Heads You Lose (1941) by Christianna Brand: A Golden Age Mystery

👒 Grace Morland is a spinster who's in love with Stephen Pendock, her landlord and squire of Pigeonsford village. She likes to paint on his porch, usually quite late in the morning, in the hope of being invited for tea at the cottage. However, Pendock is in love with another, a younger girl called Francesca (Fran) Hart, who, at the moment, is staying at the cottage with her twin sister Venetia Hart, her brother in law, her grandmother, Lady Hart, and a young man called James Nicholl, who 's in love with her.

👒 On that fatal day, after tea, Fran is showing a hat she's just bought. In her jealousy, Grace, after witnessing Pendock having been smitten by Fran, blurted out that she hates the hat, and that "I wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch in a hat like that!" Indeed, that night, Grace is found dead, inside a ditch in Pendock's garden, with decapitated head, and Fran's new hat on it!

👒 The murder investigator is Inspector Cockrill from Scotland Yard - an old friend of Pendock and his guests, whom they usually call Cocky. It is a difficult task to investigate one's own friends, let alone six people who are attached to each other. There's always chance they don't speak the truth to cover the others.

👒 Everyone hopes the murderer is committed by outsiders - Pippi Le May, Grace Morland's cousin who's staying with her perhaps? Or maybe Pendock's butler, who was always away visiting his sick sister when the two murders were committed? There're two murders, then? Yes, they were. But what is the motive? Surely it's done by a lunatic out there? All six people at Pigeonsford cottage hope it was, but Inspector Cockrill is also sure it was committed by one of those six. Which one? Why?

👒 This was my first introduction to Christianna Brand, and I am impressed. Her style reminds me much of Christie's, particularly the psychological aspect. It is a very character-driven story, with a brilliantly plotted crime. Brand meticulously built tension among the closed-circle suspects; we get to know little by little their true personalities, fears, and secrets along every chapter. And I loved the way Brand told us most of what's happening through dialogs and actions, while cleverly keeping only the key to the mystery. There are writers who hide these facts from readers, and they're only become known to us later in the narrative, which I dislike.

👒 All in all, for me, this was a satisfying murder crime. I could guess the murderer, though I was doubting a bit on the middle, with the red herrings and what not. The motive is quite surprising, though I should have seen it coming. Now I can't wait to read more from Brand!

👒 I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Derek Perkins. It's not very pleasant at first, due to the narrator's dragging speech, but after a while I was getting used to it, and focusing more on the story.

Rating: 4,5 / 5

This book counts for British Crime Classics Challenge 2023

For Bingo Card: Closed Circle of Suspects

The President's Hat (2012) by Antoine Laurain: A Review

 

"The important events in our lives are always the result of a sequence of tiny details."

🎩 Isn't that quote so true? That is what this story is truly about. Set in Paris in the 1986, a series of trivial incidents touched and changed the lives of at least four people.

🎩 Daniel Mercier is an ordinary accountant. One day he impulsively decides to dine alone at an elegant Parisian brassiere. A group of men sit next to his table, and to his astonishment, Daniel recognizes one of them being François Mitterand, the President!

🎩 The President put his black felt hat up on the rail. The dinner becomes the most memorable one for Daniel, not only because he sits next to the President's (he's dreaming to become the fourth person on that table!), but also because after the President and his entourage left, Daniel notices that the President has forgotten his hat. It's still there! Again, impulsively, Daniel takes it (after making sure nobody sees him, of course), wear it on his head, and leave.

Mitterand wearing his Homburg

🎩 The hat boosts Daniel's confidence; so much so, that on a meeting, he dares to contradict his manager, and comes up with a brilliant idea. This amuses the big boss, that Daniel is soon promoted. On the way to the new city he's promoted to, Daniel accidentally leaves his precious hat on the train. It is soon found by a girl called Fanny Marquant, who is on board the next train.

🎩 And so, the President's hat's "adventures" begins. Fanny is an aspiring writer in a toxic relationship with a married man who couldn't (wouldn't?) divorce his wife. The relationship has gone stale, but Fanny hadn't had courage to break it up. She wears the hat that night, and soon dumps him. Feeling that the hat had served its purpose for her, she leaves it on a park bench. An unkempt man takes it. And Fanny writes story about her experience with the hat to be included in a contest.

🎩 The hat then touches two other lives: that of Pierre Aslan (used to be the most genius perfume inventor people nicknamed "The Nose"), but had had a career break down for years. The other one is Bernard Lavallier, a right wing conservative who would soon change his views!

