tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post4432238631071548106..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: Murder on the Tropic (1935) by Todd DowningTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-26991289350535625892023-01-27T19:09:49.415+01:002023-01-27T19:09:49.415+01:00Curiously, I strongly disagree with your view. The...Curiously, I strongly disagree with your view. The menacing desease was not that menacing because we are told that all characters bar the mexicans are vaccinated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-15960948248457481652020-07-27T12:55:19.078+02:002020-07-27T12:55:19.078+02:00I can tell you those four titles were worth the wa...I can tell you those four titles were worth the wait! Vertigo Pushkin are doing Gods work with these long-awaited translations of Shimada and Yokomizo TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-52915470135673827482020-07-25T03:41:38.819+02:002020-07-25T03:41:38.819+02:00My mail came in over a month late but it is filled...My mail came in over a month late but it is filled with some fireee, 2019 and 2020 prints.<br />https://i.imgur.com/Y2Jj7ti.jpg<br />Anhiksihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00817774165396917723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-32193504756078503842020-07-22T20:30:44.112+02:002020-07-22T20:30:44.112+02:00"I've gotten over feeling lukewarm about ..."<i>I've gotten over feeling lukewarm about Downing, but I must like him enough to have read so many of his works!</i>"<br /><br />Downing was a regionalist writer and even with a less than perfect plot, they usually produce evocatively written travelogues that are just pleasant to read. This is why I've only come across one disappointing Arthur Upfield novel to date. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-76526991855127587752020-07-22T20:18:29.279+02:002020-07-22T20:18:29.279+02:00You have to admit, 2020 proved my point about The ...You have to admit, 2020 proved my point about <i>The Cat Screams</i>. The lukewarm response to the cast of quarantined characters to an unknown, potentially deadly, disease is unrealistic and deflated the atmosphere of the story. That being said, Downing knew how to paint a scene with words. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-83324048828400957012020-07-22T06:04:41.028+02:002020-07-22T06:04:41.028+02:00Thanks for the review. :) I confess I've had a...Thanks for the review. :) I confess I've had a peculiar journey with Todd Downing. I started with the much-lauded 'Vultures in the Sky' - and while I thought it was well-written, the mystery didn't drip me the way the reviews promised. 'The Cat Screams' was my second foray into Downing, and I think I got used to Downing's approach to mystery fiction, and continued to read 'Murder in the Tropic', 'Lazy Lawrence Murders', 'Murder on the Tour' and 'Case of the Unconquered Sisters'. I don't think I've gotten over feeling lukewarm about Downing, but I must like him enough to have read so many of his works! I just got hold of 'Death under Moonflower', and will try that next. <br /><br />On 'Murder in the Tropics', I managed to guess the culprit - and I wonder why, because as a solution it is quite clever. But I think you might have hit the nail on the head - perhaps some clues were slightly obvious. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03389512470283015279noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-22452691226439113852020-07-21T21:39:54.527+02:002020-07-21T21:39:54.527+02:00Just read your review of Last Trumpet, so now I...Just read your review of Last Trumpet, so now I'm au fait!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-61574657578266219562020-07-21T21:36:42.525+02:002020-07-21T21:36:42.525+02:00Did you read Vultures in the Sky? Mysterious Pres...Did you read Vultures in the Sky? Mysterious Press is reprinting that in pb in the fall as part of their Crime Classics series and all the titles are in pb with Coachwhip still. I guess I'd forgotten you didn't like The Cat Screams. Downing is a tremendously evocative writer who was a huge admirer of John Dickson Carr. He liked incorporating the seemingly supernatural and the miraculous into mystery, like Carr.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.com