tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post2844606931393798375..comments2024-03-18T11:01:42.459-05:00Comments on Pretty Sinister Books: FFB: Come and Be Killed! - Shelley SmithJ F Norrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-64358536984897379262014-08-10T11:22:11.331-05:002014-08-10T11:22:11.331-05:00Thanks for the tips, Brian. I found those pages on...Thanks for the tips, Brian. I found those pages on Wollamshram's blog when hunting for illustrations for this post. You may be slightly excited to learn that my reviews of all three of the Montrose P.I. novels will be posted by September. Took me long enough, eh?J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-22525406517479002232014-08-10T09:11:46.584-05:002014-08-10T09:11:46.584-05:00Fly-By-Night does indeed provide a wealth of infor...<a href="http://canadianfly-by-night.blogspot.ca" rel="nofollow">Fly-By-Night</a> does indeed provide a wealth of information on the Canadian Collins White Circle. I also recommend Wollamshram, who has assembled <a href="http://www.wollamshram.ca/White_Circle/wc-main.htm#top" rel="nofollow">a comprehensive illustrated guide to the imprint</a>. To these eyes, Collins White Circle stands with Harlequin and News Stand Library as one of the big three post-war Canadian paperback publishers. I've probably focussed more attention on the latter two, but only because they were quirkier and, in the case of NSL, so gloriously incompetent. That said, I should point out that Collins White Circle that was the original publisher of the first two David Montrose novels (<a href="http://brianbusby.blogspot.ca/2010/10/this-just-in.html" rel="nofollow"><i>The Crime on Cote des Neiges</i></a> and <a href="http://brianbusby.blogspot.ca/2012/05/private-dicks-disturbing-descent-into.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Murder Over Dorval</i></a>). Brian Busbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04120341319506205062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-15114617322612277882014-08-09T18:06:56.096-05:002014-08-09T18:06:56.096-05:00A very good book, though it's a long, long tim...A very good book, though it's a long, long time since I read it, and I was hazy about the detail of the story until your summary reminded me. Smith is always interesting, and sometimes superb.Martin Edwardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16082485795280777670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-29997316704932201122014-08-08T20:24:55.921-05:002014-08-08T20:24:55.921-05:00Sounds good, John. 'Badass Biddy.' HA! At ...Sounds good, John. 'Badass Biddy.' HA! At first I thought you meant old biddies like Miss Marple and Hildegarde Withers and a variety of Mary Roberts Rinehart biddies. My kind of old lady trouble makers.But you meant an ACTUAL bad ass biddy - a murdering biddy. <br /><br />I've never read any books by this author (where have we heard that song before?) but this one sounds like it might be my first. Thanks, John.<br /><br />P.S. Have you had a chance to read any Delano Ames yet?????? No pressure. Just askin'. Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-45151432475142373322014-08-08T18:51:12.109-05:002014-08-08T18:51:12.109-05:00John, the Collins publishing situation is so compl...John, the Collins publishing situation is so complicated that I'm not even sure I know the ins and outs of them, and I used to deal in collectible paperbacks and even worked at Harlequin briefly! You'll be able to glean a lot of information from Brian Busby and also http://canadianfly-by-night.blogspot.ca, including precisely when the Canadian CWC started adding the "CD" to the book's numbers on the cover. The uniform designs with the two ghosts are most often British, but I believe I've also seen Australian and even New Zealand editions, never Canadian. You can tell where those come from by looking at the advertisements (usually for cheap wristwatches) on the back covers; most often London addresses for the shops. <br />Early Harlequins are unmistakable; it takes a real expert to know the difference between News Stand Library (Canadian) and Newsstand Library (US). But as a mystery aficionado, I think you'll do best to focus on the Canadian CWC and the British ones; the Canadian editions of John Rhode, Rupert Penny, Jefferson Farjeon, and similar scarce writers are actually affordable. And you know I'm happy to help if you have specific questions, as will Brian Busby I'm sure. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-3362222583880285642014-08-08T16:35:48.547-05:002014-08-08T16:35:48.547-05:00Thanks for the correction on that top illustration...Thanks for the correction on that top illustration being a Canadian edition. Between you and Brian Busby I feel I need to sharpen my knowledge of the Canadian publishers, especially vintage paperback publishers which I'm not really up on in any country except a handful of those in the US. Aren't there Collins White Circle paperbacks from the UK, too? They have uniform designs with green/white/black covers and two odd ghostlike figures unless I'm confusing them with some other Collins imprint.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-13687662089027784372014-08-08T15:59:49.702-05:002014-08-08T15:59:49.702-05:00I've always enjoyed this book; Shelley Smith f...I've always enjoyed this book; Shelley Smith for me is not tremendously enjoyable but this one novel is head and shoulders above the rest. The wonderfully-named Mrs. Jolly is worth the price of admission alone. One tiny point; I think you'll find that the illustration at the top is, as you say, a UK edition but more precisely it's a CANADIAN edition from Collins White Circle. CWC editions are very collectible, mostly because they were produced with such poor-quality materials that most of them fell apart, and the covers from that period (this one is 1948) are of a uniform mawkish ugliness that I've always found quite appealing. CWC published a number of other very scarce authors including Rupert Penny. I see that a Canadian bookseller on ABE is today offering this in the $12 range and that seems very low to me -- someone should snap it up!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8787364257168822822.post-60889721917416058642014-08-08T12:11:41.438-05:002014-08-08T12:11:41.438-05:00I'd love to read this one - I remember Symons ...I'd love to read this one - I remember Symons saying great things about AN AFTERNOON TO KILL which I fell on with great eagerness as a teenager when I found a copy in my library but have never read anything by her since - only been 30 years so what the hell, time for another - thanks John!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com