Commemorative stamp celebrating Egypt’s Police Day in 1977
Every month at Past Offences I host a round-up of book and film reviews relating to a particular year in crime fiction.
For April I’ve plumped for 1977.
All you have to do is read a book, watch a film, read a comic, listen to a radio programme and tell us all about it.
Anyone can play, so over to you…
Small print
- Just comment below to link to your blog post.
- If you want to play but you haven’t got a blog, I’m happy to have you as a guest poster, or to link to Goodreads or Amazon.
- Books, comics, films, plays and TV also welcome.
- Sorry in advance if I miss you in the round-up, although I am getting better at that bit.
Past Offences: Classic crime, thrillers and mystery book reviews 
1977? A bit late for me, but I’m sure I can find something. If in doubt, there’s always The Silent World Of Nicholas Quinn…
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I was thinking of doing that one as i just re-watched the TV version, which is superb!
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Think I’ve several 1977 books. Maybe I’ll try Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement on Stone.
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No title has captured my interest for this month so I might sit this one out. However here are some ideas for others:
The Honourable Schoolboy by John Le Carre
A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters
A Stranger is Watching by Mary Higgins Clark
Death of An Expert Witness by P. D. James
Burglars Can’t Be Choosers by Lawrence Block
Noonday and Night by Gladys Mitchell
Fault in the Structure by Gladys Mitchell
Last Ditch by Ngaio Marsh
Star Trap by Simon Brett
Mrs Pollifax on Sarfari by Dorothy Gilman
Who Is Teddy Villanova? and Killing Time by Thomas Berger
The Coconut Killings by Patricia Moyes
Catch Me, Kill Me by William Hallahan
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Ah, forgot about Brett, so I might give Star Trap a shot. A Morbid Taste For Bones is dreadful, so not going near that again… Burglars Can’t Be Choosers is a fun read – and a pretty good classic-style mystery. But I agree, it’s not the most inspiring of years, but maybe that’s just my 1937-lag…
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I love it when you announce the year early and give me plenty of time to think about it. Especially as I have many books to choose from and many of those I have been wanting to read for a long time.
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I just realised that William McIlvanney’s Laidlaw was published on 1977, Besides on my TBR pile I have The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn by Colin Dexter, A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell, The Honourable Schoolboy,by John Le Carré, and Death of an Expert Witness,by P. D. James, to name but a few.
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Hmmm. Have to see what I’ve got lurking on the TBR. will report back…
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Fairly slim pickings on the TBR pile:
Stroke of Death (aka Such a Nice Client) by Josephine Bell
Petrella at Q by Michael Gilbert
A Conspiracy of Poisons by J. G. Jeffreys
A Bullet for a Star by Stuart M. Kaminsky
Exit Sherlock Holmes: The Great Detective’s Final Days by Robert Lee Hall
I’m leaning towards the Jeffreys book….
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Some more:
Robert Barnard – Death on the High Cs
Robert Barnard – Blood Brotherhood
Bill Pronzini – Blowback
Edmund Crispin – The Glimpses of the Moon
Antonia Fraser – Quiet as a Nun
Donald E Westlake – Nobody’s Perfect
Bob Randall – The Fan
I may re-read the last one. I read it when it first came out when I was a teenager. I thought it was great. I may see it in another light now that forty years have passed. THE FAN is rather unusual for a 1970s book as it’s entirely composed of letters, memos, and notes and was cleverly designed using different letterheads and typefaces for each letter. All before the age of personal computers and digital publishing, of course. So I think that made it rather expensive and time consuming to layout and print. It was turned into a movie (a quasi-musical, no less) starring Lauren Bacall and James Garner.
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John – yet another weird book we have in common! I loved The Fan, but have never heard anyone else mention it. I wonder if I still have my copy? I thought it was an excellent book, very well-constructed, and as you say, unusual features for the times…
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And I did read The Fan by Bob Randall, and enjoyed going back to the 1970s https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/book-of-1977-fan-by-bob-randall.html
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Pingback: ‘The biggest group of red herrings’: #1937book roundup | Past Offences: Classic crime, thrillers and mystery book reviews
I got nuthin’ for 1977 in my TBR, but if anyone’s checking down here I’d like to point out that John Sladek’s wonderful Invisible Green qualifies…
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Ironically, I stopped by the local used bookstore yesterday and picked up Sladek . . . but it was Black Aura. I almost bought Moyes’ The Coconut Killings, but ultimately decided that ’77 and I are not in the mood for each other.
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Bought it.
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Pingback: Review: The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (1977) by Colin Dexter – A Crime is Afoot
My review of The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn is here https://jiescribano.wordpress.com/2017/04/05/review-the-silent-world-of-nicholas-quinn-1977-by-colin-dexter/
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Hi Rich and all — I have my review of the decidedly non-Golden Age story APPEARANCES OF DEATH by Dell Shannon. Glad I tried out this author…. don’t know if I shall try her again anytime soon.
http://www.jasonhalf.com/blog/book-review-appearances-of-death-1977-by-dell-shannon
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Here’s mine: Stroke of Death by Josephine Bell.
Probably my only 1977 for the month. I started A Conspiracy of Poisons, but couldn’t launch myself into a historical mystery right now.
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Here’s mine for the month (behaving myself this time) – it’s the ultra-disappointing Star Trap by Simon Brett -https://classicmystery.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/star-trap-by-simon-brett/
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Not sure why that didn’t appear as a link. Let’s try again:
https://classicmystery.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/star-trap-by-simon-brett/
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There should be a blank space before https. Initially you put the dash symbol -.
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I have posted a review for the first Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery by Lawrence Block, Burglars Can’t be Choosers. Posted on Wed., April 19th.
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Sorry, left out that it is at Bitter Tea and Mystery.
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I will do
The Genuine Article by A.B. Guthrie jr
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Here it is
http://suspenseandmystery.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-genuine-article-by-ab-guthrie-jr.html
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Hello all — I submit a play review of Terence Rattigan’s CAUSE CELEBRE, based on a true-crime murder case from the 1930s. The play premiered in London in 1977, so I get the chance to dip into both Golden Age mystery and modern crime drama with this one. (And it was good, too!)
http://www.jasonhalf.com/blog/play-review-cause-celebre-1977-by-terence-rattigan
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Our first play.
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I’m surprised! I try to check out mystery and suspense play scripts when you announce a year, but this is the first one recently where a potential play choice was both intriguing and something I hadn’t read before. Hope to do more in future —
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Pingback: THE SILENT WORLD OF NICHOLAS QUINN (1977) by Colin Dexter | Tipping My Fedora
My review of THE SILENT WORLD OF NICHOLAS QUINN now online: https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2017/04/25/the-silent-world-of-nicholas-quinn-1977-by-colin-dexter/
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Here’s my review of John Sladek’s Invisible Green:
http://inkquilletc.blogspot.in/2017/04/1977-invisible-green-by-john-sladek.html
Thanks for hosting.
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Pingback: Review: Death of An Expert Witness, 1977 (Adam Dalgliesh #6) by P. D. James – A Crime is Afoot
I missed April, but would love to know the year for May 2017
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