tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post7702446542828727428..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: Not What You'd Expect From a DisneyTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-64532588289242752472011-04-13T22:18:30.502+02:002011-04-13T22:18:30.502+02:00Failing eyes and small print. Probably missed one....Failing eyes and small print. Probably missed one.<br /><br />Highly likely that I'll post a review of STRAWSTACK. But not for another week or so.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-6696015154953158312011-04-13T12:15:32.067+02:002011-04-13T12:15:32.067+02:00Only eight books? The GAD wiki lists nine titles: ...Only eight books? The GAD wiki lists nine titles: <br /><br />- Death in the Back Seat (1936)<br />- Strawstack a.p.a. The Strawstrack Murders (1939)<br />- The Golden Swan Murder (1939)<br />- The Balcony (1940)<br />- Thirty Days Hath September (1942)<br />- Crimson Friday (1943)<br />- The Seventeenth Letter (1945)<br />- Explosion (1948)<br />- The Hangman's Tree (1949)<br /><br />Will you be posting a review of <i>The Strawstack Murders</i> on your blog?TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-52450766335168077372011-04-12T17:09:58.470+02:002011-04-12T17:09:58.470+02:00I checked Hubin and Disney only wrote eight books....I checked Hubin and Disney only wrote eight books. Huh. Wonder what happened? I found another book of hers while digging around. It's a copy of <i>The 17th Letter</i> in a Bantam paperback. Now I have three Disney books to read. I started <i>Strawstack</i> last night. It actually has a sentence on the first page that starts "Had I known..." And another that "I could've prevented the murders if..." <br />A true HIBK.<br /><br />The other Disney (Doris Miles) was far more prolific. Her entry in Hubin goes for two columns. I remember reading DO NOT FOLD, SPINDLE OR MUTILATE (great title - that used to be written on old computer cards and forms that needed to be processed by old lead pencil readers) and a few others of hers way back when. Nothing special that I can remember about them.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-30582793887702632372011-04-12T09:45:41.466+02:002011-04-12T09:45:41.466+02:00Quick responses:
@Patrick:
Yeah, the name isn&#...Quick responses: <br /><br />@Patrick:<br /><br />Yeah, the name isn't one that's associated with this type of stories, and it takes some time for your mind to adjust, but even then, you keep expecting the characters to burst into song. <br /><br />You're correct that's almost impossible to have rules set in stone, but I think plot and fair play are the basic requirements for a good detective story, even if books like Keating's <i>Inspector Ghote Goes by Train</i> successfully disregards them. <br /><br />As unbelievable as it may sounds, there were two (2!) Disney's active in the field, however, Doris Miles Disney doesn't seem to have been anywhere near as good as Dorothy Cameron Disney. Still, who wouldn't want to read a mystery with the lovely title <i>Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate</i>? <br /><br />@John:<br /><br />You probably won't guess who's next on my list, either, but it promises to be a gem of a short story collection – and one that contains several impossible crime stories!<br /><br />The only other Disney book I have here is <i>The Strawstack Murders</i> (the same edition you have), and, from what I read, it's even better than <i>Death in the Back Seat</i>. So expect a blog entry on that book in near future. <br /><br />I really wish now that I hadn't pass up <i>The Hangman's Tree</i>, because the first two pages were loose.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-7287461834781800232011-04-12T05:59:27.413+02:002011-04-12T05:59:27.413+02:00I ws wondering who you were going to pull out of y...I ws wondering who you were going to pull out of your library. Never would've guessed this woman.<br /><br />Sounds like Margaret Millar, to me. She didn't com along until 1941, though. Charlotte Armstrong was damn good at this type of suspense and detection book as well and took over the crown in the 1950s and 1960s. She was so popular her books and short stories were regularly being adapted on TV shows like "Thriller" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents."<br /><br />I have a couple of Cameron Disney Mapbacks but never got around to reading any of them. THE STRAWSTACK MURDERS and CRIMSON FRIDAY. In they go to the TBR mountain along with the Lenore Glen Offord Mapbacks I own.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-25603730906980877812011-04-12T00:57:27.210+02:002011-04-12T00:57:27.210+02:00*Correction: Just one by this particular Disney. D...*Correction: Just one by this particular Disney. Doris and Dorothy looked uncommonly alike. But it just so happens to be this book.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-34946745931040230682011-04-12T00:55:21.305+02:002011-04-12T00:55:21.305+02:00I'm sorry, but it really is mind-boggling to r...I'm sorry, but it really is mind-boggling to read of someone named Disney writing about good old-fashioned corpses. Never even heard of this author before. Hmm, a nearby bookstore just happens to have 3 of Disney's books... Argh, I recognize this pattern! Damn you, Red Baron!!!<br /><br />This sounds like a wonderful ride. Certainly more spirited than the one I'm reading at the moment. Glad you enjoyed it, not so glad I've got another source of temptation at the moment...<br /><br />You know, I'm not sure it's ever possible to write down a set of rules for detective fiction. Any time you try, someone will turn out to have written a book that smashes your rule to pieces, all while remaining a good mystery.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01844617192737950378noreply@blogger.com