This challenge is found here. I am reading from the Golden Age of mysteries (published prior to 1960). Read all about it and join in!
- Constable: 6 books/1 per category. COMPLETE
- Detective Sergeant: 12 books/2 per category: COMPLETE
- Inspector: 18 books/3 per category: COMPLETE
- Inspired Amateur: 24 books/4 per category: COMPLETE
- Chief Inspector: 30 books / 5 per category: COMPLETE
- Superintendent: 36 books / 6 per category: COMPLETE
- plus a few extras but couldn't quite get 7 per category.
In 2018 I attained Chief Inspector level at 24 books. Seems to be some inflation at work here, this year it takes 30 books to get to the same level :-)
Photo from Grand Valley State University Police Academy by Rick VanGrouw
click to enlarge
Titles below are links to my reviews.
WHO - 6
- (Academic): Deep Lay the Dead by Frederick C. Davis (1942), in which our detective Rigby Webb is a Professor of Mathematics
- (Professional): Vicky Van by Carolyn Wells (1917), in which our main sleuth and narrator is lawyer Chet Calhoun.
- (Medical): Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1932) in which our investigator is Nurse Hilda Adams, a.k.a. 'Miss Pinkerton'
- (Journalist/Writer): The Man Without Nerves by E. Phillips Oppenheim (1934), in which our detective assumes the career of a Journalist/Writer as a cover story.
- (Artist): The Ginger Cat Mystery by Robin Forsythe (1935), in which our amateur detective much prefers painting landscape scenes.
- (Watson Narrator): Might As Well Be Dead by Rex Stout (1956), with Archie Goodwin as narrator
WHAT - 8
- (Color in title): The Black Heart by Sydney Horler (1928)
- (Animal in title): Birds of Ill Omen by Kathleen Moore Knight (1948)
- (Means in title): Give 'Em the Ax by A. A. Fair (1944)
- (More than one author): The Finishing Stroke by Ellery Queen (1958), comprising authors Frederic Dannay and Manfred Bennington Lee.
- (Comic/Humorous): The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hapwood (1926), a mystery-comedy play which was then turned into the novel.
- (Inverted): Phantom Lady by William Irish, in which the main character has already been tried and convicted to death as the story opens
- (Includes letters): The Roman Hat Mystery by Ellery Queen (1929), in which letters are used as a basis for blackmail.
- (Literary allusion): There Is A Tide by Agatha Christie (1948), the title being taken from Shakespeare: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."
WHEN - 7
- (Time in title): Before Midnight by Rex Stout (1955)
- (Timing of crime is crucial): The Perfect Crime by Ellery Queen (1942), in which several events, including the murder, occur over a span of 10 minutes; and analysis of the sequence of the events reveals the murderer.
- (Weather event): The Case of Jennie Brice by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1913), which takes place during a spring flood.
- (World War II): Speak No Evil by Mignon Eberhart (1940), in which the victim is a dealer in war materiel; prior to US entry into the war.
- (Trip/vacation): Death Blew Out the Match by Kathleen Moore Knight (1935), in which murder occurs on the narrator's summer vacation to Penberthy Island in Massachusetts.
- (Performance): I Can Find My Way Out by Ngaio Marsh (1946) in which an actor is killed in his dressing room while a play is being performed.
- (Special event): Stream Sinister by Kathleen Moore Knight (1945), in which murder and mayhem occurs centered around a birthday celebration for one of two twins - but has one come back from the dead?
WHERE - 9
- (Country House): Face Cards by Carolyn Wells, which is set at Clearman Court, the ancestral Clearman home in Connecticut.
- (Capital city): The Man Next Door by Mignon Eberhart (1942), which takes place in Washington DC.
- (On an island): Footbridge to Death by Kathleen Moore Knight (1947), which occurs on Penberthy Island off Massachusetts. (Note - started the book in Dec 2018, so the review post has that date on it, finished it in Jan 2019)
- (Small village): Q As In Quicksand by Lawrence Treat (1947), which is set in Gobelin, Pennsylvania
- (Hospital): Five Passengers from Lisbon by Mignon Eberhart (1946), which takes place on the hospital ship U.S.H.S. Magnolia.
- (Other country): The Come Back by Carolyn Wells (1921), in which the first half of the book takes place in Labrador, Canada.
- (Outdoor): The Wheel That Turned by Kathleen Moore Knight (1936), in which the climactic and final murder scene takes place at a water wheel on the outside of an old mill
- (Place of performance): And So To Murder by Carter Dickson (1940), in which all action takes place on a sound stage at a motion picture studio.
- (Locked room): Deep Lake Mystery by Carolyn Wells (1928)
HOW - 8
- (drowning): The D. A.'s Daughter by Herman Petersen (1943), in which the main character dies when her car plunges into a river. Re-read in 2019, blog post is from 2018 reading.
- (death on wheels): The Secret (novella contained within The Episode of the Wandering Knife) by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1950), in which the murderer commits suicide by driving into a river
- (strangulation): Murder R.F.D. by Herman Peterson (1942) in which one of the victims is strangled with hosiery.
- (knife): In The Onyx Lobby by Carolyn Wells (1920)
- (shooting): The Last Hero by Leslie Charteris (1930)
- (Unusual method): Instead of Evidence by Rex Stout (1949), a novella contained in Trouble in Triplicate; in which the murder weapon is an exploding cigar.
- (2 deaths by different means): The Tainted Token by Kathleen Moore Knight (1939), two victims are stabbed, one falls to his death.
- (Poison): And Be a Villain by Rex Stout (1948), in which two victims are poisoned by cyanide.
WHY - 7
- (Best of list): And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (1939) Publications International lists the novel as the sixth best-selling title.
- (Name/same letter): Where There's a Will by Rex Stout (1940)
- (My country): Bedrooms Have Windows by A. A. Fair (1949)
- (Discomfort zone): The Hollow by Agatha Christie (1946)
- (Read by fellow challenger): The Window at the White Cat by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1910), which Bev reviewed on Goodreads in 2015.
- (Simon Says): The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson (1934)
- (Made into TV episode): The Case of the Negligent Nymph by Erle Stanley Gardner (1949)
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