The Floating Admiral - The Detection Club

Inspector Rudge does not encounter many cases of murder in the sleepy seaside town of Whynmouth. 

But when an old sailor lands a rowing boat containing a fresh corpse with a stab wound to the chest, the Inspector's investigation immediately comes up against several obstacles. 

The vicar, whose boat the body was found in, is clearly withholding information, and the victim's niece has disappeared.

There is clearly more to this case than meets the eye even the identity of the victim is called into doubt. 

Inspector Rudge begins to wonder just how many people have contributed to this extraordinary crime and whether he will ever unravel it

In 1931, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and ten other crime writers from the newly-formed Detection Club’ collaborated in publishing a unique crime novel. 

In a literary game of consequences, each author would write one chapter, leaving G.K. Chesterton to write a typically paradoxical prologue and Anthony Berkeley to tie up all the loose ends.

In addition, each of the authors provided their own solution in a sealed envelope, all of which appeared at the end of the book, with Agatha Christie’s ingenious conclusion acknowledged at the time to be enough to make the book worth buying on its own’.
The authors of this novel are: G. K. Chesterton, Canon Victor Whitechurch, G. D. H. Cole and Margaret Cole, Henry Wade, Agatha Christie, John Rhode, Milward Kennedy, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Edgar Jepson, Clemence Dane and Anthony Berkeley.

[Book Description Source: www.flipkart.com ]
Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.86 out of 5 (3,765 Ratings ,184 Reviews -As on Feb 03 2018)
My Rating:   3 out of 5
My Comments:
They say too many cooks spoil the broth. 
This however is not the case here. But at the same time the book can't be compared to a gourmet dish, despite legends of detective fiction writing like Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G.K. Chesterton and many more writers collaborating to write this book.
You may read it for its uniqueness of being the first collaborative novel by the greatest crime writers but don't have any great expectations..

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Sherlock Holmes FAQ by Dave Thompson

All That's Left to Know About the World's Greatest Private Detective 
The Sherlock Holmes FAQ is a one-stop guide to over a centurys worth of mystery, mayhem, and most of all, deduction. 
Digging deep inside the manifold worlds of Sherlock Holmes, the FAQ is a dramatic and detailed digest of the Baker Street sleuth in all of his many guises, as TV and radio star, movie phenomenon, and, of course, literary giant. 
Chapters investigate his predecessors and his successors, and discuss the influence that Holmes has had not only on other writers, but on real-life police procedures as well. 
The London that he perambulated in deerstalker and cloak is laid bare, plus the life and other fascinations of Holmes creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are mapped out in all their foggy, darkened atmosphere. 
We meet giant hounds and fearful foes, common crooks and misdirected souls. 
Ghosts appear in these pages, and vampires, too and more puzzles, conundrums, and mysteries than any mortal detective could ever hope to solve. 
But Holmes, as we shall see, was no mere mortal. 
And Sherlock Holmes FAQ is the story of his immortality.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ]


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.46 out of 5 (28 Ratings , 7 Reviews  - As on Dec 6 2017)
My Rating:   3 out of 5
My Comments:
Will be a great addition in the library of a Sherlock Holmes fan. Lots of interesting trivia. Beware of the spoilers though if you have not read any of the 56 short stories and 4 novels featuring Sherlock Holmes.

Buying Options 

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Nano - Robin Cook

A lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology institute in the foothills of the Rockies, Nano is ahead of the curve in the competitive world of molecular manufacturing, including the construction of microbivores, tiny nanorobots with the ability to gobble up viruses and bacteria.
But when Pia Grazdani takes a job there, she’s shocked by the secretive corporate culture.
She’s warned by her boss not to investigate the other work being done at the gigantic facility, nor to ask questions about the source of the seemingly endless capital that funds the institute’s research. 
And when Pia encounters a fellow employee on a corporate jogging path suffering the effects of a seizure, she soon realizes she may have literally stumbled upon Nano’s human guinea pigs. 
Is the tech giant on the cusp of one of the biggest medical discoveries of the twenty-first century—a treatment option for millions—or have they already sold out to the highest bidder?
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.11 out of 5 (2437 Ratings; 440 Reviews)
My Rating:  3 out of 5
My Comments: As I was reading this book, I had almost made up my mind to give it a 4 star rating. But the abrupt and disappointing climax put me off and I ended up giving a 3 star instead.


