Reading in Reykjavík

Year of publication: 1942 Series and no.: Detective Inspector Mallett #4 Genre: Mystery Type of mystery: Threats, murder Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: England, 1939-1940 A slightly drunk High Court judge hits a man with his car and thus starts a series of events that end in murder. As a mystery this story should satisfy any reader who enjoys legal mysteries. It is full of twists and red herrings and it's a challenge to keep up with the detective. The character descriptions and development are skilful and the interactions between the characters are complex enough to satisfy anyone’s demands for realism. There is a subtle, slightly mocking tone running through the whole narrative, so that one is constantly on the alert for a punch-line to crop up, but it never does. The writing is polished and knowing that Hare was personally acquainted with the legal environment the story depicts, having been a barrister and worked as a judge's marshal on the circuit cou...

Genre: Mystery thriller Year of publication: 1941 No. in series: 7 Series detective: John Appleby Type of investigator: Police Setting & time: An unnamed island in the Pacific during World War 2 Story: Appleby and six others are shipwrecked in the Pacific when their passenger ship is torpedoed. They end up on an island that at first seems deserted, but then one of them is murdered and it really seems impossible that one of them could have done it. Shortly afterwards, one of the group discovers a hotel at the other end of the island, and Appleby meets an archaeologist on the beach. At the hotel another murder is committed, and a group of natives attack the hotel. Appleby has by now figured out what is going on, but I will not go into it as it would be a spoiler. Review: This is my first Appleby book. I have read one other Innes book, The Journeying Boy which I enjoyed, but found a bit confusing because halfway through it shifted genres, from a mystery to a thriller...