Captain Bulldog Drummond (1946) by Gerard Fairlie

Book Review by George Simmers: In 1937 Herman Cyril McNeile who, as ‘Sapper’ had written the Bulldog Drummond thrillers, died. His friend Gerard Fairlie, who had collaborated with him on the novelisation of a Drummond film script (The series of Drummond movies were very popular in the 1930s) took over the profitable franchise. Captain Bulldog … Continue reading →

The Heat of the Day (1948) by Elizabeth Bowen

Book Review by George Simmers: The Heat of the Day is a novel set in 1942. The central character is Stella, whose lover, Robert had been wounded at Dunkirk. He now seems to be working in Whitehall. One day a mysterious man called Harrison comes to Stella’s flat and tells her that Robert is passing … Continue reading →

The Haunting of Toby Jugg (1948) by Dennis Wheatley

Book review by George S: The premise of this story is a gripping one: During the Second World War, Toby Jugg, a fighter-pilot, crashes and is paralysed from the waist down. He is being looked after in a country house in Wales, under the care of Helmut, a teacher from his old school. The book … Continue reading →

The Black Baroness (1940) by Dennis Wheatley

Book Review by Jane V: Bond meets Biggles – way out of my comfort zone. But what interested me most about this story is the speed with which reporting on contemporary events, as they happened, was written up and published in no more than three and a half months. Wheatley must have written fast (376 … Continue reading →

Proud Waters (1954) by Ewart Brookes

Book review by George Simmers: Minesweepers were among the less glamorous naval vessels during the Second World War, but the work they did was vital. Ewart Brookes’s novel is closely based on his own experience commanding a minesweeper patrol ship. His hero, Lieutenant William Haley, RNVR, is at first disappointed to be transferred from a … Continue reading →

The Sea Shall Not Have Them (1953) by John Harris

Book Review By Frances S: Some years ago, browsing in a local charity shop, I bought a framed strip cartoon. It featured ‘Amateur Archie’, vaguely remembered from old copies of the Sheffield Telegraph. Archie, drawn by ‘Harris’, was a cheerful tryer, ready to have a crack at any sport, usually to the discomfiture of the … Continue reading →

Madam, Will You Talk (1955) by Mary Stewart

Book Review by George S: Madam, Will You Talk (1955) was Mary Stewart’s first published novel, and it is obviously the work of someone with a gift for thriller-writing. It begins in Avignon, where Charity Selbourne, a youngish widow, is enjoying a relaxing holiday with a teacher friend, but Mary Stewart keeps the exposition from … Continue reading →

Mary Stewart – My Brother Michael (1959)

Book review by Jane Varley: ‘The contemporary thriller at its very best’, wrote the Guardian. ‘The result of my own visits to Greece and the impact of that wonderful country on a mind steeped in the classics, My Brother Michael was my love affair with Greece.’ Mary Stewart When I was in the first flush … Continue reading →

The Slaves of Solitude (1947) by Patrick Hamilton

Book Review by George S: This is a book about low-level nastiness during the Second World War. It is set in Thames Lockton, a town very like Henley-on Thames, where Patrick Hamilton spent the Second World War. In the Rosamund Tea Rooms – no longer tea rooms, but a boarding-house catering for people who have … Continue reading →

Green for Danger (1945) by Christianna Brand

Seven letters.  Old Mr Moon and young Dr Barnes, and Gervase Eden, surgeon, of Harley Street; Sister Marion Bates; Jane Woods and Esther Sanson and Frederica Linley, V.A.D.s.  Higgins shuffled the envelopes together impatiently, and wrapped them round with a piece of grubby tape and thrust them into his pocket, plodding on, wheeling his bicycle … Continue reading →