Buying Options 
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The Chase - Clive Cussler

In The Chase Clive Cussler introduces a historical hero- Isaac Bell.
1950: the rusting hulk of a steam locomotive is raised from the depths of a Montana lake.
Inside are three bodies, bloody clue to a fortune lost for over forty years . . .
1906: For two years banks across the western United States have been living in terror of the 'Butcher Bandit'. 
This cold-blooded bank robber empties safes and murders all witnesses, vanishing without trace. 
In desperation, the US Government calls in Isaac Bell, the best detective in the country. 
From Arizona to Colorado to the streets of San Francisco during the great quake, Bell uses all his guile and ingenuity to catch up with the murderous Bandit.
But when Bell has him almost cornered - the Bandit turns really nasty. 
And suddenly the stakes have changed. 
Bell isn't just battling to get his man. 
He's fighting for his very survival . . .
Bestseller Clive Cussler - author of the Dirk Pitt novels Arctic Drift and Crescent Dawn - sends hero Isaac Bell to solve a mysterious series of bank-robberies and murders in the first novel of historical thriller series The Isaac Bell Adventures.  
The Chase is followed by The Wrecker and The Spy.
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.in ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.9 out of 5 (10,744 Ratings; 796 Reviews)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments: A fast paced thriller ideal for light reading. Captures the wild west scenario of early 1900s very well. 

Buying Options 
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(Anybody can read Kindle books—even without a Kindle device—with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones and tablets.)

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

When a troubled supermodel falls to her death from the balcony of her London home, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. 

However, her brother has his doubts and calls in private detective Cormoran Strike to investigate.

Strike is a war veteran--wounded both physically and psychologically--and his private life is in disarray. 

The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's world, the darker things get and the closer he comes to terrible danger.

Published to huge acclaim from readers, reviewers, and writers everywhere, The Cuckoo's Calling is a compulsively readable crime novel, the first in a series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.81 out of 5 (247,289 Ratings, 22,706 Reviews)

My Rating:  4 out of 5.  

Buying Options 
Buy from Amazon.com  Buy from Amazon.in  Buy Kindle Version
(Anybody can read Kindle books—even without a Kindle device—with the FREE Kindle app for smartphones and tablets.)

The Complete Adventures of Feluda - Volume 1 by Satyajit Ray

Summary Of The Book 
This first volume of  omnibus collection of the renowned Feluda stories presents 16 tales of murder, mystery, and a whole lot of adventure.
For anyone who has been a fan of the Feluda-Topshe-Jatayu trio, this intriguing corpus of detective tales becomes an ideal book to own.
Satyajit Ray, the literary genius, conceived the idea of a Bengali version of Sherlock Holmes somewhere around the 1960s.
 Between 1965 and 1992, he wrote more than 30 detective stories.
The main character was Pradosh C. Mitra, better known as Feluda, an Indian version of Sherlock Holmes. 
The author also introduces readers to the Indian version of Watson or Topshe, Feluda’s 14 year old cousin, and a flamboyant and bumbling writer, Jatayu, who accompanies the other two. 
Feluda is a genius and Topshe is a dedicated admirer.
Feluda is also very picky and only chooses cases that promise a lot of intrigue and mystery.

In these plots of intrigue and sobriety, Jatayu is the ray of sunshine amidst the dreary clouds. 
He is quite a character with his English, which is often misspelled, his average writing, and his affinity towards free-verse poetry, not to mention his deductions, which are seldom right.
 He offers comic relief in these tales and has often been compared to Agatha Christie’s Ariadne Oliver.

Feluda, too, is quite an interesting character. 
He goes to sleep late but rises early, and he is a great lover of food. 
He only ever smokes Charminar cigarettes, drinks lots of tea, and never misses a session of yogasana.

In this collection, perfectly compiled, the stories are chronologically arranged so as to enable the readers to be able to trace his development from an amateur to an expert detective, well versed in his art.

With minimum violence, perfect plots, and riveting twists, this collection of short stories is an absolute treat for kids and adults alike.
 
Satyajit Ray’s writing in these stories is racy, intriguing and delightfully humorous. 

He manages to intertwine the suspense and drama of a detective story with the humour of class apart characters.

For anyone who is a fan of quality detective fiction, this book is a must read.

