tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post3041737581666794443..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: The Sinister Student (2016) by Kel RichardsTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-76923765117871456032018-03-06T10:49:50.199+01:002018-03-06T10:49:50.199+01:00You were referring to detective stories in the mod...You were referring to detective stories in the modern world and, for me, that's everything written after the 1950s. But if you're talking about the 2000s that you have a point. As older writers retire or pass away, you'll find that good, old-fashioned detective stories are now mostly being written by writers from non-English speaking countries. <br /><br />On the bright side, we're now in a Renaissance Era with all the classics and long-lost gems getting reprinted and rediscovered. So the next step, hopefully, is a neo-classic period like the one going on at the moment in Asia. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-24155913973383742802018-03-05T20:23:41.034+01:002018-03-05T20:23:41.034+01:00Most of the American writers to which you refer ar...Most of the American writers to which you refer are dead, retired, or past their best work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-1388740482613547342018-03-05T12:50:47.954+01:002018-03-05T12:50:47.954+01:00Given what I think the wardrobe is alluding to, it...Given what I think the wardrobe is alluding to, it is annoyingly tantalising, as it reminds me of a trilogy I read which may have similar type ending.Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05616800837907092489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-59027902103860828702018-03-05T11:49:09.989+01:002018-03-05T11:49:09.989+01:00:D:DJJ @ The Invisible Eventhttps://theinvisibleevent.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-38967578414557757292018-03-05T08:35:23.735+01:002018-03-05T08:35:23.735+01:00I agree that the state of contemporary crime ficti...I agree that the state of contemporary crime fiction is abysmal at best, however, there are still writers today who write actual detective stories. Several of them have been discussed on this blog: Bill Pronzini, Paul Halter, William DeAndrea, Paul Doherty, M.P.O. Books, Herbert Resnicow, Edward D. Hoch and John Sladek. And don't forget about the Asian neo-orthodox mystery writers like Soji Shimada, Alice Arisugawa, Yukito Ayatsuji, Szu-Yen Lin and Gosho Aoyama. <br /><br />They're thinly spread around, but they're there. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-69313330780283056002018-03-05T05:07:43.507+01:002018-03-05T05:07:43.507+01:00Your conclusion should not have surprised anyone. ...Your conclusion should not have surprised anyone. The first problem with this book is the date it was written. Exactly who in the modern world is interested in writing a good detective novel? When you complain that the author preaches, who is it now who does not preach?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-28888831707409943342018-03-04T21:53:45.915+01:002018-03-04T21:53:45.915+01:00I'm afraid this one is more of the same and th...I'm afraid this one is more of the same and the murderer is here practically handed to the reader on a silver platter. <br /><br />I begin to suspect <i>The Sinister Student</i> is actually the end of this series, because nearly two years have passed and a new title hasn't been announced. And how the wardrobe business worked out could be read as a series closer.<br /><br />So at the very least the series was consistent in its quality.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-17213053216662958622018-03-04T21:49:04.396+01:002018-03-04T21:49:04.396+01:00"we do, after all, have a history of not alwa..."<i>we do, after all, have a history of not always agreeing...</i>" <br /><br />We do disagree every now and then, but when we do, it's because you happened to be wrong. :)TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-64384622610310044032018-03-04T20:04:08.434+01:002018-03-04T20:04:08.434+01:00I have this, as I thought I'd skip ahead to a ...I have this, as I thought I'd skip ahead to a later one given the problems that seem to present in the earlier books. Whether I should be surprised that they seem to present here or not will be a subject for some debate, but I'm still interested to see what I make of this when I read it (we do, after all, have a history of not always agreeing...).<br /><br />Expect my review in, like, yeeeears from now...JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttps://theinvisibleevent.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-282354720078400062018-03-04T19:50:46.707+01:002018-03-04T19:50:46.707+01:00I did wonder if I had been missing out by not cont...I did wonder if I had been missing out by not continuing to read books 3 and 4 in this series, but it seems not. I like the Lewis premise/theme of the book, but feel it never gets properly executed. Equally I found the mysteries to solve in the first two books very easy to fathom, which is saying something. In fact I knew who committed the murder in the second book right after the murder has happened!Katehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05616800837907092489noreply@blogger.com