tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post6939722430923132227..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: Shoot, Duck and Cover TomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-60465893014143812672016-01-13T09:22:04.697+01:002016-01-13T09:22:04.697+01:00Poor proof-reading and staggering coincidences. Ha...Poor proof-reading and staggering coincidences. Has the blogosphere gone back to 2011 or what? <br /><br />I hope Verse Chorus republishes them all, because there can never be enough mystery fiction in circulation. Never. Mother Paul books did not only sound as detective stories in the classical mold, but recalled Anthony Boucher's Sister Ursula. So I would love to sample those one day. <br />TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-48900355846900890782016-01-13T09:09:12.599+01:002016-01-13T09:09:12.599+01:00We're either back on the same wavelength or th...We're either back on the same wavelength or the ghost of Harry Stephen Keeler is up to his old tricks again. <br /><br />There are three of us now who, independently from one another, picked up a June Wright mystery to read. Some days ago, <a href="http://moonlight-detective.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-gaggle-of-galloping-ghosts.html" rel="nofollow">I</a> and <a href="http://ho-lingnojikenbo.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-gaggle-of-galloping-ghosts.html" rel="nofollow">Ho-Ling</a> posted a review with exactly the same post-titles mere hours apart from each other. Coincidence? You decide!TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-86690751724200438522016-01-13T07:50:50.612+01:002016-01-13T07:50:50.612+01:00You make an excellent point about it coming in at ...You make an excellent point about it coming in at the end of an era and possibly representing something people were keen to move on from...but then the introduction makes Wright's Mother Paul books, which came after this, sound like this exact type of puzzle (though, of course, we shall not know for sure unless Verse Chorus republish them too...).<br /><br />I'd love to know quite how much Australian crime fiction authors were doing this kind of thing, because there seems to be a rich seam from this era now coming to light - Max Afford, the Little Sisters, Norman Berrow was a Kiwi but working in this tradition...how many other excellent anitpodeans are there for us to unearth?<br /><br />And, ah, I apologise: I thought the whle point of tarring them would be to feather than before going in the gibbet cage. I'm clearly guilty of conflating my medieval punishments there...<br /><br />And given the tendency for errors to creep into my own posts/comments/typing/thinking/speaking I tend to shy away from mentioning errors in people's posts. So I'm not going to mention that your own comment abot proof-reading above probably needs proof-reading... :-P JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttp://theinvisibleevent.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-37016895917685058672016-01-13T05:26:42.928+01:002016-01-13T05:26:42.928+01:00I liked this a lot. The Australian sense of humor ...I liked this a lot. The Australian sense of humor is there for sure if the Australian outback isn't. The author's son Patrick sent me a laudatory email after he read my review thanking me for publicizing the book. Funny that you wrote this up because I'm about to start SO BAD A DEATH in a couple of days. Are we on a wavelength again?J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-27836436101197368222016-01-12T22:41:48.591+01:002016-01-12T22:41:48.591+01:00Only feasible defense I could come up with is that...Only feasible defense I could come up with is that by the mid-1950s, these type of mysteries had dominated the field for decades and they were sick of them. However, if that was the case, they should have appreciated this particular treatment, because it did not follow "<i>the old lines</i>" of the country-house mystery. In fact, it poked fun at it. They probably wanted to see they were worthy of being test readers for a publisher by being hyper critical. <br /><br />So, yes, tarring and feathering would be too good for them, which is why I suggested the gibbet cage. <br /><br />By the way, I edited the post because I proof-reading is peasants and noticed a double paragraph had crept into the post. <br />TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-13022465522721768862016-01-12T22:13:38.200+01:002016-01-12T22:13:38.200+01:00Ah, great minds think alike, TC - I've just re...Ah, great minds think alike, TC - I've just read this and really enjoyed it too, though (curse my one-review-a-week policy) it won't appear on my site until next Wednesday.<br /><br />One really does have to wonder at those readers who were so dismissive, it's a huge amount of fun and phenomenally difficult to take any issue with. Tarring and feathering is too good for them!JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttp://theinvisibleeevent.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com