Vintage Mystery BINGO Reading Challenge Wrap Up

This is my wrap up post for the 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO Challenge.  Thanks for the Challenge, Bev!!


Golden Vintage Mystery BINGO

Well, I was hoping to fill the whole card, but didn't quite make it.  Two more books, and I would have done it.
I did make 4 vertical BINGOs (columns L,D, E and N)  and 4 Horizontal BINGOs (rows 2,4,5 and 6)


G    1  The Yellow Room
       2  Darling It's Death
       3                                  TBD
       4 Hercule Poirot's Christmas
       5  Murder is Served
       6  Lord Edgware Dies

O    1                                   TBD
       2  Case of the One Eyed Witness
       3  Some Buried Caesar
       4  Hasty Wedding
       5  Death Lights A Candle
       6  Case of the Curious Bride

L    1  The Case of the Glamorous Ghost
       2  Fer-de-Lance
       3  Death Takes A Bow
       4  The Thin Man
       5  Too Many Ghosts
       6  Murder on the Orient Express

D    1  Murder at the New York World's Fair
       2  The Case of the Substitute Face
       3  The Case of the Hesitant Hostess
       4  Always leave 'em Dying
       5  Case of the Drowning Duck
       6  Death in the Backseat

E    1  Cards on the Table
       2  Before Midnight
       3  Pietr the Latvian
       4  The Adventures of Ellery Queen
       5   Whose Body? 
       6   Mystery of the Cape Cod Players  (my free space)

N    1  The Case of the Grinning Gorilla
       2  The Cape Cod Mystery
       3  The Big Four
       4  Green For Danger  
       5  The Roman Hat Mystery
       6  The Case of the Mythical Monkeys


Silver Vintage Mystery BINGO

Didn't do as well as I'd hoped.  I did get one vertical BINGO under S, and three horizontal BINGOs, rows 1, 2 and 6.

 S  1    Whiskers and Smoke
      2    The Mummy Case
      3     No More Dying Then
      4     Walking Dead Man
      5     Witch Miss Seeton
      6      Never Cross a Vampire

I     1     Murder on a Mystery Tour
      2.    One Across, Two Down
      3.    The Widow's Club
      4      Murder in C Major
      5                          TBD
      6      The Thin Woman

L    1      The Shrunken Head
       2      In  the Heat of the Night
       3      Cast in Order of Disappearance
       4      The Howard Hughes Affair
       5                         TBD
       6      Passenger to Frankfurt

V    1      Catch a Falling Clown
       2      The Case of the Troubled Trustee
       3                           TBD
       4        Falling Star
       5                           TBD
       6        A Death in China

E     1        Some Lie and Some Die
       2         High Midnight
       3                           TBD
       4                           TBD
       5        Amateur Corpse
       6        Lord Mayor of Death  (my free space)

R     1        The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
        2        The Copenhagen Connection
        3         A Pint of Murder
        4                           TBD
        5         The Shape of Fear
        6          Rest You Merry 

Murder on the Mystery Tour by Marian Babson review

First published in 1985, this was also published as Weekend for Murder.

Reggie and Midge are the owners of a large home, Chortlesby Manor, who decide to open it as an English Country Inn to help raise money to keep it.  This isn't working as well as they had hoped, when an old friend of Midges from school calls.  Victoria runs mystery tours for American tourists, and would like to use their home as the scene of one of her "murders".  The money they would earn from this is essential to keeping the Manor.

After doing several of the mystery tours Reggie and Midge, along with a few permanent guests, have gotten used to the actors and the Americans and the mystery game.  This weekend mystery turns out much differently than they are used to, as this time there is a real murder.

The American tourists seem able to take this in stride and want to continue with the game.  This amount of competition seemed a little over the top to me, but I was willing to overlook it for the story.  But still...there was a murder!

In spite of this, it was a light and enjoyable mystery, and I'm looking for more books by Marian Babson.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO challenge--Silver--I--Book published under more than one title.  This is a BINGO--row S.

Lord Edgeware Dies by Agatha Christie

First published in  1933, this is one of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot mysteries. 