🎩 All the while, Daniel tries to locate the missing hat (he still can't say goodbye with it). And for me, this is the second best part of this book - the 1980s way of living; with no cellphones, no internet, no google). Daniel's entire effort to find the hat is through letters, newspaper add, and phone calls.

🎩 I also loved how Laurain included the 1980s pop culture in the story. The mention of popular perfumes of that era, TV series (David Hasselhoff in The Knight Rider); all these brought me back to that glorious era - my era! It's an unexpected sweet nostalgia for me. Laurain wrote it beautifully that I was transported to that era whenever I opened the book.

🎩 The President's Hat is a wonderfully crafted story of ordinary people whose lives are crushed by disappointments and chains of daily routines, that they can't find courage when they need it. It needs something trivial but extraordinary to break that chain, for them to see the clearer way to success. Every single one of them have in themselves the capability; it's a powerful "kick" that they lack of.

🎩 l love, love, love this book! It's funny, sweet, unputdownable, brilliant, inspiring story. And let me say this: the 1980s is the best era!

Rating: 5 / 5

2nd book for Paris in July 2023

Blogger-Inspired Wishlist...with a Twist, Ep. 6,5

Blogger-Inspired Wishlist is a feature where I post recent additions to my wish list, which had been inspired by reviews from my fellow bloggers. Now, about the twist...

While browsing Twitter, I sometimes stumbled upon books that interest me. It could be from someone's tweeting about his/her latest book haul, or someone's retweet of book promotion from his/her favorite bookstore. Either way, if the title/cover and its Goodreads' summary attracts me, I'll put it into a list. No summaries, just the links, and several covers (at random).

The Unseen (Ingrid Barrøy #1) by Roy Jacobsen

From @bilanoesque

Murder in the Mill-Race by E.C.R. Lorac

From @TheReadingHouse, retweeted by @BL_Publishing

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

From @ConMartin 

Four French Holidays by Anne Hall

From @D_DuMaurier 

Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

From @MallikaRamacha1 

The Paper Bark Tree Mystery by Ovidia Yu

From @ChasingClues 

The Lost Ryū by Emi Watanabe Cohen

From @MallikaRamacha1 

Death and Croissants by Ian Moore

From @ChasingClues 

Murder in Paris by Andrea Hicks

From @ChasingClues 

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

From @afrolicthroughfiction 

A Chelsea Concerto by Frances Faviell

From @DeanStPress 

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

From @ChasingClues 

Murder in Old Bombay by Nev Marsh (Captain Jim & Lady Diana Mysteries, 1)

From @ChasingClues

Montgomery Bonbon: Murder at the Museum by Alasdair Beckett-King

From @pippopu 

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

From @ChasingClues 

Temples of Delight by Barbara Trapido

From @stuck_inabook 

Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage and Survival by Velma Wallis

From Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance(Goodreads) 

Death of Mr. Dodsley by John Ferguson

From @Heaven_ali 

A Cat in the Window by Derek Tangye

From @MallikaRamacha1 

The Corpse with Sticky Fingers by George Bagby (1952)

From @ClothesinBooks, retweeted by @SarahM_Matthews 

Have you spotted a favorite or two? Or have I inspired you to acquire one, two, or more to your TBR? 😏

 

A Walk in Paris: Montmartre District #ParisInJuly2023

No, I am not taking holiday to France at the moment. I’m writing this post for #ParisInJuly2023 on my office’s computer, having arrived at the office 30 minutes earlier. But what about the walk in Paris, then? Do you know that a virtual walk in Paris exists? I have found this YouTube channel last year: A Walk in Paris. It's basically videos where a Parisian takes a walk around certain area (different route every time) of Paris. What I love about this channel is that the guy just walks and never talks; it feels like taking a stroll with a friend, agreeing that we’ll leave the other alone along the way. It enables me to be transported to Paris (albeit virtually), soaking up the atmosphere, the buzz, the scenes, snippets of conversations in French (and English) every now and then, while curling up in my bed, inside my air-conditioned bedroom on a hot July afternoon!

Last weekend I was taking a stroll around Montmartre in 18^th arrondissement. I loved this area - I remember walking up the hill alone on a beautiful morning, when I visited Paris 23 years ago. I was too early back then, the shops are still closed, but I could still feel the atmosphere, even today!

