The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov

"He was an ideal man, almost an abstraction. Who could feel love, or even liking for such a man? A man without weaknesses serves only to make everyone else conscious of his own imperfections " - Detective Bailey in the Naked Sun.

Plainclothesman Bailey, from Earth is called upon by Solaria to investigate a murder on their planet, the first one in hundreds of years. Solaria was colonized by humans centuries ago, along with other outer planets in the galaxy. Earth is now reduced to underground cities, where people live in fear of open spaces and the Sun. Colonists who move to other planets are far superior in terms of military and technology and Earth men live in perpetual fear of these spacers.

Solaria in particular has made superlative advancements in Robotics. The ratio of 1 human to robots in solaria is 1:10,000. There are only 20,000 humans in Solaria who own large and self sufficient estates, with armies of robots to fulfill their every whim and fancy. Over a period of time human interaction has become minimum on Solaria, people seldom view each other and almost never see/meet. They use some advanced 3-D technology to interact with each other without ever meeting in person. On the other hand, Earth is over crowded and human interaction is a necessity, for this reason a detective from Earth would do a much better job of investigating a murder then a Solarian.

The Fourth Door by Paul Halter

Henry has had the gift since he was a child. He could perform spectacular magic tricks and bedazzle his audience with his skills as an acrobat and a conjurer. Henry lived with his father and mother, in a little village outside Oxford. Tragedy struck and Henry's mother was killed in an accident. Henry's father, Arthur, turned to a medium for solace.

The medium called Alice Latimer lives with her husband in a haunted house close to Henry's. One day Arthur is badly attacked, and left to die. His son goes missing and is blamed for the attempt on his father's life. Henry's best friend and the Latimers claim to see him at the same time at two different railway stations, but how can one man be at two places at the same time, is someone mistaken or another clever trick by Henry.

A few years later Alice Latimer, wants to do a seance and drive out the malevolent spirit from the haunted house, her husband, Patrick Latimer, offers to lock himself up in the haunted room and face the wrath of the enigmatic spirit. In front of witnesses the room is locked and sealed from outside, there is no way to either get in or out, a classic locked room, and where there is a locked room, murder can't be far behind. Poor Patrick is found murdered, but on careful scrutiny it is determined that the murdered man is not really Patrick. As more and more mysteries keep piling, the dead bodies also start piling up.

Paul Halter has been crowned the king of locked room mysteries and a successor to John Dickosn Carr, but does such an opulent title really suit him and his work?

Case For Three Detectives by Leo Bruce

Mrs Thurston is an amiable, benevolent, harmless middle aged woman. She loves to entertain and play the hostess, one evening when she was playing her part as a hostess to perfection, sleep induces her to leave her party and retire to bed. A few minutes later the guests in her drawing room below hear blood curling screams of a woman, the party rushes upstairs only to find Mrs Thurston's bedroom bolted from the inside.

They break open the door and find the poor lady murdered, her throat has been slit and there is no sign of the killer, there are two windows in the room, but looking outside they see no one and the flower bed beneath the window is undisturbed. After a through search of the room no one is found hiding in the room and there is no indication of a secret entrance. Then, where did the killer go? pretty soon people realize that they have all just witnessed a locked room murder, a locked room murder is obviously out of the league of local police sergeant, Beef.

Enter Lord Plimsoll, Amer Picon and Monsignor Smith, three amateur detectives who will remind the reader of three very famous literary detectives, as the three detectives race against each other to solve the crime, Sergeant Beef sits contemptuously in the background shouting that he has the solution, but will anyone listen?

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

 "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?" is what a dying man said to Bobby, the Vicar's Son. Bobby was playing golf with the local doctor and he hit a ball over the edge of a cliff. In trying to retrieve the ball Bobby saw a dying man on the rocks, the dying man said these words and passed away.

Few days later the man was identified and his death was attributed to an accident. Bobby who had all forgotten about this was enjoying a chilled beer under a tree after consuming the beverage he went for a nap only to wake up in a hospital. Apparently, Bobby had been poisoned by someone. 

Bobby's rich, aristocrat and vivacious friend Frankie thinks that his poisoning is somehow connected to the business over at the cliff. Frankie and Bobby take up the role of amateur sleuths and start investigating this mystery. The deeper they get into it, the more they realize that this mystery is an abyss with layers and layers of obscurity and that the only way the two would ever solve it, is if they find out "Why didn't they ask Evans?"

Review: I have in the past few weeks read and reviewed some below par or sub standard Christie's, and most of these were written outside the golden age. So, I decided to pick up a golden age non-series(no Poirot or Marple) book for my next read and picked this 1934 piece of detective fiction, but does this stand up to the golden age reputation?

