyone counting)

It contributes to one of my own Reading Challenges (#BeatTheBacklog) because I wanted to work on clearing down my TBR.  It’s one of many books that have been waiting to be read for a while so is certainly a contender!

 Much of the first 100 pages reminded me much of the film “Brief Encounter” where a married woman keeps her affair secret from her husband. It’s NOT the same (we know virtually nothing about Arthur or his involvement in the story apart from the fact he existed) but nevertheless there are similarities. The film came out long after the book, so I’ll give the book the credit here.

It starts with Millie’s husband’s will being read after his unexpected death and Millie being left a small amount of money. It turns out that Ernest had learnt of one of Millie’s secrets several years previously and the will had been amended to reflect this secret (she had a long term affair). Her extended family at the will reading, knowing nothing of the secret, dont understand the will, and to escape the resulting pity, guilt and shame, she leaves the house early the following morning. Her plan is to go visit her sister Aggie (who she has been writing to in secret since Aggie’s elopement decades before).

I did struggle with this book, especially the first 100+ pages or so, I will admit. Others class this as one of her best novels, if not her best. It might be, but I struggled.

So, the first half of the book covers Millie in London, dealing with her sister and lover, neither of which act the way Millie had expected. In the end, she returns to where her in laws are, but without her money. The second half of the book deals with how the Botts deal with Millie being in their lives. Millie is barely in this part of the book (opposite to the intense monologue we had in the first half), but her presence causes immense trouble to her inlaws who gossip between themselves, invent rumours about Millie and lots of things are brought to a head.

In a way, it is very much a statement of a certain kind of marriage at a certain time, where men are expected to be “leaders” and women are expected to follow and agree with their husbands under all circumstances, with nery unique thought in the heads. Women Know Your Place! (tell me if you dont get that reference and I will try and find it for you!).

It is a book of 2 sides – how people think things will happen as opposed to how they DO happen. Overloaded with Millie in the first half, barely heard of in the second half.

Whilst I did struggle with the book, I’m glad i stuck around till the end.

About the Author

Elizabeth, Countess Russell, was a British novelist and, through marriage, a member of the German nobility, known as Mary Annette Gräfin von Arnim.

Born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Sydney, Australia, she was raised in England and in 1891 married Count Henning August von Arnim, a Prussian aristocrat, and the great-great-great-grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia.

She had met von Arnim during an Italian tour with her father. They married in London but lived in Berlin and eventually moved to the countryside where, in Nassenheide, Pomerania, the von Arnims had their family estate. The couple had five children, four daughters and a son. The children’s tutors at Nassenheide included E. M. Forster and Hugh Walpole.

In 1898 she started her literary career by publishing Elizabeth and Her German Garden, a semi-autobiographical novel about a rural idyll published anonymously and, as it turned out to be highly successful, reprinted 21 times within the first year. Von Arnim wrote another 20 books, which were all published “By the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden”.

Count von Arnim died in 1910, and in 1916 Elizabeth married John Francis Stanley Russell, 2nd Earl Russell, Bertrand Russell’s elder brother. The marriage ended in disaster, with Elizabeth escaping to the United States and the couple finally agreeing, in 1919, to get a divorce. She also had an affair with H. G. Wells.

She was a cousin of Katherine Mansfield (whose full name was Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp).
Elizabeth von Arnim spent her old age in London, Switzerland, and on the French Riviera. When World War II broke out she permanently took up residence in the United States, where she died in 1941, aged 74.

Book Review: He who Whispers by John Dickson Carr

“It almost seemed that the murder, if it was a murder, must have been committed by someone who could rise up unsupported in the air…”

When Miles Hammond is invited to a meeting of the Murder Club in London, he is met instead with just two other guests and is treated to a strange tale of an impossible crime in France years before; the murder of a man on a tower with only one staircase, under watch at the time at which the murder took place. With theories of levitating vampires abounding, the story comes home to Miles when he realises that the librarian he has just hired for his home is none other than Fay Seton, a woman at the heart of this bizarre and unsolved past murder.

Carr considered this novel one of his best works, and it is easy to see why when experiencing its ingenious plot delivered with an astounding pace and masterfully drawn characters including none other than the great detective Dr. Gideon Fell.

This book takes place between Friday and Sunday nights. Friday sees Miles and a woman called Barbara to attend The Murder Club dinner in London, appearing as guests. The only other person who turns up is Professor Rigaud, who narrates a story from France 6 years previously. A British woman (Fay Seton) goes to work for the Moore family as a secretary. She becomes engaged to the son, the father wants to pay her off to leave. Having taken money out of the bank, Moore Senior is found dying at the top of a tower, despite being alone and no one having approached in the previous 15 minutes.

Following the story, Miles takes the train home, having hired Fay Seton (recently returned from France) to do some library work in his home. Miles’ sister is staying with him in order to run the household. Fay is staying in the house, and whilst everyone has retired to bed, Monica has a catastrophic event, resulting in her being found catatonic in her upstairs bed, with a gun in her hand and a shot in the window.

Professor Rigaud turns up at the house not long after, with Dr Gideon Fell in tow. This is my first Fell story, so his character may have been expanded in earlier books. The main thing expanded here is that he is physically dominating. Riguard manages to stabalise Monica, at least until the doctor arrives. It’s here that the story takes an interesting turn as Rigaud puts forward a supernatural reason not only for the death of Moore, and then what Monica may or may not have seen outside her upstairs bedroom.

Having returned to London, and with the Professor in tow, Dr Fell puts forward an alternative narrative for what happened, The last 100 pages in particular are essential to the alternative view (trying not to give spoilers here!) and which is an appropriate alternative to the initial supernatural version.