Our 1 hour 18 minutes walk is started from Moulin Rouge at Place Blanche. We took the Rue Lepic route to Place Anne Marie Carriere - I ❤ this picturesque place! Then we walked on Rue des Abesses, till we passed Êglise Saint Jean de Montmartre.

picture from: frenchmoments.eu

Next we arrived at a small garden, where I found a blue wall full of murals. It's Le Mur des Je t'aime! (Wall of Love). Apparently it "was created in 2000 by artists Fédéric Baron and Claire Kito and is composed of 612 tiles of enamelled lava, on which the phrase 'I love you' is featured 311 times in 250 languages" (Wikipedia). I wonder whether there's an Indonesian version, and what it looks like! A street musician with quite a decent voice is performing near there. We stopped for a few minutes to watch - I pictured myself throwing some coins; the music did cheered me up!

picture from: francebleu.fr

We got on through Rue la Vieuville, at the end of which we climbed a set of stairs, which brought us up - a bit panting - to Rue Drevet. After lingering for few minutes, we turned left to Rue Gabrielle. At the corner I saw a cafe with coffee-colored awning called Les Rendez-Vous des Amis - a proper name for a warm-looking cafe, non?

At the corner of Rue Ravignan we heard some noisy music, which came from a bar called Bar chez Camille. But along the narrow road, the voices faded to a silence, and I could even hear birds tweeting. Then I saw the first of the famous green Wallace Fountains I've ever seen! It really looks beautiful. If you're not familiar with these fountains, here's some interesting article for you. 

picture from: fabricofparis.com

Our next route is Rue de L'Abreuvoir. If you look up the roof top of the buildings, you'd see the top dome of Basilique du Sacré Coeur hovering in a distant! But don't stop for too long, because down the road you'll find a picturesque pink mansionette in the corner - aha! It must be the famous La Maison Rose, whose pictures I have seen so often on the internet, now I see it with my own eyes! - well, through a video, but still! I'm glad we spent quite a while here, admiring the gorgeous ancient building from every angle. Here's a little history of La Maison Rose.

picture from: afrenchcollection.com

Not far from there, at Rue de Saules, another colorful scenery came suddenly onto my sight. We have arrived at the Galerie d'Art Céramique, where you can buy, or just sight-see, handmade ceramic items with bright colors. Some of these ceramics are hung on the outside wall, providing quite an attraction in itself. I promised myself that if one day I should come to Paris again, I'd stop by this place - and I bet I won't leave it empty handed!

picture from: parisperfect.com

But we didn't buy anything this time :D. Continuing our walks, we passed another famous landmark: Le Consulat restaurant, which was, unfortunately, closed when we're passing there - not that we planned to eat anyway. Just around the corner, there's Place du Tertre. A small square, but crowded with cafes and tourists. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to admire the artists' paintings, as we must soon continue our walk along Rue du Chevalier de la Barre until we arrived at our last destination: Basilique du Sacré Coeur! Strangely, the nearer we were to the vicinity, the atmosphere began to change. There's a solemn hush that you usually feel around churches.

An artist painting - picture from: frenchmoments.eu

A wave of nostalgia burst inside my heart, as I could see myself twenty-three years ago at the same place. There on those steps I had met a couple of middle-aged respectable tourists who took my pictures using my camera (how I worried that they would run away with it, but no... my instinct told me they are nice people). All those memories came back to me, and as our walk ended, I asked myself: Will I ever come back to Paris some day? I don't know. I wish to, but for now, let me just take a (virtual) walk in Paris.

picture from: gpsmycity.com

C’est tout pour le moment, mes chers amis! Next weekend I’ll take another walk in Paris, but not sure to which area, I’ll tell you more on my next update. Until then… à bientôt!

 

#MurderEveryMonday: Summer-Holiday Covers

I have often seen this weekly meme on Twitter, and have been longing to do it. I love crime fiction, and I am a cover-art lover too. It's been awhile since I did my last Judging Book by Its Cover, so this meme might be my consolation. I might do this regularly, at least once a month, and on this blog, instead of Twitter.

Murder Every Monday was created by Kate Jackson @ Cross Examining Crime and @ArmchairSleuth. Put simply, the plan is for readers to take a photo of a crime fiction book (novel or short story collection) which meets a given week’s theme criteria and to then share it online, using the hashtag #MurderEveryMonday.

This week's theme is:

Cover with a summer holiday theme

(Holiday Resort/Suitcase/Sunbathers/Beach/Holidaymakers on a promenade or other holiday destination or facility – Be creative!)

Here're my five picks (I might not use covers of my copy, since I've read mostly from e-book or audiobooks):

The first three are from books I've read by Agatha Christie. Christie loved travelling, so it's no wonder that she sent her detective/sleuth on vacation quite often.

