"Stoner," by John Williams

Novel, 1965

A dreary, drearily-principled life story told in a conventional start to finish kind of way, about a solid but unremarkable University of Missouri academic. From such unpromising source material, Williams turns in an absolute page-turning gem, with which any disaffected 'average man' will surely empathise. A real achievement in which a tragic set of characters slide into old age and obscurity gain, if not heroic, then an almost mythical quality.

"A Suspension of Mercy", by Patricia Highsmith

Novel, 1965

Nail-biting suspense of little subtlety but huge impact, in which a net and circumstances draw ever tighter round a pretty unhinged, psychotic central protagonist. This is real page-turning stuff and a study in a few disintegrating personalities, where the readers' view is continually shifted around by some deceptively read-a-long writing skirting over some pretty seismic motivations and actions. This is a novel which is relentless and which at any point, could have jumped off in a number of different directions.

"Hangman's Holiday", by Dorothy L Sayers

Short stories, 1933

Stories concerning themselves more with the thoughts than the deeds on the part of Lord Peter Wimsey and the even more excellently named Montagu Egg. These stories are entertaining for the most part, although details which demand close attention - times of events and Monty Egg's Salesman's Handbook prominently feature, often derail the pace and the reader's attention. While the plots are slight, they're smart enough and show a bygone, more innocent
world.