tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post5200718049864751330..comments2024-03-28T10:31:55.774-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: Dark Death: Night Walk (1947), by Elizabeth DalyThe Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-78993401420857889682015-05-29T02:37:34.097-07:002015-05-29T02:37:34.097-07:00Just about to start reading my first ever Daly nov...Just about to start reading my first ever Daly novel actually, NOTHING CAN RESCUE ME - am I starting in the right place?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-67164784346153527572013-02-18T14:33:09.589-08:002013-02-18T14:33:09.589-08:00I just got this book from Felony & Mayhem a fe...I just got this book from Felony & Mayhem a few weeks ago, Mark. Agatha Christie, to cite the most famous name, tells most of her stories mostly though dialogue. This is not something that bothers me--if the dialogue is good or at least functional and drives the plot forward efficiently.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-86364494742108179502013-02-18T12:04:53.003-08:002013-02-18T12:04:53.003-08:00I just read Somewhere in the House. It was the fir...I just read Somewhere in the House. It was the first of her books I've tried. I thought it was okay, but I found it annoying that most of the story was told through dialogue. It seemed like 95% of the words in the book were being spoken by someone. I don't know how unusual that is or if I regularly read books like that without noticing it, but this time I did. It really got on my nerves. I also found the characters mostly pretty dull. I thought it perked up a bit towards the end, and the solution was quite good.Mark McGlonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10208359156193723805noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-6226574011315035472013-02-17T15:48:22.717-08:002013-02-17T15:48:22.717-08:00Dalys have really shot up. You used to able to ge...Dalys have really shot up. You used to able to get those Bantam editions for a song.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-45240078641673471862013-02-17T15:47:42.529-08:002013-02-17T15:47:42.529-08:00I'm reading my way through her series bit by b...I'm reading my way through her series bit by bit, Les!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-62229206930885836012013-02-17T15:47:11.184-08:002013-02-17T15:47:11.184-08:00Yvette,
I think this one will be out within a ye...Yvette, <br /><br />I think this one will be out within a year with Felony & Mayhem. It's one I'm sure Christie herself liked! The only thing missing was a map of the village!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-55354933077071125812013-02-17T15:45:29.748-08:002013-02-17T15:45:29.748-08:00Noah,
I agree some of her books for me err too mu...Noah,<br /><br />I agree some of her books for me err too much on the genteel side. I like a bit more bite in the narrative. I think this was one of the better ones.<br /><br />Felony & Mayhem is doing her proud, they have some lovely editions. Wish they would do Henry Wade!<br /><br />I remember those Dell puzzlebacks, used to get those at used bookstores in the 1990s.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-56770362179934681132013-02-16T19:28:17.917-08:002013-02-16T19:28:17.917-08:00Oddly enough I just re-read this the other day, an...Oddly enough I just re-read this the other day, and in the depicted Berkley edition. But I was curious to see how high the prices were ( since I have a couple of editions). Abebooks only offers five copies. I think the "Harlequin" reference is the bookseller's error; it's given the same date as the Berkley edition and Harlequin per se was at that point only doing romances. The Dell 1982 edition is what's called a "puzzleback" as it is part of a numbered series, so that in my experience people will pay more for this specific edition ($47 on Abe seems high to me; $148 is ridiculous). I also cannot understand US$60 for a Detective Book Club edition, but I noted two things; one is that people have actually started to collect this series, and the other is that this particular volume contains three interesting books, the others by Rex Stout and Thomas B. Dewey. <br />It's strange, though, how high the prices are. Perhaps Daly's work was at the point of scarcity where a nicely-designed uniform edition will keep the series alive for another 20 or 30 years, so I encourage Felony and Mayhem to bring it out. I confess I agree with Barzun that she is hit-and-miss, and to me some of the books seem so painfully genteel as to be soporific; but she understood a certain small segment of American society and depicted it in vivid detail. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-55461727556678147862013-02-16T10:14:07.322-08:002013-02-16T10:14:07.322-08:00I had no idea how scarce this one is. While there ...I had no idea how scarce this one is. While there are 20+ copies out there for sale online in a variety of editions from Harlequin paperback to Rinehart 1st edition I found only three copies of NIGHT WALK under $20, one amazingly is a first edition. But the prices hardly reflect what is being sold. Detective Book Club three-in-one volume for $45? A Dell paperback for $148? What on earth has happened to the used book trade? Sometimes it's very upsetting and depressing to check up on these older out of print books.J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-3563262967961770332013-02-15T15:05:00.144-08:002013-02-15T15:05:00.144-08:00This sounds like just the sort of thing small town...This sounds like just the sort of thing small town mystery I love to read. I've only ever read one of Daly's books and I didn't love it, though I expected to. But I'm willing to read more especially something like this. I am intrigued. :)<br /><br />Will wait impatiently for Felony and Mayhem to do their thing. (And thank goodness for them.)Yvettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08919246184376538331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-87490410136506613712013-02-15T13:51:51.138-08:002013-02-15T13:51:51.138-08:00It has been a while since I read this one, Curt, a...It has been a while since I read this one, Curt, although I do remember that unnerving opening sequence with the prowler stalking the town. If I had to pick a favorite, I suspect it might be "The Book of the Dead," where the plot twists really are stunning - though the clues are there for the finding.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com