Welcome to the Century Club Mystery Reading Challenge! This is an ongoing (not an annual) reading challenge. No advance signup needed. Your goal is to become acquainted with mystery stories across the last century, by reading one from each of the ten previous decades, comprising 1920-2019. Reading one from each decade (ten total) earns you membership in our refined, elegant Mystillery Century Club; where the conversation, like the champagne, is sparkling.
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Welcome to the table Sanacrow of Tennessee! She has read all ten decades and joins us as member #5!
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Here is Mystillery Newsletter #10 for June.
- It seems like the 1920's decade is the most difficult to find. So here are some 1920's mysteries available free from Project Gutenberg. They are in the public domain in the USA. You can read them online or download to your Kindle:
- The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, 1921
- The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie, 1922
- The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie, 1923
- Poirot Investigates (short stories) by Agatha Christie, 1924
- The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie, 1924
- The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie, 1925
- The Bat by Mary Roberts Rinehart, 1920
- The Angel of Terror by Edgar Wallace, 1922
- The Daffodil Mystery by Edgar Wallace, 1920
- Mr. Justice Maxell by Edgar Wallace, 1922
- Here is an easy way to sort your Goodreads books by publication year, making it easy to identify books you have already read that qualify for this challenge! Read How to sort your Goodreads books by publication date.
Members:
| MYSTILLERY CENTURY CLUB MEMBERS as of
MON JUNE 7 2021
- in order of admission |
| Member |
Member # |
1920's |
1930's |
1940's |
1950's |
1960's |
1970's |
1980's |
1990's |
2000's |
2010's |
Award |
 |
Bev Hankins
Indiana |
 |
1 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Rick Mills
Maine |
 |
2 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Avid Series Reader
New Mexico |
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Jjean
Missouri |
|
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Sanacrow
Tennessee |
|
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Applicants:
Submissions by members:
Bev Hankins, Member #1
20s The Crimson Circle by Edgar Wallace, 1922
30s Red Warning by Virgil Markham, 1933
40s The Dead Shall Be Raised by George Bellairs, 1942
50s Stand Up & Die by Frances & Richard Lockridge, 1953
60s The Stately Home Murder by Catherine Aird. 1969
70s Table D'Hote by Douglas Clark, 1977
80s Lament for a Lady Laird by Margot Arnold, 1982
90s River of Darkness by Rennie Airth, 1999
00s The Hellfire Conspiracy by Will Thomas, 2007
10s Murder at Midnight by C. S. Challinor, 2014
Rick Mills, Member #2
20s The Broadway Murders by Edward Doherty, 1929
30s Death in the Air by Agatha Christie, 1935
40s Deep Lay the Dead by Frederick C. Davis, 1942
50s A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie, 1950
60s Kept Women Can't Quit by Erle Stanley Gardner, 1960
70s El Rancho Rio by Mignon Eberhart, 1970
80s Three Days for Emeralds by Mignon Eberhart, 1988
90s The Unlikely Spy by Daniel Silva, 1995
00s Vineyard Enigma by Philip R. Craig, 2002
10s The Forgotten Room by Lincoln Child, 2015
Avid Series Reader, Member #3
20s The Canary Murder Case by S.S. Van Dine, 1927
30s The Attic Murder by S. Fowler Wright, 1936
40s The Horizontal Man by Helen Eustis, 1946
50s Death in Berlin by M.M. Kaye, 1955
60s The Deep Blue Good-By by John D. MacDonald, 1964
70s Death of a Hawker by Janwillem van de Wetering, 1977
80s Lonely Hearts by John Harvey, 1989
90s Witch Hunt by Jack Harvey (Ian Rankin), 1993
00s Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, 2009
10s Tangerine by Christine Mangan, 2018
Jjean, Member #4
20s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4), 1926
30s Death In The Clouds by Agatha Christie, 1935
40s The Body in the Library (Miss Marple, #3), 1942
50s Fallen Into The Pit by Ellis Peters, 1951
60s Under The Snow by Kerstin Ekman, Joan Tate, 1961
70s Nemesis by Agatha Christie, 1971
80s Careless Whispers by Carlton Stowers, 1986
90s Bag of Bones by Stephen King, 1998
00s Hide by Lisa Gardner, 2007
10s Collateral Damage by Hannah Alexander, 2014
Sanacrow, Member #5
20s Whose Body? by Dorothy Sayers, 1923
30s Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, 1930
40s I, the Jury by Mickey Spillane, 1947
50s Room to Swing by Ed Lacy, 1957
60s My Brother Michael by Mary Stewart, 1960
70s Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark, 1975