An actress, Jane Wilkinson, wants Hercule Poirot to go to her husband, Lord Edgware, and convince him to grant her a divorce, as she wishes to remarry.  When Poirot meets with Lord Edgware, Edgware tells Poirot that he has already agreed to a divorce, and sent a letter to his wife to inform her of this.  When confronted by Poirot, Jane denies ever receiving such a letter.

That night, Lord Edgware is murdered.  The butler admitted Jane Wilkinson to the house after she announced who she was, her husband's secretary saw her from above entering her husband's study, and the next morning her husband's body is discovered.

However, it was reported in the press that the same night her husband was killed, she was attending a dinner party with twelve other people, who all deny she could have left and committed the murder.  The same night Lord Edgware died, another actress, a famous impressionist, also dies from a dose of Veronal.

This is a typical Poirot mystery, with red herrings dragged in,there are plot twists, and Hastings is there to help Poirot!  Enjoyed this quite a bit, one of my favorite Poirot stories.


This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO--Golden--G--Set in Entertainment World

Read It Again Sam 2014 Reading Challenge Wrap-up

Re-reading my favorites!
Deja Vu--Read 4 Books     moving up to
Feeling Nostalgic--Read 8 Books  moving up to
A Trip Down Memory Lane--Read 12 Books   moving up to
Living in the Past--Read 16 + books


1. Rest You Merry by Charlotte MacLeod (finished 1/09/2014)
2. A Pint of Murder by Alisa Craig (finished 1/17/2014)
3. Murder Goes Mumming by Alisa Craig (finished 1/19/2014)
4. Trouble in the Brasses by Alisa Craig (finished 1/26/2014)
5. The Wrong Rite by Alisa Craig (finished 1/28/2014)
6. The Chocolate Frog Frame-up by JoAnna Carl (finished 2/16/2014)
7. Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton  (finished 7/2014)
8. Aunt Dimity's Good Deed by Nancy Atherton  (finished 7/2014)
9. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie (finished 10/2014)
10. The Wrecking Crew by Donald Hamilton (finished summer 2014)
11.  The Removers by Donald Hamilton  (finished summer 2014)
12.  The Silencers by Donald Hamilton  (finished summer 2014)
13.  The Menacers by Donald Hamilton  (finished summer 2014)
14.  Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie (finished Nov 2014)
15. Some Buried Caesar by Rex Stout (finished Nov 2014)
16.  Before Midnight by Rex Stout (finished December 2014)
17.  The Case of the Curious Bride  (finished December 2014)

2014 Mt. TBR Reading Challenge Updated list of books read

This is a list of the books I've read in 2014 that are in my To Be Read Pile, and are being used in my Mt. TBR Reading Challenge.  This will be updated throughout the year.  Reviews of each book can be found by clicking on the book's title.
Pikes Peak--Read 12 Books  DONE  Moving up to
Mt. Blanc--Read 24 Books   DONE 

I managed to read 32 books from my Mt. TBR pile, which is more than I had challenged myself to do.  Of course, I've bought around 600 books in 2014, so I've added to my pile--but out of the books I've bought this year, I've read a bunch of them--over 100 I've written some sort of review about, and there are another 100 or 200 I've read, but not done a review.  Well, that's depressing.  I've probably added at least 200 books to my Mt. TBR pile. 

On the bright side though, I've discovered several authors new to me that I really like over the last year, which is part of why I've added so many books this year--that, and I found a couple book lots that were really cheap, with a lot of my favorite authors in them, and Amazon put a bunch on sale really cheap that I wanted.  And I can't turn down free Amazon kindle books when they are free mysteries, I might discover a new author I really like!

