tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post7947835077386187579..comments2024-03-27T22:32:02.739+01:00Comments on Beneath the Stains of Time: The Forbidden House (1932) by Michel Herbert and Eugène WylTomCathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-29064571458255281282021-07-18T23:02:35.025+02:002021-07-18T23:02:35.025+02:00Echoing the thanks for these recommendations!Echoing the thanks for these recommendations!Christophehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978885973806549838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-45476575727317403512021-07-17T15:19:53.852+02:002021-07-17T15:19:53.852+02:00Deal!Deal!JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttps://theinvisibleevent.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-13571152727182590802021-07-16T14:23:31.189+02:002021-07-16T14:23:31.189+02:00I thought we were allied with DC (Detective Comics...I thought we were allied with DC (Detective Comics) and the Justice League, but sure, why not. If <i>Six Crimes</i> receives its long overdue, English publication we're going to team up and fanboy all over it. And, if you're up to it, we'll do the same with Halter's <i>The Twelve Crimes of Hercules</i>. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-24876218405492079202021-07-16T07:52:05.879+02:002021-07-16T07:52:05.879+02:00I propose that in the unlikely event that Six Crim...I propose that in the unlikely event that Six Crimes Sana Assassin ever gets its English publication, we team up to review it. Because, c'mon, that would be like <i>The Avengers</i> for us, right?!JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttps://theinvisibleevent.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-70279295384662650942021-07-15T12:25:51.358+02:002021-07-15T12:25:51.358+02:00You know you have something special on your hands,...You know you have something special on your hands, if we have nothing meaningful to disagree and nitpick about. If that isn't a veritable stamp of quality, I don't know what is. <br /><br />Hopefully, more of these Gallic mysteries will get translated in the years ahead, but John's comment about publishing rights is a little discouraging. There used to be a time when the French would have paid good money to hear a Brit and a Dutch praise something French. Now they won't even let us pay to do it? Typically, obnoxious French behavior! TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-32197468021638285512021-07-15T12:19:19.973+02:002021-07-15T12:19:19.973+02:00Thanks!
"As to the above wish lists, alas m...Thanks! <br /><br />"<i>As to the above wish lists, alas many still refuse to negotiate rights, which is why Boileau's masterpiece isn't yet available.</i>"<br /><br />Why not Arsène Lupin the rights? :) <br /><br /><i>The Howling Beast</i> is the best Vindry to date and a candidate for a potential future top 10 list of best LRI publications.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-77490283600134437762021-07-15T12:17:10.961+02:002021-07-15T12:17:10.961+02:00Thanks for the recommendations, Baudelaire! I'...Thanks for the recommendations, Baudelaire! I'll have to wait for translations for Serge Tachon, but there are obscure, long out-of-print Dutch and English translations <i>La nuit du 12 au 13</i> out there. So I might have a shot there. I'm sure Herbert and Wyl's <i>La maison interdite</i> is on John Pugmire's short list.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-67604418882290427612021-07-15T12:15:03.813+02:002021-07-15T12:15:03.813+02:00Six Crimes Without a Killer has been on my locked ...<i>Six Crimes Without a Killer</i> has been on my locked room wishlist for ages and, supposedly, there's an obscure, limited English edition, but never came across a copy. So really hope Pugmire gets an opportunity to publish a translation.TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-34206075175330384962021-07-15T12:12:08.953+02:002021-07-15T12:12:08.953+02:00This one's definitely up there with Halter'...This one's definitely up there with Halter's <i>The Gold Watch</i> and Higashigawa's <i>Lending the Key to the Locked Room</i> as one of the best LRI translations from the past few years. I can't wait to see what the second half of 2021 will bring us! <br /><br />"<i>... makes me feel like he didn't derive the idea from this.</i>"<br /><br />Probably not. Carr's impossible crime stories were heavily influenced by G.K. Chesterton and you can probably trace this one, as well as every other locked room mystery from this period that uses this technique, back to the Father Brown stories. I know not everyone today appreciates Chesterton as a mystery writer and the criticism of some of his classics, like "The Invisible Man," are not without merit, but his Father Brown stories sort of shaped the Golden Age. Poe birthed the detective story. Doyle breathed life into it. Chesterton gave it a soul. TomCathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03415176301265218101noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-22158650612851931872021-07-15T08:30:41.999+02:002021-07-15T08:30:41.999+02:00I think we agree about this one in every meaningfu...I think we agree about this one in every meaningful particular -- it's a very, very clever story that does superb work in taking what should be a ludicrously simple situation and spinning it to wildly creative ends.<br /><br />I would have liked a little more individuality in the detectives -- though, that aside, I think your comparison with the Leo Bruce is a very apt one -- and possibly more of a sense who the main character was, but that's probably just my British Detective Story bias showing. It's a hugely entertaining book, and a great example of the Gallic GAD-era puzzle mystery; arguably one of the best from that era yet translated by Pugmire for LRI.JJ @ The Invisible Eventhttps://theinvisibleevent.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-85381325841982221832021-07-14T22:44:58.145+02:002021-07-14T22:44:58.145+02:00The kind of erudite and perceptive review we'v...The kind of erudite and perceptive review we've come to expect from the Moonlight Detective.<br /><br />As to the above wish lists, alas many still refuse to negotiate rights, which is why Boileau's masterpiece isn't yet available.<br /><br />And I do think Vindry's The Howling Beast should not be overlooked.John Pugmirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12370413146195052806noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-3062266443528453492021-07-14T19:35:44.016+02:002021-07-14T19:35:44.016+02:00I've read most of the titles you suggest. I...I've read most of the titles you suggest. I'd begin with La nuit du 12 au 13, which is one of the most surprising plots in detective fiction, period. I'd suggest the second Herbert & Wyl Which is similar in structure to La maison interdite, with multiple solutions and an impossible murder in a quasi-locked room. In addition, I'd suggest a contemporary writer, Serge Tachon, and three of his novels: Meurtre en toutes lettres, Le sang de la foret, and Musique de chambre close. They are all classic mysteries, all having locked room murders and very satisfactory denouements.Baudelairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08437566049376915966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-26807222274972909422021-07-14T18:28:00.154+02:002021-07-14T18:28:00.154+02:00Steeman's "Six Dead Man" is importan...Steeman's "Six Dead Man" is important because it invented a famous trope used by the bigs of GAD, but it's not a masterpiece for me. "Six Crimes Without a Killer" is really great and an example of how French writers approach to the locked room. The solution behind all the impossibilities is not peculiar in itself, but in the way it is constructed.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10048428370227106622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5516189026477178777.post-71194683229165439852021-07-14T18:25:03.507+02:002021-07-14T18:25:03.507+02:00Great review! In my opinion, it's one of the b...Great review! In my opinion, it's one of the best novels published by LRI in recent years. The end was a surprise to me, and this isn't happening so much after having read so many locked rooms. The solution is similar in concept to a famous Carr,but the fact that the mechanism was used by the Maestro in one of his first short stories (around 1926), makes me feel like he didn't derive the idea from this. Yeah, even in my review on Goodreads I've noted the similarity with Leo Bruce, so it wasn't just a personal impression.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10048428370227106622noreply@blogger.com