Trial and Error by Anthony Berkeley

Plot: Shy and reclusive Lawrence Todhunter is suffering a fatal heart disease and before he departs he wants to do a final good deed for his fellow man. Todhunter arranges a meeting of  his close acquaintances and coaxes them in a academic discussion of what should be done by a person who wants the world to be a better place. To his utmost surprise the unanimous verdict is to commit murder! removing a vile and unscrupulous person would mean helping multiple people whose lives are troubled by this ignoble individual. 

Todhunter takes up the advise and then searches for his victim. His search ends with Miss Norwood, a film actress who seduces men by the dozens and leaves them in destitution once she has ruined their lives. Todhunter commits a meticulously planned murder and shoots the "unlady" like Miss Norwood. Todhunter after committing this great act of valor and bravery goes off on a trip to Japan. but en route he receives news that a married man Palmer who was involved with Miss Norwood has been arrested for her murder.

Todhunter is appalled at this grave injustice and returns immediately to inform the authorities that they have arrested the wrong man and it is actually him they want, but the police think of Todhunter as dangerous as a box of kittens and dismiss him as a lunatic. Todhunter's desperate attempts to get Palmer exonerated end up in vain as he is found guilty and is to be executed for killing the famous actress.

Todhunter enlists a detective and a famous barrister to help him in prosecuting himself.

Review: The plot sounds fantastic, a man plagued by a fatal disease wants to do charity by committing murder. but his plan goes haywire when someone else is convicted for his crime and now he has to prove his own guilt which is not going to be easy. Is the fantastic sounding plot as good as Berkeley's brlliant novel The Poisoned Chocolate Case?

The Curse of the Bronze Lamp aka Lord of the Sorcerers by Carter Dickson

It is said that a Curse will fall on those who disturb the undead of Egypt.

Lady Helen and her Father Lord Severn excavate a tomb in Egypt, very soon one of their party dies from a Scorpion Bite. Then Lord Severn falls ill and induces his daughter to go back to London.

Among other things found out of their excavations in Egypt there is a  Bronze Lamp. Lady Helen now intends to take this lamp back to England and place it on the mantelpiece of her bedroom to prove that the curse is a farce. On her way a Seer declares that anyone who takes the bronze lamp outside Egypt will be blown to dust.

Lady Helen reaches London and then with a couple of friends proceeds to Severn Hall where she has planned to dispel the myth of the curse. On reaching Severn Hall, Lady Helen jumps out of the car, turns the knob of the door and goes inside.
After a brief moment her two friends follow her inside and see no one in the hall except two old and faithful servants approaching them. The Butler eager to meet his mistress enquirers about her, but he is told that she has already entered. then where did she go? she could not have gone outside as all the windows were watched by gardeners, she could not have gone upstairs as there was a plumber working there. A search of the whole house is ordered immediately but it is in vain, apparently Lady Helen has vanished, she opened the door went inside but was then blown to dust just as the Seer predicted.

The Case of the Constant Suicides by John Dickson Carr

Dr Alan Campbell a Scot, who has never been to Scotland gets a letter inviting him to meet others members of his Clan following the death of a family member. The departed soul is of Angus Campbell, a man who has plunged to his death from the window of a  locked bedroom chamber atop a tower. The insurance agent calls it a suicide but Angus's relatives call it murder. The perplexing question to be asked is how can someone murder a man who is alone in a locked room bolted from inside, and the only window to the room is inaccessible from both below and top. The relatives come up with their own conundrum which is the discovery of a dog carrier bag under the bed of Angus, the relatives contemplate that something could have escaped from the bag that would have led Angus to jump in sheer fright from the soaring high tower.

Meanwhile these questions linger on, there is another suicide attempt off the tower and a third locked room suicide, making this a Case of Constant Suicides for Dr. Gideon Fell.

Review:

The Master of the locked room Returns! For me reading Carr books releases the same endorphins as sex or chocolates. His books have everything which a being like me wants to pass over time in this world full of  otherwise mundane and monotonous sources of leisure. An Impossible Crime, eccentric and aged detectives, hint of the supernatural, mystery and magic. Enough with the Carr encomiums, lets do the book review.

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

Hercule Poirot's Christmas by Agatha Christie

The Lee's have gathered at their father's home for Christmas. A millionaire twice over Simon Lee evokes strong passion among-st his children. When Simon lee a day before Christmas announces his desire to change his will to include new members it is evidently not taken well with his family.

While the Lee's are having dinner and coffee downstairs they suddenly hire a blood curling cry from the floor above. They all rush towards their father's chamber but the door is locked from inside. They break down the door and find Mr Lee's throat slit and his blood splattered all over the room.

Luckily Poirot is at hand to help the local police solve the crime.