 

  1.  Mistletoe Murder by Leslie Meier (bought 12/24/2013) finished 1/2/2014
  2.  Still Life by Louise Penny (bought  12/24/2013) finished 1/3/2014
  3.  The Broadway Murders by Agata Stanford.  (bought 12/18//2013) finished  1/04/2014
  4.  Clammed Up by Barbara Ross. (bought 12/09/2013) finished 1/4/2014
  5.  The Howard Hughes Affair by Stuart Kaminsky (bought 11/23/2013) finished 1/6/2014
  6. The Mummy Case by Elizabeth Peters (bought 12/14/2013) finished 1/8/2014
  7. Death Takes A Bow by Frances and Richard Lockridge finished 1/16/2014
  8. Green For Danger by Christianna Brand  (bought 12/2/2013)finished 1/25/2014
  9. Ms. America and the Mayhem in Miami by Diana Dempsey (11/24/2013) finished 1/23/2014
10. A Dismal Thing to Do  by Alisa Craig (bought 11/26/2013) finished 1/22/2014
11. The Yellow Room by Mary Roberts Rinehart (bought 12/2/2013) finished 2/6/2014
12. Missing in Mudbug by Jana DeLeon (bought 12/28/2013) finished 2/7/2014
13. In The Heat Of The Night by John Ball (bought 12/05/2013) finished 2/10/2014
14. Never Cross A Vampire by Stuart Kaminsky (bought 11/24/2013) finished 2/09/2014
15.  High Midnight by Stuart Kaminsky (bought 12/02/2013) finished 2/11/2014
16. Murder in C Major by Sara Hoskinson Frommer (bought 12/18/2013) finished 2/14/2014
17. A Death in China  by Carl Hiaasen and Bill Montalbano (bought 11/28/2011) finished 2/16/2014)
18. I, Spy? by Kate Johnson (bought 08/22/2011) finished 2/16/2014
19. The Copenhagen Connection (bought a few years ago)  finished 2/23/2014
20. Fade to Black (bought 12/3/2013) finished 3/6/2014
21.  Catch A Falling Clown by Stuart Kaminsky (bought 12/2/2013)  finished 5/4/2014
22. The Case of the Substitute Face by Erle Stanley Gardner (bought 9/25/2013) finished7/15/2014
23. He Done Her Wrong by Stuart M. Kaminsky (bought 12/13/2013) finished 8/30/2014
24. The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen (bought 12//3/2013) finished 9/16/2014
23. Walking Dead Man by Hugh Pentecost (bought 12/2/2013) finished 9/13/2014
24.  Fer-de-lance by Rex Stout (bought 09/2011) finished 9/15/2014
25.  The Shape of Fear by Hugh Pentecost (bought 12/2013) finished 9/20/2014
26.  The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett ( bought in the 1990s) finished 11/20/2014
27.  Charlie M by Brian Freemantle (bought 6/6/2012) finished 07/2014
28.  Murderer's Row by Donald Hamilton--1962--(bought 09/29/2013) finished 08/2014
29.  The Ambushers by Donald Hamilton--1963--(bought 10/08/2013) finished 08/2014
30.  The Shadowers by Donald Hamilton--1964--(bought 12/14/2013) finished 09/2014
31.  The Big Four by Agatha Christie--(bought 7/28/2014)  finished 11/30/2014
32.  Darling It's Death by Richard Prather--(bought 2 or 3 years ago) finished 12/10/2014

Whiskers and Smoke by Marian Babson review

Whiskers and Smoke was published in 1984, as A Trail of Ashes.  This is one of Babson's stand alone mysteries, and is set in the U.S.   It is also one of her mysteries that feature cats with personality.

Rosemary Blake is a recent widow with two children, and all of them are having trouble coping with their grief.  When her daughter, Tessa breaks her arm, she is vulnerable when her sister, Celia, tries to talk Rosemary into doing a house exchange with Celia's friend and spend some time healing while visiting Celia, her husband, and son, Luke.

When Rosemary and her children arrive in Edgemarsh Lake, she feels something is going on with her sister and brother-in-law, but Celia doesn't seem to want Rosemary to know.   Rosemary is also having a little trouble adjusting to the cat that came with the house, Errol, as he is a Maine coon, much bigger and with a more distinct personality than the laid back Esmond they had left at hom.  There is also a next door neighbor, Noah, who thinks Errol is responsible for impregnating his pampered kitty, Pitti-sing.  This makes Noah a little hard to get along with.