Reading Challenge – BeatTheBacklog 2024

This reading challenge is kind of in reaction to the closing of the #BookTwitter Twitter group for various reasons (Mainly spam). I did put this challenge forward, but I’m going to take the “no thanks” on the chin and do it myself. So, as to the rules:

This will run from 1/1/2024 to 31/12/2024

Please use the #BeatTheBacklog tag on your review, no matter where you share it.

Any book brought and published before 1/1/2024 is in play, even if delivered after 1/1/2024.

Those books you have on pre-order, but not published until 2024 are NOT in play, as they will not be classed as “backlog”.

There are no levels or rewards – this challenge is to allow you to read at least one book that’s on your TBR. The assumption is there is at least one book on your TBR and you need to shift it.

Genre is not set. Please see above. Go Read!

Keep Us Posted!

Feel free to post your name/blog or your progress here, Let’s support each other where we can.

What did you read in the end? My TBR is well over 600 books, so dont feel the need to share what your backlog is like (but we always like to know we’ve found like minded people!). I will admit that this Challenge is rather selfish, in that my TBR is stupid and I need to do something about it. I would like to share what’s going on with others!

Use #BeatTheBacklog on any social media so we can find you, especially if you dont post here. Alternatively, I can compile a list of those participating on this page but you can link back to this page to be added to the list so that other participants can find us!

 

Book Review: Sweet Danger by Marjorie Allingham

What was Albert Campion up to in the Hotel Beauregard, Mentone? Posing as the king of a tinpot Balkan state looking for his lost crown. It was all too intriguing for Guffy Randall, so he joined in the treasure hunt … to the bitter end. Even when it got very nasty indeed.

Having forgotten that I’ve read this before (early 2011 according to the review date), I decided to listen to this in my Audible Library. It was a tad disconcerting therefore to then realise that I basically knew what was going to happen.

A small portion of land has suddenly become very attractive and important to a number of parties, including the British Government, who charge Campion with sorting it out in their favour.

Having read this book before, it left enough of an impression on me that I knew some of the red flags as they happened.

Throw in Campion’s friends, pretty young girls, rich businessmen and their cronies, rural English Villages, psycho doctors and a quest, and that pretty much covers it in a really short book. Some twists are heavily signpointed, but little to dent the story.

Book Review: East of Algiers by Francis Durbridge

When Paul Temple agreed to do a favour for a friend of Steve, he could never have foreseen the extraordinary sequence of events that would be set in motion. For Judy Wincott’s simple request that Paul return a pair of glasses to David Foster in Tunis is a prelude to a body in a Paris rubbish bin and a succession of mysterious killings …

Narrated by Anthony Head, this is in fact a novelization of the original Paul Temple drama called “Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery”. Apart from a few name changes and the fact it’s told by the one person, it’s essentially the same story. I’m not sure which version I prefer – e.g. I’ve never liked the Marquand actor from the original radio play.

Essentially, Temple is asked by some rando take some eye-glasses to another rando in Algeria (originally Egypt). Things happen along the way, which makes Temple wonder what is happening – more is expanded in the original radio drama (e.g. whole scenes about Steve being drugged and kidnapped).

This is the second time I’ve listened to this (last time was a couple of years ago). I found I spent much of the time seeing where it differed to the radio original, which ended up being slightly detrimental to the listen. Anthony Head was a decent narrator, who had a wide enough range to cover the characters.

Book Review: The Girl from Vichy by Andi Newton

1942, occupied France.
With the war raging in Europe, Adèle Ambeh dreams of a France that is free from the clutches of the Nazis. As the date of her marriage to a ruthless man draws closer, she only has one choice: she must run.

Adèle flees to Lyon and seeks refuge at the Sisters of Notre Dame de la Compassion. From the outside this is a simple nunnery, but the sisters are secretly aiding the French Resistance, hiding and supplying the fighters with weapons. Adèle quickly finds herself part of the efforts to take down the regime.

As each day fills with a different danger and she begins to fall for another man, Adèle’s entire world could come crashing down around her.

She must fight for her family, her country – and her own destiny.

My First DNF in what seems like years. 70 pages in, 600+ books in the piles so I have to be quite strict when it comes to books I’m not engaged in.

This book is from a box from A Box Of Stories, which is designed to take books out of landfill. I presume that the books are good enough to make it to publication, but more books have been published than were sold in stores etc, so get passed on before being pulped.

This is only the 2nd book in all the years I’ve been taking these boxes that I’ve not finished a book – the previous one was a true crime book about serial killers.

This book was a fiction book about a French woman who escapes to a convent. For some reason I couldnt care to remember, a Novitiate has taken a dislike to Adele and the 1st few chapters deal with Adele trying to work out what’s going on.

It’s at this point that I gave up. Not engaged and not interested in taking the story forward, so I gave up.

Book Review: Caligula by Simon Turney

Forget everything you think you know. Let Livilla, Caligula’s youngest sister and confidante, tell you what really happened. How her quiet, caring brother became the most powerful man on earth. And how, with lies, murder and betrayal, Rome was changed for ever . . .

Everyone knows his name. Everyone thinks they know his story.

Rome 37AD. The emperor is dying. No-one knows how long he has left. The power struggle has begun.

When the ailing Tiberius thrusts Caligula’s family into the imperial succession in a bid to restore order, he will change the fate of the empire and create one of history’s most infamous tyrants, Caligula.
But was he really a monster?

This is the historical fiction version of the life and death of Caligula (Little boots), told from the stance of his sister Livillia. As with all 3rd person historical “Faction” there is a certain amount of factual leeway that must be given. e.g. would she be privy to the worst excesses of his later like ahead of his death? Probably not. Much of the book is given to Livillia and Caligula’s pre-emperor lives, that includes the kidnapping, torture and deaths of close family members.