The S.U.S. Band - Give Me The Strength

Leonard Gribble - Notorious Crimes - Guild - 1985

Leonard Gribble  - Notorious Crimes - Guild Publishing  - 1985

Leonard Gribble was an author and editor who wrote under a number of names, including Leo Grex and Bruce Sanders. 

This true crime collection features lucid and readable accounts of a dozen cases, many of them I suspect largely forgotten now.  

The book held my attention throughout and I would happily read another similar volume.  

There are a number of minor errors, generally unimportant in themselves but notable for their frequency.  Generally these are just grammatical errors. 

One more perplexing error comes in Chapter 6, 'One Way Ride in Essex'. In this case it is explained that, under interrogation, a suspect was unable to write out an address another man had previously given him, presumably some days earlier.

The author states that "the inference was very clear to the police" , but it is not so clear to the reader. Given that the suspect was American, the address, that of the Provost Marshall in London, would be one he might have problems with. Neither is  it clear why he had been given that address, or what bearing it had on the case.

However, that is really an isolated instance and elsewhere matters are generally explained fully and the writing style is quite accessible.

Overall, I enjoyed this very much and would recommend it to others. 

 

 

Alvin Davis - The Wrong They Do (Instrumental) 2023

J S Fletcher - The Lost Mr Linthwaite -

 

J S Fletcher - The Lost Mr Linthwaite

I am a big fan of J S Fletcher but I must admit The Lost Mr Linthwaite is not destined to become a personal favourite.

The plot of the story is actually pretty good, but somehow neither the characters or the location really come to life in this one.   

Very often, I encounter books/short stories from the `20s, or indeed from later eras, where there is no real need for much character development/background and/or too much description of locations. I`m thinking here of the works of E Phillips Oppenheim or some of the Sexton Blake Library stories. 

In my personal opinion, this story really could have done with some of those things to give it a bit of zing.

As it is, JSF has written a quite agreeable story but not a gripping one.

I would mention that my download of this (see picture) has a number of typos. They didn`t really bother me, but I do notice that Black Heath Crime have re-issued it recently and their version might be a better bet. 

   

Bach - Toccata and Fugue in D minor - RCO Brass Quintet

Gerald Verner - The Vampire Man - Linford - 2018

 

Gerald Verner  - The Vampire Man - Linford  - 2018

2018 reprint of book first published in 1940

Gerald Verner (1897-1980) also wrote using a variety of pen-names, including Derwent Steele, Nigel Vane and Thane Leslie. He wrote a number of Sexton Blake stories under the name Donald Stuart. 

I don't suppose anyone believes that Gerald Verner aspired to literary greatness, but in the early part of this book, some of the writing was so bad I wondered whether to persevere.

I'm glad I did however, as once I got into it I found The Vampire Man an absorbing and enjoyable read.  

The story is an old-fashioned murder mystery, with our intrepid sleuth, amateur criminologist Conway Jackson, seeking the explanation for a number of killings but also, as the title implies,  investigating the nature of the person, or creature,  committing the crimes. 

Some might say that aspects of the story are a bit daft but for me personally, I  read these things primarily for enjoyment and I'm prepared to make allowances. 

At the end of the book I was  seriously interested in reading another book featuring Conway Jackson, but as far as I can tell, this is Mr Verner's only novel to feature this character.

 If there are any others, I'd be interested to hear of them.