Ooh, megan, that sounds like more detail than I need but of course I will want to see your spreadsheet! I’ll be in touch tomorrow. I also remember who killed Roger Ackroyd but not much else about that story.

When I started with Marsh I intended to read one decade’s worth of books per month. That didn’t last very long but I ended up binging them faster than that - got all interested in the historical details and what changed over time and what didn’t. I do have to take breaks in between my binges, though. Fortunately there are plenty of completely different-from-these books that I want to read and more keep coming out...

I read The Moonstone this year and really enjoyed it. Although, the Indian subplot often made me cringe. I want to watch the miniseries that was done a few years ago. I also wonder if it was the first use of quicksand as a plot device.

I was supposed to read Bleak House many years ago in a class I took and just could not get through it. I have an audiobook version downloaded to see if I can get through it that way. I love Victorian literature, but not usually Dickens.

megan, insent.

megan, insent.

Right back atcha, sj.

Either The Moonstone or The Woman in White has the first crime-solving detective in that Sherlock Holmes tradition. At least, that's what my grad school professor claimed.

Edit: I've read them both, I just don't remember. Woman in White, I think.

Insent, megan

The Moonstone is the one I've seen cited that way, Dana. I'm not sure if this is me reading too much into it, but I can see it's influence all over the place in the Golden Age stuff I've read recently, and in Holmes. I might let myself get sidetracked into researching the actual structure and function of police detectives in the 19th century, the celebrated Sergeant Cuff rather confuses me, but I'll probably stick to fiction.

I went ahead watched the 1972 adaptation of The Moonstone, also, and it is more faithful to the book but the production values are 1972 TV so it's not as pretty to look at as the more recent one. Interesting to see how 1972 versions of Victorian clothing compare to 2018 costumes.

Thanks for the spreadsheet, megan, having your extra information is going to be super helpful. I am already going to have to add The Man in the Brown Suit to my list (it was recommended to me somewhere else, although I can't remember where (and when I say it was recommended to me I think I mean I saw some mention of it that made me think "oh, I should read that, I don't remember that at all") and the others you have marked especially will get due consideration!

Thanks for the spreadsheet, megan, having your extra information is going to be super helpful. I am already going to have to add The Man in the Brown Suit to my list (it was recommended to me somewhere else, although I can't remember where (and when I say it was recommended to me I think I mean I saw some mention of it that made me think "oh, I should read that, I don't remember that at all") and the others you have marked especially will get due consideration!

You're welcome!

The Man in the Brown Suit has always been one of my faves. It's more like a spy novel than anything else. If you are still using Goodreads, everything that is marked as re-read on there is logged with a short review, except for last four or five. (I could have sworn I had done those but I've been bad about writing things up this past year.)

It occurred to me - if you're going through "golden age" mysteries, have you tried John Dickson Carr (who also wrote as Carter Dickson and Carr Dickson)? American, but he moved to England in the ... 1920s? 1930s? ... and set most of his stories there. He was known as "the master of the locked-room mystery" ... just thought of him because I'm re-reading one of his books now.

I read so many John Dickson Carr as a kid/teen!

I have not read John Dickson Carr - I put him on my list because I do like locked room mysteries and I have no idea why I haven't read him but he wrote a lot of books and has 4 detectives, apparently, and that's a little daunting. But he's currently scheduled in between Josephine Tey (reread) and Dashiell Hammett (I feel like I have to read The Thin Man for "gentleman detective" purposes and probably should read The Maltese Falcon on general principals)

Confession - the making of the spreadsheet portion of any project feels more rewarding than it probably deserves