LB's Rambles

"The Bells of Old Bailey"

"When will you pay me/Say the bells of Old Bailey"

Sound familiar? It's a couplet from a familiar English nursery rhyme, one that names the bells of London. That nursery rhyme is woven through a marvelous, if rather grim, mystery, "The Bells of Old Bailey," by Dorothy Bowers. In a small English village, where five people apparently have committed suicide, the local police turn to a Scotland Yard detective for help. Soon, there is a murder to be solved, and a truly vicious plot eventually is uncovered.

Dorothy Bowers is little remembered today; she died quite young and completed only a handful of novels. Part of the fun of doing my "Classic Mysteries" podcast is having the chance to introduce authors like Dorothy Bowers to readers who might enjoy her work. You can check out this review here - and, as always, I would welcome your subscription to these free weekly podcasts by pasting this RSS link - http://classicmysteries.podbus.com/index.xml - into iTunes or any other RSS podcast-capable program.

"The A.B.C. Murders"

A, you take Arsenic. B, you've been Bashed. C, for a touch of Cyanide...

No, not exactly. But the ABC's are very important to one serial killer who is wreaking havoc in a number of alphabetically-chosen places, upon a number of alphabetically-chosen victims. And the killer is challenging Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot to do something about it.

It's all part of Agatha Christie's entry in the serial killer sweepstakes called "The A.B.C. Murders," and it is our book being reviewed this week on the "Classic Mysteries" podcast. You can listen to it here, or, of course, you're welcome to subscribe - there's a link in the right-hand column or you can find the podcast on iTunes and other fine podcast directories. Did I mention, "free"?

"The Loss of the Jane Vosper"

A small freighter sinks at sea, after a series of explosions. It sounds like sabotage - but how could it have happened? Apparently, it's a dangerous question; a detective investigating the sinking disappears. Enter Inspector French - the creation of Freeman Wills Crofts, one of the early Golden Age masters of the detective novel, and the star of "The Loss of the Jane Vosper," this week's novel reviewed on our Classic Mysteries podcast.

Crofts is not often remembered today, but he was the master of the intricate timetable mystery. If you have ever read one of those stories in which the crime could only have happened on a Tuesday, the one day in the week when the London train stopped at Little Croydon instead of Nether Hampstead, then you have read a story that is inspired in part by Crofts.

His stories are also very early police procedural novels, for Inspector French has the full resources of Scotland Yard behind him and knows how to use them.

"The Loss of the Jane Vosper" is a fine example of a master at work. Listen to the complete review - it's free, as always.

"Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief"

He was a fictional rogue, a thief, a con man who could plan and execute a daring burglary while imprisoned, a Robin Hood-type, an adventurer, even occasionally a detective, and his popularity rivalled that of Sherlock Holmes himself. Arsene Lupin, the creation of French writer Maurice Leblanc, has remained in print in France for a century, and his popularity keeps him in print in the United States as well, fitting tribute to a man who believed, as he said, that "adventure is everywhere."

Leblanc's stories about Arsene Lupin, many of which have been gathered into a new anthology called "Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief," are the subject of discussion on this week's "Classic Mysteries" podcast. Please follow the link to listen. As always, it's free. The Lupin stories are funny, witty, adventure-filled, heart-warming and quite thoroughly enjoyable.

Oh - and in one story Lupin did, in fact, meet Sherlock Holmes.

And stole his pocket watch...

"The Youth Hostel Murders"

I am not now and never will be a mountain climber. I have considerable difficulty getting up on a ladder to change a lightbulb. The prospect of clinging to a mountainside on a six-inch ledge, with the next step down several thousand feed below me, horrifies me. That said, I find myself really enjoying a series of British mountain-climbing mysteries written by Glyn Carr half a century ago. That includes "The Youth Hostel Murders," which is the subject of this week's review on my "Classic Mysteries" podcast.

"The Youth Hostel Murders" is a good read, with murder and a dash of witchcraft, and a great deal of detail about mountain climbing as well. Listen to the podcast to learn more about the book and how to find it - and why I think that, if you enjoy classic mysteries, you would enjoy it.

"The Father Hunt"

For our "Classic Mysteries" podcast this week, we go back to one of my favorite American mystery authors, Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin decide to help a young woman find the father she has never known - and find their search complicated by the fact that the unknown father appears to have murdered the young woman's mother.

As with all of Rex Stout's books about Wolfe, the irascible and nearly immovable Wolfe is bearable to us in "The Father Hunt" mostly because of the people who surround him - Archie, in particular, and Wolfe's cook Fritz and Lieutenant Cramer and...well, check out the podcast for a full review.

Printer's Devil

A few days ago, I mentioned the uproar among many self-published authors about Amazon.com's plans to require them to use Amazon's own preferred Publish On Demand supplier or lose the ability to sell their books directly over Amazon.

Sgt. Mom has a great deal of new information today at the NCO Brief blog which suggests Amazon may be about to get real competition, in the form of a new invention which could bring Publish On Demand technology right into your neighborhood (and, eventually, your own basement). If you've thought about writing - and publishing - your own book, this will interest you.

Hat tip: Instapundit

Three Act Tragedy

Agatha Christie's "Three Act Tragedy," reviewed this week on my "Classic Mysteries" podcast, is a very readable and enjoyable story, built around an actor as the central character, and unfolding with a great deal of theatricality. Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot, finds himself faced with what appears to be an impossible and senseless murder: why would anyone choose to murder a seemingly blameless and inoffensive, elderly clergyman?

In typical Christie fashion, the clues are well obscured by several giant red herrings that get dragged across the trail - but the misdirection is fair and fun. You can listen to the podcast here; of course, you are also welcome to copy this link - http://classicmysteries.podbus.com/index.xml - and subscribe to it.

The 800 Pound Gorilla and Publish On Demand

At Instapundit, Glenn Reynolds links to a disturbing story that says Amazon.com is moving to force writers using Publish On Demand technology to use Amazon's preferred vendor - or else they won't get distribution through Amazon. An in depth report and some very good analysis from Sgt. Mom at the Daily Brief. Also a version from the Wall Street Journal here.And, if this worries you (as it worries me), there's an online petition you could sign urging Amazon to rethink its position. I'm a huge fan, and steady customer, of Amazon, but I don't like the sound of this.

Our First Murder

It's not so much the lights of Broadway attracting the Beagle sisters to New York, circa 1940...it's the detective agency they inherit from their brother. So the elderly sisters come to town and what happens? They get involved right away in a murder investigation. Meet a couple of funny, witty, smart and very distinctive New York private eyes - the Beagle sisters - in Torrey Chanslor's "Our First Murder." It's this week's review on the Classic Mysteries podcast - click here to listen.