[Summary Source: www.flipkart.com]

 My Comments: 
I read the Volume 2 of this compilation almost five years back. See my review of the same in this blog.
Was happy to read the Volume 1 and enjoyed every bit of it.
I highly recommend anybody interested in detective stories in classic mold of Sherlock Holmes's cases to read this book



Goodreads Rating - 4.43 out of 5 (1691 ratings)
 
 

A Prisoner of Birth

[Author: Jeffrey Archer,  Publisher:Pan Books , Paperback:  624 pages ]

This is the second book of Jeffrey Archer  which I have read within a  year. I had read his False Impressions few months back.

Danny Cartwright has been sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment for the murder he did not commit. He has been framed by a bunch of four close friends who are the real culprits. They  go scot free. The novel is all about how Danny escapes from the prison and takes revenge on them (ala author's first novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less)

Though it seems like a Bollywood movie plot  the story is actually inspired by Alexander Dumas'  The Count of Monte Cristo,

Jefffrey Archer is in his elements in this book . Only he can keep the readers engaged on a very hackneyed plot right from the page one till the last page.

A very entertaining light read !

Links:

• Author's Website  
• Goodreads Review  -  3.99/5.0; 9,979 ratings; 1028 reviews 

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The Devotion of Suspect X

Author:        Keigo Higashino
Translators: Alexander O. Smith and Elye J. Alexander
Published:   2011
Publisher:    Little, Brown
Paperback: 374  pages
 

This book is a translation of the Japanese best selling  detective thriller "Yogisha X No Kenshin" which has sold over 2 million copies and also been made into a film.

The author Keigo Higashino has been a recipient of  Edogawa Rampo Award, a literary prize given to crime fiction writers in Japan.
Before this book  I had never read a literary work  from Japan.

Since detective fiction especially murder mystery is one of my favorite genres, I immediately signed up when BlogAdda offered this critically acclaimed best selling book to me for review.

The plot of the book runs as follows. Yasuko in the heat of the moment kills her ex-husband Togashi , when he turns up at her apartment and harasses her and her daughter. Ishigami, their  next door neighbor is in love with Yasuko, though he has not revealed his feelings towards her. He steps in to help her out. He disposes of the dead body. The body is discovered and identified by the police.  Soon they come to know that the body belongs to Togashi, the ex-husband of Yasuko. Detective Kusanagi of Tokyo police starts questioning Yasuko. But Ishigami who is a mathematics genius has already made full use of his ingenuity to protect Yasuko. He has  planted misleading clues, anticipated all the questions the police is likely to ask and coached Yasuko on how exactly to answer them.
Detective Kusanagi is baffled and stuck,. The case is not progressing at all. He seeks his friend Professor Yukawa's assistance. Yukawa  who has helped Kusanagi to solve several cases earlier joins the investigation. He also happens to be Ishigami's college friend and is equally brilliant.

I don't want to be spoil sport by revealing the entire story. Suffice to say that what follows is a very intriguing and exciting battle of wits between Ishigami and Yukawa where both try to guess one another's move and outsmart each other. Finally Yukawa solves the puzzle.

The story has a very surprising twist in the end, which I could never guess in spite of being a veteran reader of detective novels.  I did feel cheated a little bit. The hallmark of a great detective fiction is to lay out all the clues in front of the readers without concealing any facts and give them a fair chance to solve the mystery before they finish the book. This is where the book falls short. A vital information is disclosed to the readers only in the end. Thus the author had an unfair advantage over the readers.

Some readers may find this book a wee bit intellectually heavier than other detective fictions since there are several philosophical discussions between the two geniuses - Ishigami and Yukawa. But I rather liked them.. 

This book is an excellent fast paced page-turner. Translator has also done his job well, I felt I was reading an original book not a translated version.
This is just one of the novels in a series featuring Professor Yukawa. I look forward to read other novels in this series too when they are translated and published in English. This book has served as an appetizer for them.

Mystery lovers don't miss this book !

[By the way this is the fourth book review under BlogAdda's Book Review Program.

The other three books reviewed by me under this scheme are -  I Have a Dream, 7 Secrets of Vishnu, and Balasaraswati - Her Art and Life. 
Hats Off to BlogAdda for launching and sustaining this program for book lovers.

Sign up for the Book Review Program for Indian Bloggaers. and get free books! Participate now!]