80s Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith, 1981
90s Naked in Death by J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts), 1995
00s All the Pretty Girls by JT Ellison, 2007
10s Blackout by Mira Grant, 2012
Submissions by applicants:
Ahcop
20s The Golden Beast by E. Phillips Oppenheim, 1926
30s Death by Request by Katherine and Romilly John, 1933
40s Relative to Poison by E.C.R. Lorac, 1947
50s Sleep Long, My Love by Hillary Waugh, 1959
60s ...and presumed dead by Lucille Fletcher, 1963
70s A Rooted Sorrow by P. M. Hubbard, 1973
80s
90s
00s
10s
Brandi
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
00s
10s Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, 2018
C0NTENTH0MEB0DY
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s Rules of Prey by John Sandford, 1989
90s The Killing Floor by Lee Child, 1998
00s 1st to Die by James Patterson, 2005
10s Love Me to Death by Allison Brennan, 2010
Deanie
20s
30s Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie, 1930
40s The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie, 1942
50s A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie, 1950
60s The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side by Agatha Christie, 1962
70s
80s A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton, 1982
90s Holiday in Death by J. D. Robb, 1997
00s The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen, 2008
10s Hark the Herald Angels Slay by Vicki Delaney, 2017
Simone C.
20s
30s
40s Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie, 1941
50s
60s
70s
80s Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, 1981
90s
00s
10s A Gift of Bones by Carolyn Haines, 2018
SueC
20s The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie, 1920
30s Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, 1938
40s The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell, 1948
50s
60s The Turquoise Mask by Phyllis A. Whitney, 1964
70s The Blessing Way by Tony Hillerman, 1970
80s The Curse of the Pharoahs (Amelia Peabody #2) by Elizabeth Peters, 1981
90s The Face of a Stranger (William Monk #1) by Anne Perry, 1990
00s Spanish Dagger by Susan Wittig Albert, 2007
10s Duck the Halls by Donna Andrews, 2013
Tina Hilbert
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, 1960
70s Flowers in the Attic by V. C. Andrews, 1978
80s Return to Red Castle by Dorothy M. Keddington, 1981
90s Seven for a Secret by Victoria Holt, 1993
00s The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1) by Alan Bradley, 2009
10s Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, 2018
Traci L
20s
30s Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, 1934
40s
50s
60s
70s
80s
90s
00s
10s Parchment and Old Lace by Laura Childs, 2015
How to:
- No advance signup needed.
- Here is an easy way to sort your Goodreads books by publication year, making it easy to identify books you have already read that qualify for this challenge! Read How to sort your Goodreads books by publication date.
- Once you have read each book, submit the Century Club Submission to the Membership Secretary.
Rules:
- This is an ongoing - not annual - challenge. However, applicants are encouraged to submit at least one book every six months.
- No advance signup needed. Just submit your first book(s) to begin.
- Full members (all ten decades) never expire.
- Applicants: Your expiration date is extended by one year at each submission. If there is no activity for a period of one year, the application will be considered abandoned and expired.
- Empty applications: If there are no submissions at all after six months, empty applications will be expired. These were generated by the ill-advised advance signup form which we will never use again.
- For our purposes, use the year the book was written, not necessarily the year it was published. If in doubt, just use the earliest date on the book's title page.
- Books may be read in any order.
- Past reading may be submitted. Check your shelves! That book you had to read in fourth grade? It counts!
- Authors can be enjoyed multiple times.
- Print books, audio books, radio dramatizations, short stories, or e-books may be used. Movies do not count.
- Reviews are optional. If you include the URL of your review, a link to it will be provided.
- Once you achieve full membership (all ten decades), you may modestly post the Mystillery Century Club logo on your blog, your Bentley, or your Rolls.
FAQ:
- What happens if we read another book from the same decade? - Only one book per decade is required, so additional books from the same decade do not help. RM
- Can the concierge help get a spot of the soup off my tie? - Yes.
- Questions? Email me at rickmills9@gmail.com. Thank you for participating!
