Stacking The Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews and Reading Reality, all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, whether physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical stores or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts, eBooks, and audiobooks.

The Case-Book of Jimmy Lavender by Vincent Starrett (1944)

Twelve delightful mystery stories featuring one of the Golden Age’s greatest detectives from the author of Murder in Peking.

From their headquarters in Chicago, private investigator Jimmy Lavender, with his trademark lock of white hair, and his sidekick, Gilly, tackle some of the city’s toughest cases. Their assignments have been known to take them all over the country and even to foreign lands.Featured in this volume are twelve of their finest adventures from the 1920s and 30s, including “The Lisping Man,” “Recipe for Murder,” “The Man Who Couldn’t Fly,” “The Sealed Room,” “The Raven’s Claw,” and “The Woman in Black.” Prepare for all the fun and action as Jimmy and Gilly bring criminals to justice.

Amazon

I want to see if I like Vincent Starrett’s Jimmy Lavender stories. I have tried to read the first book in the Walter Ghost series, Murder on B Deck, so many times, but all of the characters get on my nerves. I hope I have a better success with this collection- if nothing else the cover is pretty.

Danger Calling by Patricia Wentworth (1931)

Clandestine operative Benbow Smith recruits a former Secret Service agent to bring down an enemy of the free world in this thriller from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries
 
Lindsay Trevor, a junior partner in a publishing firm, boards a train headed for Waterloo Station. He is contemplating his future as a soon-to-be-married man when the stranger seated across from him asks if he’s willing to die for his country.
 
Trevor was taken prisoner during World War I, and after his escape, he was recruited by Britain’s Secret Service. But that was twelve years ago. The last thing he wants now is to risk his life again—or is it?
 
Operative Benbow Smith is betting that Trevor wants back in the game. And when an unfortunate series of events changes the direction of his life, the former Secret Service agent signs on. With Lindsay Trevor declared officially dead, the victim of a fatal accident, he’s free to impersonate another man. Soon the agents are enmeshed in a spiraling web of blackmail, intrigue, and murder, fighting a predatory criminal who is a master of deceit and manipulation.
 
Danger Calling is the 2nd book in the Benbow Smith Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Amazon

As a fan of Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver series, I was excited to pick up one of the 2nd (and 3rd) installments of the Benbow Smith Series in a library book sale. I haven’t read Patricia Wentworth’s thrillers, so I can’t wait to see what she does with them.

Walk With Care by Patricia Wentworth (1933)

Benbow Smith investigates the suspicious death of a prominent political figure and a mysterious letter in this thriller from the author of the Miss Silver Mysteries
 
Rosalind Denny, the American-born widow of the under secretary for Foreign Affairs, is still grieving for her husband. Eighteen months ago, Gilbert Denny threw away a happy marriage and a promising political career by ending his life. But Rosalind doesn’t believe that Gilbert’s drowning was a suicide.
 
In London, Foreign Office agent Benbow Smith is visited by Bernard Mannister, a distinguished member of parliament and president of the British Disarmament League. A confidential letter that could destroy lives and disrupt the precarious balance of Western power is missing. Mannister, like Denny and others before him, is being driven from public service—but why?
 
With an intriguing cast of characters, including a talking parrot, a sleepwalker, and a psychic, Walk with Care is both a top-notch historical thriller and a revelatory glimpse into the inner workings of British intelligence.
 
Walk with Care is the 3rd book in the Benbow Smith Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Amazon

Yet another library book sale find. Have you read this Benbow Smith thriller? I can’t wait to dive in!

What books are you reading this week?