The Affair of the Blood-Stained Egg Cosy

Although set in the Golden Age, and often has the look and feel of such this was written in the 1970s by James Anderson and is the first of a series of novels set in the same country house. Therefore, it is a pastiche but don't let that put you off as it is indeed pretty good.

The story is complicated and has all the tropes you expect from a Golden Age mystery. It is set in a dark country house and includes a cast of toffs, flappers, a bumbling (but ultimately efficient) police detective, perky keen amateurs and plenty of red herrings and puzzles. There is even a map!

The book is well written and an enjoyable read, which just about manages to err on the right side of parody though at times a close run thing. A great send-up and celebration of a genre.

A trip to the Camp Hill Line

The Camp Hill Line between Birmingham New Street and Kings Norton had a number of stations which closed in 1941 as a war time economy. The stations finally re-opened last week (the line remained open) and on Friday i went to travel to all three of them! The stations are Moseley Village, Kings Heath and the superbly named Pineapple Road. The stations are all fine, if largely the same.

You can see my photos here.

A trip to Greater Manchester

Last Friday was Good Friday, in the past few years i have usually gone off on an overnight trip down to Surrey or Berkshire, but this year i just spent the day exploring railway stations in the Greater Manchester area. I ended up ticking off seven stations including Stockport, and also the superbly named Flowery Field (though i did not see any sign of such field or any flowers). Maybe it is just a bit early?

You can see my photos here.

The Rogues’ Syndicate

An enjoyable murder mystery from the Collins Detective Club by former police detective Frank Froëst. This first hand knowledge of actual police work and the workings of Scotland Yard is well used in this story.

A young man is handed a package by a strange woman in the London fog. Soon, he finds himself accused of killing the woman's father and being involved in a larger conspiracy. Of course he is innocent and the real criminals are an organised gang. Can detective Menzies sort things out and find out what is really going on?

This is a solid police procedural, it might be a little dated (being written during the First World War) and has a little bit too much of an international flavour with some American characters in old London town (some with rather ridiculous names). However, it's a solid enough read without being too memorable.

Bash Street Kids Annual 1991

Time for another collected volume of Bash Street Kids stories, originally published weekly in the Beano comic of course. Part of the fun of these volumes (well for me anyway) is trying to work out when the stories may have been originally published. This annual is actually pretty easy to date to around 1982, one of the stories features the World Cup and it took place in that year. Another story has the Kids dress up for a disco and Smiffy looks like Adam Ant!

So, i probably read these stories in the comic as i was a weekly reader back then though i don't really remember them. But it was a long time ago.

This is a good collection of stories, the Kids were on top form. Unlike their exam results of course.

Rebooting the shrubbery

A few years ago (during the Covid lock down in fact) i built a second raised bed in the garden and planted a small collection of shrubs in it. A few of the shrubs have thrived though some have died so i have decided to try and reboot the shrubbery this year. Earlier, i bought two new shrubs and planted them. Since the photograph i have also cut back the dead parts of the shrubs already there to tidy things up. I think there is space for one more.