Review: I have often stated that the best Poirot books are the one's where he works alone where he does not have his Watson around i.e. Arthur Hastings. This one is another example in support of that deduction.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Poirot has retired for the 100th time and is settled down in an obscure little town where he dreams of growing marrows and smoking his peculiar small cigarettes, but crime follows the Belgian Detective even if he does not go looking for it.

In this case Poirot has to deal with the Murder of Roger Ackroyd, Ackroyd is a man whose life is shrouded with mystery and suspense, he knew that someone was blackmailing the women that he loved and before she took her own life she sent him an evening post detailing who the guilty party was. But Ackroyd was found dead in his study stabbed through the neck. We begin from here and as Dame Christie says in this 1926 book: "to punkie who likes an orthodox detective story, murder, inquest, and suspicion falling on everyone in turn"

Poirot Investigates the most famous case of his career.

Review: This was the first Poirot I read infact it was one of the first Detective novels that I have read and the book had such an affect on me that I can still do a detailed review and tell you the story chapter by chapter. so let's get to it; The mystery is invariably interesting, it is very well written, characters are well drawn and the best part of the book is that Poirot is less cocky then usual and also becomes the butt of jokes of the Narrator's witty Sister. Poirot does not hog the limelight he comes and goes in the book, he is not missed in his absence and neither it is felt that he is too overpowering over the other characters in his presence.

This book also corroborates my theory that the best Poirot books are the ones where he does not have a "Watson" i.e. he works alone. The affable Arthur Hastings who is Poirot's sidekick is not missed at all. I think that Hastings had become a channel for Christie to show her frustration over Poirot because I have observed that it is always Hastings that gives the impression that Poirot is more egoistic then he actually is.

About the Mystery, it has one of the best twist endings of all time. This book is the true earth shattering book of the mystery genre which changed the rules of the Detective fiction, the paper back edition that I have has 360+ pages but I breezed through these especially through the end.

This book is not only one of the best Poirot's, it's also one of the best Christie's and also one of the best of the Detective Fiction genre. Strong Buy!!

Rating:

Where can you get it: http://www.flipkart.com/books/0007282540?pid=5kw3fajdme&_l=CJHVEqJO3veuHytbACc9dw--&_r=zWseKvNpSSCYGJ%20OVotaFg--&ref=14abe0fe-8180-4cc3-8a1d-69b8751d22dc

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

"And then there were none" written by the Queen of Crime Agatha Christie is perhaps the most famous murder mystery of all time and has been adapted several times on the big screen, does Gumnam(1965) ring a bell? It’s sold over 100 million copies making it the world’s best selling mystery ever and one of the bestselling books of all time. The first of several Christie stories based on nursery rhymes, this deals out ten mysterious murders, and none was more satisfactory at the conclusion of this cryptic puzzle. This book stars no Hercule Poirot and no Jane Marple, it belongs to no series.

Plot:

10 people are invited to a Mansion on the mysterious and deserted Soldier Island. The Host is conspicuously missing.

On the Island they are cut off from the rest of the world except from the dark shadows of their own past. The guests are unable to leave because of freak weather. In the trapped mansion, one by one the guests start to get murdered and as Tensions in the house begin to rise the prisoners/guests of the Mansion begin to realize that the murderer is one of them but can they figure out who the murderer is before he/she is able to finish off the nursery rhyme:



Ten little Soldier boys went out to dine;
One choked his little self and then there were nine.

Nine little Soldier boys sat up very late;
One overslept himself and then there were eight.

Eight little Soldier boys traveling in Devon;
One said he'd stay there and then there were seven.

Seven little Soldier boys chopping up sticks;
One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.

Six little Soldier boys playing with a hive;
A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.

Five little Soldier boys going in for law;
One got in Chancery and then there were four.

Four little Soldier boys going out to sea;
A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.

Three little Soldier boys walking in the zoo;
A big bear hugged one and then there were two.

Two Little Soldier boys sitting in the sun;
One got frizzled up and then there was one.

One little Soldier boy left all alone;
He went out and hanged himself and then there were none.

Review:

This is without a doubt the best book that I have ever read and can totally understand how it sold 100 million copies, the book is brilliant and the plot is ingenious. Even though the guests are the only people on the island, they are all mysteriously murdered one by one, in a manner paralleling the nursery rhyme, I was not able to figure out who the murderer is in fact I was totally baffled by the ending, If you are able to figure out then hats off to you. This is not your regular English country village mysteries, this one is a dark murder mystery the atmosphere that Christie creates at the end of the book is of pure terror, I was actually scared a couple of times when reading this one, there is a paragraph in the book were the mansion is being lashed with rains there is no light exterior or interior and in the rooms of the mansion lay dead bodies of people who have been murdered and the survivors are waiting for their fate in the dining room.

If you don’t read murder mysteries or just don’t read at all, try out this one and you will not regret your decision, 5 stars for the Queen of Crime.