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todayiamadaisyToday is the first day of the Australian financial year, so... happy new Australian financial year!
June books read
* Death of a Busybody - George Bellairs (1942) ★ ★ ★
In a rural English village during World War II, the local meddler is found dead in the vicar's cesspool. What follows is a classic whodunnit with lengthy discussions of who can see what from where, plenty of village gossip, and a parade of extravagantly named vicars (e.g. Ethelred Claplady). A light and enjoyable read.
* The Dead Shall Be Raised - George Bellairs (1942) ★ ★ ★ ;
Inspector Littlejohn is on holiday in Yorkshire when a long-dead body is found on the moors, leading to an investigation into a twenty-year old murder. Bellairs was writing in real time: this book is set at Christmas, 1941, and reflects the era: a light helping of casual racism, terrible attitudes to women (except Littlejohn's wife, who seems nice, and a posh old lady, who isn't (she beats her maid with a stick!)), and a frankly amazing amount of smoking. Beyond that, there's quite a bit of interest: the opening chapter of Littlejohn's train trip to Yorkshire is lovely and the mystery turns out to be more complex than it seems.
* Murder of a Quack - George Bellairs (1943) ★ ★ ★
I was perhaps Bellairsed-out by the time I reached this book, but I had an omnibus of several books and decided to finish it. In this one, Littlejohn is sent to the country to investigate the murder of a respected bonesetter, who seemed to be the best inhabitant in a village full of awful people. This is the third Littlejohn mystery I've read, and it fits the pattern: a quick read and a mystery slightly more complicated than it appears.
* Inspector Imanishi Investigates - SeichÅ Matsumoto (1961) (trans. Beth Cary, 2003) ★ ★ ★ ★
Tokyo, 1961: An elderly man is found beaten to death in a Tokyo train station and Homicide Inspector Imanishi investigates at a leisurely pace. It's an intriguing glimpse into a different place and changing times: avant-garde electronic music is a feature of the investigation, but Inspector Imanishi is still thrilled to receive an abacus as a gift. He follows up reports of a man acting strangely in a small town, and agrees that it is indeed very strange to take a nap on the grass and stare at the window of a dried noodle shop. There are some wild coincidences and it's fairly obvious who the killer is, but overall it was interesting and enjoyable. (There are some terrible OCR errors in the Kindle version.)
* The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch (2019) ★ ★ ★ ★
Set in the Rivers of London universe, but not in London: in this novella we meet the German magic police, who are investigating a supernatural death and a new river goddess in Trier. Tobias Winter isn't as well developed a character as Peter Grant, but overall I enjoyed seeing a glimpse at another part of this world.
* One by One They Disappeared - Moray Dalton (1929) ★ ★ ★ ★
This turned out to be a cracking Golden Age Detective read. An amiable American millionaire comes to London for his annual dinner with fellow shipwreck survivors, only to be disappointed when only two others turn up. A passing Scotland Yard detective pokes his nose in, and soon finds that the group is being bumped off, one by one, in a plot more complicated than it first seems. (Warning: Off-page, but still mentioned, the murderer also murders some pets, which is upsetting.)
June books read
* Death of a Busybody - George Bellairs (1942) ★ ★ ★
In a rural English village during World War II, the local meddler is found dead in the vicar's cesspool. What follows is a classic whodunnit with lengthy discussions of who can see what from where, plenty of village gossip, and a parade of extravagantly named vicars (e.g. Ethelred Claplady). A light and enjoyable read.
* The Dead Shall Be Raised - George Bellairs (1942) ★ ★ ★ ;
Inspector Littlejohn is on holiday in Yorkshire when a long-dead body is found on the moors, leading to an investigation into a twenty-year old murder. Bellairs was writing in real time: this book is set at Christmas, 1941, and reflects the era: a light helping of casual racism, terrible attitudes to women (except Littlejohn's wife, who seems nice, and a posh old lady, who isn't (she beats her maid with a stick!)), and a frankly amazing amount of smoking. Beyond that, there's quite a bit of interest: the opening chapter of Littlejohn's train trip to Yorkshire is lovely and the mystery turns out to be more complex than it seems.
* Murder of a Quack - George Bellairs (1943) ★ ★ ★
I was perhaps Bellairsed-out by the time I reached this book, but I had an omnibus of several books and decided to finish it. In this one, Littlejohn is sent to the country to investigate the murder of a respected bonesetter, who seemed to be the best inhabitant in a village full of awful people. This is the third Littlejohn mystery I've read, and it fits the pattern: a quick read and a mystery slightly more complicated than it appears.
* Inspector Imanishi Investigates - SeichÅ Matsumoto (1961) (trans. Beth Cary, 2003) ★ ★ ★ ★
Tokyo, 1961: An elderly man is found beaten to death in a Tokyo train station and Homicide Inspector Imanishi investigates at a leisurely pace. It's an intriguing glimpse into a different place and changing times: avant-garde electronic music is a feature of the investigation, but Inspector Imanishi is still thrilled to receive an abacus as a gift. He follows up reports of a man acting strangely in a small town, and agrees that it is indeed very strange to take a nap on the grass and stare at the window of a dried noodle shop. There are some wild coincidences and it's fairly obvious who the killer is, but overall it was interesting and enjoyable. (There are some terrible OCR errors in the Kindle version.)
* The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch (2019) ★ ★ ★ ★
Set in the Rivers of London universe, but not in London: in this novella we meet the German magic police, who are investigating a supernatural death and a new river goddess in Trier. Tobias Winter isn't as well developed a character as Peter Grant, but overall I enjoyed seeing a glimpse at another part of this world.
* One by One They Disappeared - Moray Dalton (1929) ★ ★ ★ ★
This turned out to be a cracking Golden Age Detective read. An amiable American millionaire comes to London for his annual dinner with fellow shipwreck survivors, only to be disappointed when only two others turn up. A passing Scotland Yard detective pokes his nose in, and soon finds that the group is being bumped off, one by one, in a plot more complicated than it first seems. (Warning: Off-page, but still mentioned, the murderer also murders some pets, which is upsetting.)