Seven Dead
by J. Jefferson Farjeon (Collins, 1939)
audiobook read by David Thorpe (Soundings, 2020)
A Golden Age mystery with vim. The scenario is striking but the biggest drawcard is Detective Inspector Kendall (straight-talking, sarcastic, almost manically bonhomous), who even when absent for a long stretch mid-book is ably deputised by a good-natured and loquacious civilian offsider.
Thirteen Guests
by J. Jefferson Farjeon (Collins, 1936)
audiobook read by David Thorpe (Soundings, 2020)
A relatively simple murder mystery obfuscated through excessive characterisation of players who are dropped without a second thought. Short and accessible but holds back its detective (the energetic, straight-shooting Inspector Kendall) until the race is more than half run. Perfunctory twist ending.
The Bedlam Stacks
by Natasha Pulley (Bloomsbury, 2017); audiobook read by David Thorpe (Bolinda, 2018)
Pulley’s second novel harks back thematically to her first: two nineteenth-century men from different cultures forge an unlikely friendship against a convincing backdrop of historical detail and subtly revealed magic realism. Slow-moving yet engaging, albeit with Keita Mori rather arbitrarily thrown in.