From the back cover: The nine tellerstrokes from the belfry of an ancient country church toll out the death of an unknown man and call the famous Lord Peter Wimsey to confront and contemplate the good and evil that lurks in all of life and in every human's actions. Steeped in the atmosphere of a quiet parish in the strange, flat fen country of East Anglia, this is a tale of … [Read more...] about The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers: B
Mystery
Heat Wave by Richard Castle: B
From the front flap: A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the … [Read more...] about Heat Wave by Richard Castle: B
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey: B+
From the back cover: In this surprising tale of mystery and suspense, a stranger enters the inner sanctum of the Ashby family posing as Patrick Ashby, the heir to the family's sizable fortune. The stranger, Brat Farrar, has been carefully coached on Patrick's mannerisms, appearance, and every significant detail of Patrick's early life, up to his thirteenth year when he … [Read more...] about Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey: B+
Case Closed 4-5 by Gosho Aoyama: B
I find that one has to be in a certain mood for Case Closed. If one's not into it, its episodic nature and the knowledge that even 60 volumes in, Conan's secret still hasn't been discovered can be annoyances. If you're in the mood for a short mystery, though, the series can be a lot of fun. Five cases of varying lengths get solved over the span of these two volumes. There's … [Read more...] about Case Closed 4-5 by Gosho Aoyama: B
The Floating Admiral by Certain Members of the Detection Club: B-
Book description: In 1932, thirteen members of London's exclusive Detection Club—including notables like Dorothy L. Sayers, G. K. Chesteron, and Agatha Christie—decided to undertake a challenging project. As Sayers writes in her introduction, "The problem was made to approach as closely as possible to a problem of real detection. Except in the case of Mr. Chesteron's … [Read more...] about The Floating Admiral by Certain Members of the Detection Club: B-