I Own the Racecourse!
by Patricia Wrightson; ill. Margaret Horder (Hutchinson, 1968)
A nuanced middle-grade story set half a century ago in Sydney’s inner west. Andy, a mentally disabled boy, believes he has bought the local racecourse—and if people treat him like the owner, what real difference is there between fantasy and reality?
The Hound of the Baskervilles
adapted by Alexander Baron; dir. Peter Duguid (BBC, 1982)
A watchable if unadventurous four-part adaptation. Tom Baker’s search for Holmes’s mastery has him deliver lines with commanding eloquence but often a fraction of a second early. Terence Rigby makes for an unsteady Watson, balancing things out with delays of corresponding magnitude.
Hamlet, Revenge!
by Michael Innes (Gollancz, 1937); audiobook read by Matt Addis (2015)
Poetic and engaging. A clever, complicated mystery, rendered slightly unsatisfying by the lengthy preamble and the shifting narrative perspective. Innes has everything planned out but cannot contrive for Appleby to solve the case alone (or even with the help of Giles Gott).
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
dir. Russ Meyer (1965)
Affected and stilted exploitation film. The three desperados display uninhibited busts and unmotivated aggression against all and sundry (themselves included). The relentless musical backdrop affords a sense of silent comedy or spoof, though whatever humour Meyer was aiming for fails to materialise.
Dark Thoughts at Noon
by Timothy Zahn (Analog, December 1982)
A diverting enough novelette, more workmanlike than mesmerising. Zahn has a knack for layering a speculative development onto regular society and then postulating pitfalls and repercussions. In this instance, though, the telepathic protagonist has little say in the outcome of his misadventure.
The Thirteen Problems
by Agatha Christie (Collins Crime Club, 1932)
audiobook read by Juliet Stevenson (HarperCollins, 2022)
This first collection of mysteries shows Miss Marple well-suited to the short form. Some of the stories are better than others, some crimes more ingenious, but Christie usually plants enough clues to have the reader exclaim, “Oh, of course!” at the end.
Making History
by Stephen Fry (Hutchinson, 1996)
audiobook ready by Stephen Fry and Richard E. Grant (Penguin, 2021)
A cleverly conceived, assiduously researched but poorly paced take on the classic ‘Kill Hitler’ time alteration tale. Fry writes in a conversational style and displays an undoubted gift for off-the-cuff storytelling. As a novelist, however, his expressiveness manifests too often as waffle.
The Making of Red Dwarf
by Joe Nazzaro (Penguin, 1994)
Behind the scenes of Red Dwarf Series VI, especially ‘Gunmen of the Apocalypse’. After three months spent shadowing the production, Nazzaro wrote a stunningly dull (though mercifully short) exposé, bland as tofu. If not for the photographs, no-one would ever read this.
No Wind of Blame
by Georgette Heyer (Hodder & Stoughton, 1939)
audiobook read by Ulli Birvé (Bolinda, 2014)
The (supposedly ingenious) murder doesn’t occur until Heyer has spent one third of the book establishing a turgid and disagreeable dramatis personae. Inspector Hemmingway appears only three fifths of the way through and, though a lively protagonist, cannot stem the stultifying tide.
Death at Victoria Dock
by Kerry Greenwood (Poisoned Pen Press, 1992)
audiobook read by Stephanie Daniel (ABC, 2011)
Stephanie Daniel’s audiobook reading lends vivid personality to all the characters; Greenwood’s depiction of interbellum Melbourne society suggests considerable research; yet Phryne herself has become more goddess than investigator. She is adored and feared to the extent of encountering too little resistance.