Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times – October the 11th

I’m still Bookshelf Travelling in Insane Times, do join in if you feel the urge! Last week I was actually travelling – and buying books, so I didn’t get around to doing this. This meme was hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness but I’m gathering the blogposts at the moment.

Books Again

This week the bookshelf is in the main guest bedroom again. It’s inhabited mainly by crime fiction, Ngaio Marsh (not a favourite,) Gladys Mitchell who is okayish in parts but I can’t understand why she made her detective Mrs Bradley so ghastly, Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver is much more likeable in fact I think I prefer her to Miss Marple – is that blasphemy?

The Alfred Hitchcock book Murder Racquet is a collection of short stories and amazingly I haven’t heard of any of the authors which might be why I haven’t got around to reading it.

I love Louise Penny’s Three Pines books but I usually borrow them from the library, I can’t remember why I felt the need to buy Still Life.

Landed Gently by Alan Hunter is unread, I don’t think I’ve read any of his books but this one is apparently a whodunit in the classic tradition and even has a floor plan at the front, published in 1957 it sounds right up my street.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote, not vintage crime but I love the film and enjoyed the book too although it is a wee bit different.

Are you bookshelf travelling this week?

A Bluestocking Knits

A Son of the Rock

Bitter Tea and Mystery

Landed Gently by Alan Hunter

Landed Gently cover

Landed Gently by Alan Hunter was first published in 1957, it’s the first book that I’ve read by the author, but it won’t be the last. It’s a really old fashioned big house murder mystery, complete with floor plan of the house. Like many books with that setting it features a railway journey early on and for me that all contributes to the atmosphere. I love those old railway carriages and I could see it clearly in my mind.

It begins with Chief Inspector George Gently of the C.I.D. preparing to travel to Northshire where he has been invited to spend Christmas. Settling down in his first class train carriage suddenly he has to get up to help a young man into the carriage, Lieutenant Earle is in the US airforce and he’s spending Christmas at Merely Park, another large house close to where Gently is going.

So far so traditional – but although it was fairly obvious to me what was going to happen from very early on, that didn’t detract from my enjoyment and with twists and turns it reached a satisfactory conclusion and I didn’t guess the perpetrator.

I’ve seen Alan Hunter’s books about for years but I’ve never bought any before as I knew that there was a TV series featuring George Gently, and I’ve never wanted to watch it, mainly because I’m not keen on the actor that plays George Gently. It turned out though that the TV series is really nothing like the books at all, they just borrowed the character it seems.

Our friend Eric Brown the writer of the Langham and Dupre crime mysteries gave me this book to read.