Death in White Pyjamas & Death Knows No Calendar

By: John Bude

Narrated by: Saul Reichlin

Two of John Bude's finest Golden Age mysteries return to the limelight.

In Death in White Pyjamas a theatre-owner, a 'slightly sinister' producer, a burgeoning playwright and a cast of ego-driven actors have gathered at a country home to read through a script. But before the production reaches the stage, one of their number is found murdered in the grounds wearing what seems to be somebody else's white pyjamas.

And in Death Knows No Calendar, detective-fiction enthusiast Major Tom Boddy is investigating a deadly shooting with no shooter in a locked artist's studio. There are four colourful suspects to scrutinise, and not one but two 'impossible' elements of the crime to solve.

Public Domain (P)2020 Soundings

Disappointed

Disappointed at meandering story after reading several good Bude novels. Narrator’s interpretation of characters was stilted, amateurish and detracted from the storyline.

Not as good as expected

In general I thought it was too verbose and many characters were too simplistic. There were some very good portions.

Excellent story!

Enjoyed immensely, told from a time of innocence and elevated values. John Bude is great.

Fun Double Header

Fun double golden age mystery. Both feature unusual murders; a cast of colorful characters. Both enjoyable but give a slight edge to Death Knows No Calendar in which the adventures of the amateur sleuth Major Boddy & his batman now valet Syd Gammon who detect using the techniques learned from reading detective fiction. Quite a pair and they are far from buffoons.

Good mysteries and lots of fun

These were well constructed mysteries with plenty of humor, and a little bit of romance. The reader isn't perfect (sometimes pauses in the wrong place or has the wrong emphasis in a sentence, but this could have to do with the quality of the formatting of the text he is reading, who knows?) but his characterizations are good, and his accents are perfect.

FYI - The chapter feature doesn't say where one book ends and the second one starts, so here it is:
Death in White Pyjamas: Chapters 1 - 20
Death Knows No Calendar: Chapters 21 - 40

Serendipity!! Where narrator and author meet!

Really enjoyed this book. Have listened to other John Bude books but, while good, this one proves the value of a narrator who 'gets' the author's sense of humour. Saul Reichlin is wonderful to listen to as he brings all the various characters to life in these fun and funny, laugh out loud, mysteries. John Bude has an excellent sense of the ridiculous and SR does it well. And two good old fashioned but interesting crimes to keep you guessing.

Not Bude's best + dreadful narrator

The story depends on the credulity and cluelessness of several characters to make the mystery seem mysterious. The, plus the repeated repetition of the clues, make for a rather slow read. The solution is ingenious, so if you're a fan of novel ways of killing people, there's a little fun at the end. But two big additional minuses. One is the way the ingenue is described. She's a totally dewy innocent who is described as a mixture of childishness and nubile sexiness that is revoltingly prurient. Lots about her lovely young body in skimpy nightclothes. The other problem is the perfectly appalling narrator. He speaks in a clipped monotone and gives the impression that he's reading to a roomful of abnormally thick children.

More than cosy

First I’d like to register a protest at the label of “a cosy mystery” because I think this is a shoddy and insulting term for what are a body of well written intelligent well charactered cleverly plotted and very likable novels penned by professionals. This is more than can be claimed for the majority of the lame cookie cutter soap operish pedestrian insulting to one’s intelligence tv series wannabe’s who rank high on todays mystery lists. Bude is a prime example of the former. And if his style seems dated it is only because tastes have been polluted by the latter. Pathetic virtue signaling aside, these stories are very enjoyable if one can cleanse his palate of contemporary drivel and just enjoy the style and language and respect for the readers intelligence displayed in these minor masterpieces. I salute the British Library for having the nuts and wisdom to make these again available.
The first story is a classic pre-war mystery that is very engaging and cleverly constructed. I’m now onto the second and will update when I have also enjoyed it.

Two books

These two stories are golden age mysteries. The second one is a locked room mystery. Good stories, well performed. Recommended