Rosemary also ends up meeting and becoming friends with Pixie Toller, who is the Welcome Wagon lady.  Pixie tries to help Rosemary adjust to the new environment.  Rosemary also signs her kids up to a day camp nearby, and meets others who try to help her and the kids deal with things.

With all of the other things that are causing stress in her life, there is the undercurrent of stress that is being suffered by everyone in the area because of several random fires that have been started by someone, causing a lot of damage.  Everyone is on the lookout for the arsonist.

I enjoyed this book.  Looking forward to reading more of the Babson cat stories, I enjoyed the distinct personality that Errol displayed, and interested in seeing how Babson describes other kitty personalities.  I'm particularly looking for Paws for Alarm, as I've heard this book is the flip side of Whiskers and Smoke, and follows the people that took over Rosemary's home back in England.  Based on the letters Rosemary received from across the sea, I think it will be very interesting.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO challenge--Silver--S--Book with color in Title.
This is a BINGO in the S column.

Witch Miss Seeton by Heron Carvic review

Published in 1971, this is the third in the Miss Seeton series.  The first five books (the best ones, in my opinion) were written by Heron Carvic.  After his death, the following three books were written by Hampton Charles (Roy Peter Martin), and the last fourteen books were written by Hamilton Crane (Sarah J. Mason).  The later ones that I've read are quite enjoyable, but this earlier book is so much better!

Miss Seeton is a retired art teacher, who moves to a small village after her retirement to live in the house her aunt had left her.  She seems a little naive, and is unaware of many nuances swirling around her.  However, her sub-conscious self is picking up all kinds of things, as Miss Seeton is a psychic, although she isn't aware of it herself.  Her psychic abilities are displayed in her drawings, which she always feels aren't quite right, and not very good.

This has been discovered by the police, and her abilities are put to good use.  She thinks they are paying her to do identikit sketches, but in reality, they use her sketches that show things as they are, and not as they are presented, to solve crimes.  I like this idea.

In this story, they use Miss Seeton to investigate some occult happenings that are occurring near her village. This causes some people to think she is a witch, and others to defend her.  As is usual, Miss Seeton manages to get herself in several dangerous positions, and then unconsciously manages to get out of danger, mostly without realizing she's ever been in danger.

My particular favorite part of this book was when Miss Seeton is asked to substitute in the local school.  She assumes it is an art class, but it ends up being a mathematics class, and....it has to be read for yourself, but it amused me.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO--Silver--Academic Mystery.

Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie review

This was published in 1970, and is a little different than many of her books.  There is no Poirot or Miss Marple, it is a stand alone book.

Sir Stafford Nye is a not very distinguished diplomat who is a little bored when he finds the plane he is in diverted to Frankfurt.  He is approached by another passenger, a woman, who tells him she is in massive danger because of the change in flight plans. 

She asks him to live dangerously, drink his drink that she is going to put a sleeping potion in, and allow her to take his cape and passport.  Because of his boredom, and his skewed sense of humor, he agrees.  Luckily for him, it was a sleeping potion, and not a poison.

When he meets the woman he helped at a dinner he attends, she is there under a different name.  Turns out she is a spy of sorts, who is attempting, along with some others, to thwart an evil group of Neo-Nazis who want to take over the world, starting by getting young people drug-addicted, and encouraging anarchy by everyone.  He is convinced to join the group, and becomes involved in a lot of spy type activity.

This was apparently Christie's attempt to jump on the James Bond type spy thriller band wagon, and while I don't think the book was totally awful, I also don't think it was particularly good.  It also seemed to push the idea that young people are lacking in morals, intelligence, and ambition and are basically violent given any opportunity. 

It seemed to have less mystery, and more propaganda, than is usual in her books. 

This is part of my Vintage Mystery BINGO challenge--Silver---L--Book that involves a mode of transportation.

Darling it's Death by Richard Prather review

First published in 1952, this is one of the Shell Scott series of mysteries.  I've really enjoyed most of the Shell Scott books that I've read, except for a couple of the later ones, and this is one that I enjoyed quite a bit.

