I have come belatedly on this rave review on the excellent site The Green Capsule: 2018_01_18 Green Capsule run, obviously by a JDC enthusiast. I have to say that The Madman’s Room is one of my favourite Halters
2018_06_03 Goodreads Review by John Grant, who runs the admirable site Noirish and is a prolific author in his own right. He has coined the term LRI Speak to describe my punctilious prose style, which I find flattering in a way.
The 8 Mansion Murders Mysteries Ahoy 2018_5_16
Whilst I was startled to learn the reviewer had cracked the first puzzle early on, I was most appreciative of his review and thoroughly agree that this would be a very good starting point for those starting to learn about the amazing Golden Age renaissance which started in Japan in the late 80s. Fair-play combined with audacious plots is the hallmark of this branch of detective fiction, which injected a very welcome shot in the arm to the genre.
I would nevertheless be amazed if he solved the second impossible crossbow murder, which I believe to be one of the cleverest and most original ever conceived.
It turns out that Kirkus Reviews was just kidding. They didn’t actually review the book (and didn’t bother to tell me they didn’t). They just wanted a little fun jerking me about.
Anyway this outstanding shin honkaku novel, the 3rd of the renaissance, is now available. Read it, laugh, and be utterly baffled by one of the most audacious and original murder methods ever.
This is officially due out in June, and June it will be. I have occasionally been known to release books early, but that won’t be the case here.
One reason is that Kirkus Reviews, who normally require proof copies 4 months in advance, actually contacted me for a review copy (what’s known as an offer you can’t refuse), so watch this space…
I hope this doesn’t cause too much inconvenience.
“One of the funniest and cleverest novels of its type to hit the English-language market in years.” Publishers Weekly, April 9 issue.
T8M was historically the third book in the shinhonkaku renaissance of Japanese Golden Age style detective fiction. Two impossible crossbow murders in an 8-shaped house, plus a “quasi-locked room” lecture worthy of Carr’s Dr. Fell. What more can one ask?
Noel Vindry’s The Double Alibi will be out on April 1 in tpb and ebook. Here are reviews from Publishers Weekly and The Invisible Event. No prizes for guessing which one I prefer.
In my humble opinion, it is one of the most intricately plotted novels in all of detective fiction: Anglo-Saxon, French or Japanese.
This analogy of impossible crimes from all over the world appeared on The Washingon Post’s Wondrous Holiday Book Recommendations. It’s now available at the unbelievably low price of $9.99
The previously impossible to find Death In The Dark is now available in e-book format for a mere $9.99 and the trade paperback version is now $19.99. What a bargain!
The following books are now available for $15.99 tpb and $7.99 e-book: Paul Halter’s The Phantom Passage, Death Invites You, and The Vampire Tree; and Ulf Durling’s Hard Cheese.
The Derek Smith Omnibus trilogy Whistle Up The Devil, Come To Paddington Fair, and Model For Murder is now available for $24.99 in paperback. The e-book price remains at $9.99 and the prices for the individual novels remain unchanged.
I wish you all a Happy and Prosperous 2018!
Michael Dirda, Washington Post’s Mystery critic, and the best in the business, named his holiday shopping recommendations, including an “anthology of ultra-clever howdunnits.” You guessed it. And what a bargain!
With considerable help from my friend Jim Noy at the excellent blog https://theinvisibleevent.wordpress.com/ there is now a Kindle version of Noel Vindry’s The House That Kills ($7.99). At the same time, I’ve lowered the price on the paperback version to be in line with other older publications ($15.99).
