The Library

Dear Charles,

The 'expected' verdict then, so a tribute to your (and Bob's) judgement based on the description given to you.

I agree it's a nice thought that someone took such trouble to preserve this item.

Another DW mystery solved.

Best Wishes, Steve[font=Courier New] [/font]

Well remembered Alan. And wasn't somebody water-ski-ing (admittedly not competitively) at the beginning of 'They Found Atlantis'? And weren't Grauber and the Eunuch both 'so surprisingly light on their feet' for such big men that they were probably squash racquets champions or something?[font=Courie...

Alan, I think you're right about DW hating sport - didn't he say as much in one of his memoirs? I have in my collection a receipt for DW's annual subscription to a tennis club (which hopefully will find its way into Charles's virtual Museum at some stage), but on discussing this after the recent tal...

Ken, I'm with you all the way on the chess characters. The bishop, knight and rook characters fit perfectly, and I can see the logic behind your queen and king, though I've never warmed to Marie Lou, possibly because DW over-emphasised her petiteness (is that a word?). So would there be eight Maxes ...

Further to my previous post, the card game referred to can also be seen on the Peter Cheyney website (along with some other very interesting crime-related card games and boardgames). The game also features non-Cheyney characters (eg Hercule Poirot); I remember now that was the reason I bought one - ...

Hi Ken, trust all is well North of the border. Funny you should raise this subject. A few years ago I came across a pack of playing cards for Peter Cheyney's Crime Club card game. (There's one up for grabs on e-bay at the moment, if you want to see what they look like.) They feature detectives and c...

I have today received a letter dated 12 March from the Planning department of the London Borough of Lambeth advising that an appeal has been made to the Secretary of State against the Council's decision to refuse planning permission.

So the saga continues....[font=Courier New] [/font]

Thanks Stevie for you correction - that was one of the things I didn't bother to check. Jean thinks we may have explored this road by car one evening a couple of years ago, but I can't remember it very well. Guess we'll have to go back and have another look - maybe in daylight and with a camera. And...

Oh, go on then... Black Magic In The Bookshop Basement On the evening of Thursday 4th March 2010 a motley crew of enthusiasts gathered at Treadwells Bookshop in London’s Covent Garden to hear biographer Phil Baker’s talk on ‘The Occult Life of Dennis Wheatley; Master of Occult Fiction.’ Amon...

Hello Jeremy, A very scholarly piece, if I may say so, and well worth the wait. No wonder it took you five years - there were so many novels to read and obviously much research to do. It certainly makes fascinating reading and gives plenty of food for thought. I agree with Charles that your points a...

I can't remember seeing that particular episode of The Goodies, but I wouldn't say that Tim and Graeme with electric torches was a direct reference to the Duke in a Hispano Suiza. The use of bright lights would seem an obvious way to combat the Powers of Darkness, and the actual means of producing s...

Dear Charles,

Iwan mentioned this at the last Convention, and I must say I thought it an intriguing idea - so I'll certainly be very interested to read a translation of the script.

I'm looking forward to it already... [font=Courier New] [/font]

Well, it doesn't appear to say on the disc or box, nor on the e-bay description. But mine arrived safely enough from the USA.[font=Courier New] [/font]

Charles, is this the sort of thing you unearth at work in the run-up to Christmas? You surely wouldn't have time for this sort of thing at home at this time of year? Seriously though, it's fascinating (to use one of my over-used expressions); it just goes to show the worth of time spent 'surfing' or...

Well spotted, Charles. I don't speak German either but I'm pretty sure that's 10-6 Tuesday to Sunday, closed on Mondays. Actually, exploring the website a bit further, I see that there is a translation facility - just click the button and it all changes into English! The Moselle valley seems a stran...