tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post4472152761321846875..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: With a Hint of Gloom TomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-47702882198058843102015-10-11T08:28:34.528+02:002015-10-11T08:28:34.528+02:00You're welcome and if you've never read a ...You're welcome and if you've never read a Leo Bruce/Beef before, I'd recommed starting with <i>Case for Three Detectives</i>. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-79347531655629253962015-10-10T22:33:28.972+02:002015-10-10T22:33:28.972+02:00Enjoyed this review (no problem finding the Beef)....Enjoyed this review (no problem finding the Beef). Here's another added to my list. Thanks.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-30662321200101559312015-10-10T21:42:28.278+02:002015-10-10T21:42:28.278+02:00I'm glad my recommendation proved useful and e...I'm glad my recommendation proved useful and enjoyable. I mentioned <i>Case for Three Detectives</i> and <i>Case for Sergeant Beef</i> earlier here in the comments, which are definitely the best from the Beef series! TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-89165264204811501222015-10-10T21:40:37.438+02:002015-10-10T21:40:37.438+02:00I hope you'll find it as clever and enjoyable ...I hope you'll find it as clever and enjoyable as I have, Sergio! TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-54172833243919652042015-10-10T19:32:57.595+02:002015-10-10T19:32:57.595+02:00Its been so long since I read one of the Beef book...Its been so long since I read one of the Beef books - definitely my copy of this one from the shelves soon - thanks TC, great review. Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-50568876800676757832015-10-10T11:05:31.907+02:002015-10-10T11:05:31.907+02:00I love Bruce's Sgt. Beef books -- it was you, ...I love Bruce's Sgt. Beef books -- it was you, TomCat, who first put me onto him with your recommendation of ...Three Detectives -- and even though none of them quite reach the pinnacle of that first one they are all excellent in their own right. He even managed to write a superb inverted mystery with Case for Sergeant Beef, which is no mean feat in my eyes!<br /><br />Anyone struggling to track down his OOP books might be interested in the following site, where the full texts of many of such are available:<br /><br />http://booksofleobruce.blogspot.com.au/<br /><br />Might save you some time and money in tracking this particular title down...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-13227781392792683742015-10-10T08:43:34.701+02:002015-10-10T08:43:34.701+02:00I really should pick up Henry Wade one of these da...I really should pick up Henry Wade one of these days, because Wade seems to have wrapped his plots in the after effects World War I and II had on society. I love detective stories saturated with WW I and II material! TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-7842314678709992052015-10-10T08:40:51.168+02:002015-10-10T08:40:51.168+02:00You're probably correct in your impression tha...You're probably correct in your impression that the Carolus Deenes are more read, which could go a long way in explaining why Bruce isn't as well-known today even among fans. <br /><br />If you've only read the Deene novels, and they're as dark and gloomy as <i>Death in Albert Park</i>, you might miss in Bruce the clever satirist I found in the Beef series. That being said, I should give Carolus Deene another try, because it's not fair to judge an entire series on a single work.<br /><br />Thanks for pointing out there's a short story about Sgt. Beef! TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-800303544390968792015-10-10T02:48:56.366+02:002015-10-10T02:48:56.366+02:00Congratulations on getting your book on Wade (and ...Congratulations on getting your book on Wade (and the Coles) published. Wade was a very substantial novelist as well as a very substantial detective story writer. He was also in the armed forces for both world wars. But Wade was always gloomy. Mist on the Saltings could just as easily have been written in 1953 as in 1933. I see your point about post-war books like A Dying Fall.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-35339571299392949522015-10-10T01:35:47.714+02:002015-10-10T01:35:47.714+02:00Henry Wade caught a lot of this in his postwar boo...Henry Wade caught a lot of this in his postwar books.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-77160080341770202882015-10-10T01:34:21.406+02:002015-10-10T01:34:21.406+02:00I think Albert Park is atmospheric, but of course ...I think Albert Park is atmospheric, but of course you are right about the plot and its origin! I think the Deenes peaked in the late 50s and early 60s, but find most of the 60s ones worth reading. The last two in the series are very weak in my view. <br /><br />Bruce actually had thought about bringing Beef back in the 1960s, but his last appearance was in the story Beef for Christmas, the plot of which was the basis for the Carolus Deene novels A Louse for the Hangman. The story has been reprinted in the BL's new anthology of Christmas mystery shorts.<br /><br />I think the Beefs are quite consistent and Three Detective is his most famous book, but I have the impression that the Carolus Deenes are more read, though I may be wrong of course. Beef is a lot of fun, though, yeah, this last one is a bit darker.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-12447757809926663802015-10-10T00:00:56.813+02:002015-10-10T00:00:56.813+02:00"The gloomy atmosphere is not surprising. It ...<em>"The gloomy atmosphere is not surprising. It isn't just Beef who is different. Great Britain in 1952 was a substantially different country from what it was in 1939."</em><br /><br />They still had rationing until 1954. In fact the Labor Party wanted rationing to continue forever! Presumably they wanted equal misery for all. I think many people in Britain had the feeling that the Second World War had pretty much brought a end to civilisation as they had known it - the future was going to be grey and bleak and dull.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-50018460099257891602015-10-09T15:03:13.088+02:002015-10-09T15:03:13.088+02:00The gloomy atmosphere is not surprising. It isn...The gloomy atmosphere is not surprising. It isn't just Beef who is different. Great Britain in 1952 was a substantially different country from what it was in 1939. The post-war detective novel has a distinct flavor of its own. Race Williams and Mike Hammer do essentially the same things, but the Hammer tone is different and bleaker. I think an interesting study could be made of the post-war detective novel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-29787849090864315582015-10-09T09:59:26.488+02:002015-10-09T09:59:26.488+02:00I assume the dip you're referring to occurs in...I assume the dip you're referring to occurs in the Carolus Deene series? <br /><br />Because the Sgt. Beef stories have been fairly consistent in quality and only appeared to have been struggling in matching the sheer joy and ingenuity of <i>Case for Three Detectives</i>, which was eventually accomplished by <i>Case for Sergeant Beef</i>. <br /><br />I've read only one of the Deene novels, <i>Death in Albert Park</i>, which was dreary, morose and surprisingly unoriginal as it filched its main plot-idea from Christie. The opinions on this series fluctuate far more than the general enthusiastic responses to the Sgt. Beef series<br /><br />So maybe the unevenness of the Carolus Deene books are to blame for Bruce's relatively obscurity today? TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-70066330611733841062015-10-09T09:16:09.586+02:002015-10-09T09:16:09.586+02:00Aside from a dip in some of the very last ones, Le...Aside from a dip in some of the very last ones, Leo Bruce was very dependable for Golden Age mystery fans, providing a good puzzle plot and humor. I'm surprised he isn't better-known among fans, since he has been in back in print for decades now.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.com