Tag: 1930

#ClassicsClub #FFB: Sober Truth (ed.) Margaret Barton and Osbert Sitwell (1930)

The subtitle of Sober Truth, compiled by Margaret Barton and Osbert Sitwell reads: A Collection of 19th Century Episodes, Fantastic, Grotesque and Mysterious. Indeed, right at the beginning of the preface, Sitwell confesses that the aim of the compilers (was) more propagandist than literary. True to the professed aim, the first chapter had the description … Continue reading #ClassicsClub #FFB: Sober Truth (ed.) Margaret Barton and Osbert Sitwell (1930) →

SSW: Great English Stories (ed) Lewis Melville and Reginald Hargreaves (1930) – Part V

Time to wind up the book. The last grouping begins with Ernest Bramah's The Malignity of the Depraved Ming-Shu Rears its Offensive Head which is an extract from his book Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat. Ming-Shu, the villain to the hero Kai Lung, attacks his village and kidnaps his wife and sets off with her. … Continue reading SSW: Great English Stories (ed) Lewis Melville and Reginald Hargreaves (1930) – Part V →

SSW: Great English Stories (ed) Lewis Melville and Reginald Hargreaves (1930) – Part IV

On to the last part of the book: the authors who saw both the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. There are 39 authors in this section, so I have divided it into two parts. We begin with Ouida, the pen-name of Anglo-French Louis de la Ramee. Her story Cecil Castlemaine's Cage takes us back to … Continue reading SSW: Great English Stories (ed) Lewis Melville and Reginald Hargreaves (1930) – Part IV →

Reprint of the Year 2024: The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1930)

If you are a lover of mysteries, especially of the vintage kind, you must be aware of The Reprint of the Year (ROY) award run by Kate Jackson @ CrossexaminingCrime. This year, I am pleased to be part of a group of bloggers who nominate two of their favourite mystery reprints of the year. For … Continue reading Reprint of the Year 2024: The Door by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1930) →

SSW: Great English Short Stories (ed) Reginald Hargreaves & Lewis Melville (1930) – Part II

It is Wednesday and time for me to move on to the second review of the book, this time looking at the authors whose lives straddled the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We begin with Sir Walter Scott. In The Tapestried Chamber, a General in Lord Cornawallis' army returning home after the American revolution (yes we … Continue reading SSW: Great English Short Stories (ed) Reginald Hargreaves & Lewis Melville (1930) – Part II →

SSW: Great English Short Stories (ed) by Reginald Hargreaves and Lewis Melville (1930) – Part I

Great English Short Stories, a mammoth book, over 1000 pages long and comprising of more than 80 stories, has stories in the English language, arranged chronologically. It is difficult to write just one post on it, so I have decided to break it into parts. As the exact year of publication for stories is not … Continue reading SSW: Great English Short Stories (ed) by Reginald Hargreaves and Lewis Melville (1930) – Part I →

The Sark Street Chapel Murder by Thomas Cobb (1930)

"Imagination's a good servant but a bad master." Godfrey Martson, secretary and friend to Ernest Prentice and his wife, Olivia, is distressed when he sees their marriage falling apart. His distress increases when he is informed that Olivia has been seeing a lot of Lord Byron-lookalike-actor Carrington Case. When he talks to Olivia about it, … Continue reading The Sark Street Chapel Murder by Thomas Cobb (1930) →

Four Novels by Miles Burton

Miles Burton is one of the psuedonyms of prolific GAD writer, Cecil John Charles Street, more famously known by another of his pseudonyms, John Rhode. This year I made a calculated effort to read the Burton novels. THE SECRET OF HIGH ELDERSHAM (1930): The first appearance of Burton's detective, Desmond Merrion, the novel begins well … Continue reading Four Novels by Miles Burton →

Two Books by John Dickson Carr: It Walks by Night (1930) and The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933)

Sometimes you read books which are so popular and talked about that it is difficult to write anything on them. In the past couple of months I read two of Carr's novels: His debut, It Walks by Night featuring his (not-so-popular) series character Henri Bencolin, and The Mad Hatter Mystery, the second in his Dr. … Continue reading Two Books by John Dickson Carr: It Walks by Night (1930) and The Mad Hatter Mystery (1933) →

Forgotten Book: Murder at the Pageant by Victor L. Whitechurch

Being a member of the clergy and a writer of mysteries might seem two very different callings but Victor Lorenzo Whitechurch (1868-1933) was both: attached to the Church of England as well as a prolific writer and member of the Detection Club. He is best known today for his stories featuring the Railway Detective Thorpe … Continue reading Forgotten Book: Murder at the Pageant by Victor L. Whitechurch →