Shell is in Acapulco, Mexico, on a job, but pretending to be on vacation, lounging around a pool when he is approached by a beautiful woman who wants his help.  She wants to leave her husband, but is afraid he'll kill her if she tries.

That's when Scott discovers that she is married to a mobster, and he is down in Acapulco with a bunch of his mobster friends.  Scott agrees to do his best to help her, but he also is intrigued as to why so many mobsters are gathering together.  Gloria, the client, says it has something to do with unions.

He wonders if it could have anything to do with the case he is on, as Scott is working for a union president, Joe, to recover evidence against him that is being used to blackmail him.

The story has the usual humor, and Scott gets himself into some odd spots while working on his case. The mystery is slightly slowed down by the author going on about his personal prejudices a little, but it was still interesting.

Looking forward to reading additional books in the series.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO Challenge--Golden--G--Set somewhere other than the US or England.

This is also part of my 2014 Mt. TBR Reading Challenge.

The Case of the One Eyed Witness by Erle Stanley Gardner review

Published in 1950, this is one of the more polished Perry stories.  Perry isn't as aggressive as in some of the earlier stories, and I enjoy that more than the earlier ones.

In this story, Della Street, Perry's secretary, is having dinner with Perry when he gets a phone call form a woman, telling him she is sending him a package containing money.  They eat dinner, listen to the life story of their waitress, and wait for the money.  Then it arrives, and Perry starts to investigate, starting with a strange old man at his home. Later that evening, the house burns, and the old man dies.

During the course of the story there is blackmail, mistaken identities, and the usual court room scene where Perry does his best to cross examine the witnesses to solve the crime, and a lot of twists and turns before Perry discovers the truth.

I enjoyed the book, but the main reason for the blackmail wouldn't be a big deal in today's society, but the book was written and takes place just after World War II, and there were different attitudes at that time.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO Challenge--Golden--O--book with number in title.

The Case of the Curious Bride by Erle Stanley Gardner review

Published in 1934, this is one of the early Perry Mason books.  As is other of the early novels, Perry is a bit less polished than he is in the later stories.  He is more willing to take chances and push the legality of the things he does, and seems a bit more aggressive than in the later books.

In this story, a woman comes to Perry to get some help for a "friend" of hers.  She needs to know how long a man needs to be missing before his wife can have him declared dead so she can marry again.  Perry tries to force the woman to admit that there is no friend, but is talking about herself.  She gets annoyed and leaves, but forgets her purse, which contains a gun.  Perry gets worried, and sets out to discover everything he and Paul Drake, his friendly private detective, can find out.

Turns out that the woman, Rhoda, was married to a man who made a habit of marrying naive young women and walking off with their money and not coming back.  Rhoda, a nurse, has just married one of her patients, the son of a wealthy man, when her first husband shows up to blackmail her.  Conveniently, he ends up murdered, with Rhoda the prime suspect.

Perry has to outwit the District Attorney to prove his client innocent, which, of course, he does in his usual flashy manner.

Enjoyed the book quite a bit.  Looking forward to reading more of the Mason books.


This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO Challenge--Golden--O--Book with woman in title.

The Big Four by Agatha Christie review

Boy, I am so behind on writing my reviews!  I've read a ton of books over the last month, and haven't gotten very many of the reviews done yet.  I want to get them done by the end of the year, so I better hurry!

The Big Four was published in 1927.  While it is an Hercule Poirot novel, I really don't think it is one of the better ones.  When the story begins, Hastings is on his way to visit Poirot from South America where Hastings and his wife have been living, as a surprise.  When he arrives at Poirot's apartment, he finds that Poirot is just about to leave--he has been offered a great deal of money to investigate something in South America, and has decided to move there to be near Hastings, also as a surprise.

Before Poirot can leave, a man enters the apartment, and seems to be in a lot of distress.  He can't say more than Poirot's name and address, and when given paper he covers it with the number 4 many times.  When the Big Four is mentioned, the man starts talking about the Big Four who are 1) a Chinese mastermind named Li Chang Yen,  2)  Not named, but represented by $ and 2 stripes and a star, 3) a Frenchwoman, and 4) the destroyer.

