The 20 Books of Summer Reading Challenge by Cathy @ 746books has been a source of excitement for me since the beginning of May 2024. The prospect of choosing and reviewing 10, 15, or 20 books between June 1 and September 1, 2024, has been swirling around in my brain for a month. Have I taken on more than I can handle? Perhaps, but who can resist the thrill of a good reading challenge?
This year, I’m setting my sights on the grand goal of 20 books once again. I am focusing only on Golden Age detective fiction ranging from 1923-1957. The title of each book is linked to their Goodreads synopsis:
Now, on to the books:
- Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (1923) | REVIEW
- The Abbey Court Murder by Annie Haynes (1923) | REVIEW
- Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell (1929) | REVIEW
- Mystery Mile by Margaret Allingham (1930) REVIEW
- The Mystery of the Cape Cod Players by Phoebe Atwood Taylor (1933) | REVIEW
- Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley (1933) REVIEW
- The League of Frightened Men by Rex Stout (1935) REVIEW
- The Sussex Downs Murder by John Bude (1936) REVIEW
- Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie (1936) | REVIEW
- The Case of the Shoplifter’s Shoe by Erle Stanley Gardner (1938) | REVIEW
- Seven Dead by J. Jefferson Farjeon (1939) REVIEW
- The Problem of the Wire Cage by John Dickson Carr (1939) | REVIEW
- The Cat Saw Murder by Rachel Murdock (1939) | REVIEW
- The Norths Meet Murder by Frances and Richard Lockridge (1940) REVIEW
- The Turquoise Shop by Frances Crane (1941) | REVIEW
- The Wrong Way Down by Elizabeth Daly (1946) REVIEW
- The Case of the Demented Spiv by George Bellairs (1949) | REVIEW
- Nipped in the Bud by Stuart Palmer (1951) REVIEW
- Vanishing Point by Patricia Wentworth (1953) REVIEW
- The Color of Murder by Julian Symons (1957) | REVIEW
I also picked alternates in case I need to swap something out:
- Behind that Curtain by Earl Derr Biggers (1928)
- The Witch of the Low Tide by John Dickson Carr (1961)
Golden Age of Detective Fiction 
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