tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post6980185423108026592..comments2023-12-14T10:28:43.397+00:00Comments on Declan Burke: “Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?”: Charlie WilliamsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-6350820058412593212008-12-19T12:55:00.000+00:002008-12-19T12:55:00.000+00:00Okay, consider my arm twisted ... I'll give Blue-T...Okay, consider my arm twisted ... I'll give Blue-Tailed Fly a whirl. But if I'm not impressed, I'm coming after you all with a whole swarm of blue-arsed flies ... You have been warned. <BR/><BR/>Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-56325018614277308082008-12-19T06:52:00.000+00:002008-12-19T06:52:00.000+00:00Maxine,No he isn't related to Charles Williams, no...Maxine,<BR/>No he isn't related to Charles Williams, nor his namesake the now departed comedian and footballer Charlie Williams.....but he is related to Laurie Lee though I can't recall the connectioncol2910https://www.blogger.com/profile/06422138069939709043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-36526326562317425982008-12-18T22:32:00.000+00:002008-12-18T22:32:00.000+00:00PS I have read, and loved, J F Bardin. I have stil...PS I have read, and loved, J F Bardin. I have still got my battered old green Penguin edition somewhere (of his three novels) -cannot bear to throw out. Maybe I will re-read one day.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-17560683873630685062008-12-18T22:30:00.000+00:002008-12-18T22:30:00.000+00:00So Charlie Williams is no relation to Charles Will...So Charlie Williams is no relation to Charles Williams (Dead Calm et al)? Forgive a confused person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-53279641024333021382008-12-18T18:33:00.000+00:002008-12-18T18:33:00.000+00:00You are right, Dec, the goings-on in The Deadly Pe...You are right, Dec, the goings-on in The Deadly Percheron are a stretch, but I think Bardin expected the reader to suspend disbelief and sometimes there's a major payoff in doing so, I think. However, I thought Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly was the best of those three books, and I'm not in bad company there -- Julian Symons put it on the list of 100 Best Crime and Mystery Books he composed in 1957. Worth a decko. And while I think of it, I wish you, your wife and Lily a very fine Christmas and all good things in the new year.Philip Amoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11739418522974972567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-29870119221329184172008-12-18T11:59:00.000+00:002008-12-18T11:59:00.000+00:00I don't know, Philip ... I read this last year on ...I don't know, Philip ... I read this last year on a very strong recommendation from a friend, and couldn't buy into it. I could see what Bardin was trying to do, and it was a great set-up, and while I know it was supposed to be bonkers, I didn't find it even remotely plausible. I still have Blue-Tail Fly on the shelf, but I don't know if I'll get to it ... Cheers, DecDeclan Burkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14322645323239292406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4938060587020568315.post-42072387367674582232008-12-18T11:42:00.000+00:002008-12-18T11:42:00.000+00:00Well, I'm chuffed that someone else has read John ...Well, I'm chuffed that someone else has read John Franklin Bardin. I was beginning to think it was just Julian Symons, Denis Healey, and me. All three of the novels he wrote in the 1940's (the other two are The Last of Philip Banter and Devil Take the Blue-Tail Fly) are fine stuff. It's always puzzled me that he is so little known -- he may very well have been the first crime novelist to write in psychological mode, predating Highsmith by a few years and Rendell by quite a lot. Muchly recommended.Philip Amoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11739418522974972567noreply@blogger.com