Poirot and Hastings leave for a bit, and when they return the stranger is dead--murdered.  Poirot doesn't leave for South America, and they proceed to discover who the Big Four are, and to put them out of business.

While I usually like Poirot stories, this one just didn't seem to work for me.  I couldn't seem to get one thought out of my head--why play around with Poirot instead of just killing him?  Especially if they think he is the only one who could possibly figure everything out?

Basically, the story was okay, but not one of the better Poirot novels.  In fact, it is my least favorite of them all.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO Challenge--Golden--N--Size in Title.

It is also part of my Mt.TBR reading challenge, as I've had this in my TBR pile since July 28, 2012.

Death in the Back Seat by Dorothy Cameron Disney review

First published in 1936, this is the first book I've read by Dorothy Cameron Disney.  She wrote 9 mysteries during her life, and this was the first.

The story had a lot of twists and turns, and seemed to be well-written.  It starts with a young couple leaving New York city for the country in Connecticut.  While there, they rent a small home from a wealthy local lady.

Before long, doing a favor for their landlady, they are involved in a murder.  The locals are all prepared to believe that somehow they are involved, as they are strangers to the area, and the victim was also from New York.

They proceed to investigate (not particularly well) and place themselves in danger several times before the criminal is finally discovered.

I have to say, I was a bit disappointed in this, as I started with such high expectations.  And for some reason, I had a lot of trouble retaining my interest in the story--I put it down multiple times over the last couple of weeks, forcing myself to continue.  Which is strange, as it has a fairly good plot, with a lot of twists, and there are other possible murders scattered about in the story, and seems to be well written.  It may have just been my mood, or the fact that I read it on the Kindle and it seemed to have more mistakes than I like--a little more editing would have been helpful--as I had to stop several times to figure out what I just read as some of the letters were changed--Jack became lack, for example, or seat became seal.

However, I didn't manage to figure out the entire solution, although I did have a suspicion or two about part of it.  That was a plus.  

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO challenge--Golden--D--Read one book out of your comfort zone.

I am definitely not comfortable reading books with such poor editing, and had to force myself to finish it. 

Before Midnight by Rex Stout review

First published in 1955, this is one of the Nero Wolfe mysteries.  Wolfe is hired by an advertising firm after one of their employees is found murdered, and his wallet is stolen.  The wallet contained the answers to a competition which has been reduced to the 5 final contestants.  The advertising wants Wolfe to determine who stole the answers, and how to resolve the contest without getting a lot of bad publicity.

Wolfe has to deal with the 5 finalists, all of whom seem to annoy him, the advertising firm's executives, who also annoy him, and the police, who are annoying and officious.  Basically, a typical Nero Wolfe story.

Not one of my favorite stories, but still enjoyable.There are a lot of possible suspects, Wolfe does a lot of reading, and Archie tries to prod Wolfe into solving the mystery.  There are parts where it is a little slow moving, but it is still an enjoyable read.

This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery Bingo Challenge--Golden--E--Book with a time, day, month, etc. in title.
This is also a re-read for my Read It Again, Sam Challenge.

Death Lights A Candle by Phoebe Atwood Taylor review

This book, published in 1932, is one of the Asey Mayo series of Cape Cod mysteries.

Prudence Whitsby is visiting her friend Rowena near Cape Cod, when they are asked to chaperone a young lady at her Uncle's home.  When they get there, it is a house full of men and the young lady.  Then the power goes out.

There is a death during the power outage following a severe snow storm, which ends up being a murder.  Asey is called to solve the crime, and makes several startling discoveries.  There is another death, and Asey feels they are connected.

The book was a wonderful mystery, the characters are very interesting and the solution was unexpected.  This is the 3rd or 4th Phoebe Atwood Taylor book I've read, and I've enjoyed all of them, and am looking forward to finding more to read!


This is part of my 2014 Vintage Mystery BINGO Challenge--Golden--O--Method of Murder in Title.