
There comes a time when you finally accept that there are some books that you’re just never going to get a chance to read. I’d claim I’ve had my eyes fixed on The Death of Laurence Vining for years now, but I don’t recall my eyes ever even seeing it available. If my memory is faulty it’s likely because those eyes glazed over at the sight of a four digit price tag. Yes, this was a book that I was willing to break my normally steadfast $12 limit to acquire – possibly shelling out an unthinkable $20 for (I know, I know, don’t be crazy Ben) – but yeah, I’m not going to be even touching on a hundred dollars for a book. I didn’t even do that for Death of Jezebel.
And honestly, I’d be taking a chance with that $20. Alan Thomas is an author that I’ve never read anything by, plus I’ve only seen two or three reviews of The Death of Laurence Vining, and I don’t recall that anyone was screaming from the heavens that this was must read material. But it is featured on THAT list: the Roland Lacourbe list of top locked room novels. The bulk of the list is made up of what you’d expect: really strong impossible crimes that you can imagine receiving a mention if a bunch of geeks like me got together to create their own list (hey, should we do that?). But there are a handful of titles – the likes of The Shade of Time, Into Thin Air, The Wailing Rock Murders, The Malinsay Massacre – that fly under the radar, most likely due to scarcity (ok, the last two of those are kind of available). And when I see an impossible crime novel that’s… er, impossible… to obtain, I simply obsess over getting it.
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