The other two are books I haven't read before, but... don't you just love those beautiful covers from the British Library Crime Classics editions?!

Which cover(s) do you like most?

If you want to participate, here's the list of the weekly theme:

 

The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907) by Gaston Leroux: A Review

💛 The Mystery of the Yellow Room is where we are first introduced to Gaston Leroux' genius detective, young (he's only 18 years old) Joseph Rouletabille. Like Leroux, Rouletabille is a journalist. But his great logical thinking will soon earn him a new reputation: a great detective. Just like all great fictional detectives, such as Holmes or Poirot, this story was narrated by Rouletabille's sidekick, a lawyer called Jean Sainclair.

💛 The titular yellow room is Mademoiselle Mathilde Stangerson's bedroom at the Chateau Glandier, where she was assisting her father, Professor Joseph Stangerson in his scientific works, that night. At midnight Mademoiselle resigned to her bedroom, locking the door that opens to the laboratory, where her father was still working, and their loyal old servant "Father" Jacques was sitting quietly.

💛 Then the strangest thing happened - it happened so suddenly that the two men were astonished. Loud voices came from inside the room: people struggling, furniture tumbling, Mademoiselle's yelling 'help!', and there's even gun shots. The two men frantically tried to open the window from outside (it's locked), then force-opened the locked door. When they were able to enter, what they found was too impossible. No one was in the room, except Mathilde, lying unconsciously on the floor, bloody hand marks on the wall. Who had attacked her? Why? But most importantly, how did he escape (the door opens to the laboratory is the only door to the bedroom, and there's no chimney)? Even the Police couldn't come to any suggestion.

💛 Joseph Rouletabille is intrigued by this strange incident, and together with Sainclair goes to Glandier to investigate. Mathilde's fiancé is there, and only by uttering a strange sentence to him, Rouletabille is permitted to enter the chateau - something that puzzles Sainclair, much as Poirot often puzzles Hastings with his cryptical remarks.

💛 Formal investigation is run by a top police detective Frederic Larsan from Surrete. He reminded me much of Poirot's nemesis, also from Surrete: Giraud. And like Poirot, Rouletabille also mocks him for not having a great logical thinking, though he works thoroughly on the ground finding clues. Although Rouletabille is definitely humbler than Poirot - he occasionally admires his rival's way - he is as confident as Poirot, that he will win the race.

💛 This is probably one of the first locked room mysteries ever written, and it provides quite a logical challenge for the reader, as much as the detectives. Besides the characters I mentioned above, there are also a grumpy innkeeper, his pretty wife, two concierges, and a flirtatious gamekeeper.

💛 After the first incident, there are two stranger incidents still - one of which is more serious attempt to take Mathilde's life, and there's one more murder. Larsan accused the fiancé, Robert Darzac, who had feeble alibi during those incidents, but Rouletabille disagrees. His explanation in the end causes great astonishment, and I couldn't guess it either!

💛 All in all, it is a satisfying mystery - a good portion of healthy exercise of one's grey cells, wrapped in a fast-paced thriller, with generous sprinkles of exciting actions.

Rating: 4 / 5

 

My 1st book for Paris in July 2023

Shelf Control #3: Hello? Is Anybody There? by Jostein Gaarder

Shelf Control is a weekly feature created by Lisa at Bookshelf Fantasies, and celebrates the books waiting to be read on your TBR piles/mountains. Since early January 2023, Shelf Control has moved base to Literary Potpourri.

My pick this time is:

Hello? Is Anybody There? by Jostein Gaarder

Jostein Gaarder is a Norwegian novelist, short stories, and children books writer. His books mostly aim to educate children or young adult on philosophy. His most famous work is Sophie's World (also my favorite). I have read most of Gaarder's other books too: The Solitaire Mystery (another favorite), The World According to Anna, Through A Glass Darkly, Vita Brevis, The Orange Girl, Maya, The Ringmaster's Daughter, and his Christmas theme book: The Christmas Mystery.

Hello? Is Anybody There? is another philosophy-theme book for children. It's on my TBR in Google Playbook, though I don't remember buying it! 🙃

Summary from Goodreads:
"While waiting for the birth of his baby brother, Joe is visited by a strange child from another planet, and the two discover that they, and their planets, share many similarities as well as differences."

I think this will provide a fun reading; a cute yet a little thought provoking story, without highbrow lectures on philosophy.

Have you read this book? Or any of Gaarder's?