Mini reviews # 1

The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde by Erle Stanley Gardner (1944). Perry Mason is in fine form, in a world of seedy families and glamorous blondes.

News of Paul Temple by Francis Durbridge (1949). Charmingly innocent and retro fun concerning a new super war weapon. The mystery is not at all challenging but the reading experience is sheer escapism.

Poisoned Cherries by Quintin Jardine (2002). A star-studded case for Oz Blackstone, and quite possibly the worst detective novel I have ever read.

The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black (2014). A competent pastiche of Raymond Chandler's style, giving us a fresh case for Philip Marlowe. It's a good book, although the metaphors ('an Adam's apple like a ping pong ball') have nothing on Chandler's ('A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window'!).

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris (2016). Intensely readable, cinematic thriller that is crying out for a life on the big screen. At nearly 400 pages, I read it in a day. Paris creates a believable middle-class heroine in an utterly incredible and horrific situation.