Reading in Reykjavík

Also writes as: Anna Apostolou, C. L. Grace, Ann Dukthas, Michael Clynes, Paul Harding, P. C. Doherty, Paul C. Doherty, Vanessa Alexander. Some books have been published under two different names: one of the above, and later the name Paul Doherty, which I believe is his real name and under which he now writes all his books. Note: Much of what I want to say about the writing style and characterizations and plotting and so on is applicable to all three books, so I will put it in the author review. Title: The Nightingale Gallery, being the First of the Sorrowful Mysteries of Brother Athelstan Series detective(s): Brother Athelstan, a Dominican friar, and Sir John Cranston, coroner of London No. in series: 1 Year of publication: 1991, under the name of Paul Harding; reissued in 2002 under the name of Paul Doherty Type of mystery: Murder, locked-room Type of investigator: Amateur and professional Setting & time: London, England, 1377 Number of murders: 4 Some themes: Locked-r...

This time around I read three books for the review. Patricia Wentworth wrote about the same number of non-series mysteries/thrillers as she did Miss Silver books, but all I managed to get my hands on are Miss Silver stories, so the author review is based on them alone. (Typically, I came across some at the flea market on the weekend after I wrote the book reviews, but I’ll review them independently when I feel like reading them). Title: Grey Mask Series detective: Miss Maud Silver No. in series: 1 Year of publication: 1928 Type of mystery: General crime Type of investigator: Amateurs and private detective Setting & time: London, England, 1920’s Some themes: Blackmail, kidnapping, theft, murder Story: Charles Moray returns to England four years after his fiancé, Margaret Langton, jilted him, a week before their wedding. He discovers that she is a member of a secret society and that some of its members are planning to cause an heiress, Margot Standing, to lose her inheritanc...

This time I read two novels by the author, one each with his two series sleuths. Titles: The Hollow Man (alt. title: The Three Coffins) , The Red Widow Murders No. in series: 6, 3 Year of publication: 1935 (both) Type of mystery: locked-room mystery, whodunit, howdunit Type of investigator: amateur, retired professional Setting & time: London, 1930’s (both) Some themes: Locked rooms, poison, the French Revolution John Dickson Carr is one of the Golden Age mystery writers. He was an American, but lived in Britain for a long time and set many of his books there. He was a very prolific writer during the peak of his career, and wrote most of his books under two different names: his own, and the pseudonym Carter Dickson. He had two series detectives: Dr. Gideon Fell, a professor of lexicography about whom he wrote as Carr, and Sir Henry Merrivale, written under the Dickson name. In addition he wrote non-series books, many of them historical novels. The Hollow Man is one of Carr’...