Friday's "Forgotten" Books: The Port of London Murders - In Reference to Murder

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March 17, 2023

Comments

Patrick Murtha

I happen to be reading this book at the moment. It indeed has great atmosphere and is really quite gritty for the period, more in keeping with the down-and-out novels of a writer like Patrick Hamilton than with other Golden Age mysteries.

BV Lawson

I'm so happy to hear you are reading and enjoying the book, Patrick! And also that you found a copy - I was able to get mine thanks to my local public library. If you find other Bell novels you can recommend, please feel free to do so - I'm hoping to carve out a space on my To Be Read pile for some more.

Patrick Murtha

My copy is from the Pandora Women Crime Writers series of the 1980s. I ordered it for a few dollars through Ebay. I always check Bookfinder, which usefully aggregates listings for Ebay, Amazon, Amazon UK, Alibris, AbeBooks, Biblio, and others.

Patrick Murtha

I should add that I must have seen a laudatory reference to the book somewhere, although I can’t remember where exactly. The title itself was a come-on, because I am always drawn to anything nautical or waterfront-related. In that respect, another intriguing Bell title is Backing Winds aka The Dark Tide, but that is a rare one - I don’t see any copies under $40.00.

BV Lawson

I haven't dealt with Bookfinder lately, but I need to check it out again soon, especially since the brick-and-mortar rare and used bookstore numbers in our area keep plummeting.

Thanks for the recommendation about "Backing Winds (Dark Tide)." If I find an easy-to-locate copy, I'll post a notice here....

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