“The Family Tree Mystery” by Peter Bartram

Colin Crampton, reporter (and usually crime reporter) for the Brighton Evening Chronicle accompanies his girlfriend, Shirley Goldsmith, on a visit to a nearby town. Shirley has discovered she has a relative living in England, with connections back to Shirley’s Australia. The man has told her he wants to give her something and needs her help. When they arrive at the man’s home, they discover his body. He’s been murdered. 

Colin Crampton is on the case. Not only does he get to scoop the rival newspapers, of which there were many in the 1960s, he may also be able to help solve two murders in Australia. A number of people have died, and they all seem to be connected – they’re part of the same extended family. Just like Colin’s girlfriend, Shirley. 

 

And Colin had a second mystery with which to contend, this one inside the newspaper. Someone has purloined his editor’s draft memoirs, right from the filing cabinet in the editor’s office. The memoirs may not seem particularly valuable, but they are potentially embarrassing – and career-threatening, not only to the editor but to Colin himself.

 

Peter Bartram

The Family Tree Mystery is the latest installment in the Colin Crampton mystery series by British author Peter Bartram. They read like what you imagine reporters and newspapers used to be like (and, I can testify, not terribly unlike the newspaper I worked for a long time ago). The stories are intriguing, doused with a healthy measure of fun (and bad jokes). Crampton is nothing if not irreverent, and I suspect Bartram has pulled considerably from his own journalism experience.

 

Bartram has published several Colin Crampton mystery novels and story collections. He had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

 

Related:

 

My review of The Poker Game Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Comedy Club Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Tango School Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

 

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of Front-Page Murder by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Mother’s Day Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Beach Party Mystery.

 

My review of The World Cup Mystery by Peter Bartram.

"The World Cup Mystery" by Peter Bartram

Colin Crampton of the Brighton Evening Chronicle is in Sicily with his girlfriend, Shirley Goldfarb. They’re there for Colin to kneel on bended knee and propose. The ring in in his pocket. The moment is at hand.  

And then they hear a woman screaming.

 

It’s 1966. Crime reporter Crampton attracts murder and mayhem like bees to honey. Or flies to flypaper. In short order, the pending proposal is he and Shirley are helping the young woman escape from her husband – and perhaps the Mafia.

 

It’s back to England, where everything is World Cup; the championship game will be happening shortly at Wembley. In the meantime, Colin is looking into the murder of the young woman’s father, ostensibly an Italian restaurant owner but actually a cover for smuggled liquor and cigarettes. Soon Crampton is on a roller coaster ride, involving thugs, stolen trophies, fraud, smuggling, North Korean spies, and the looking World Cup game – which may include an assassination in front of 100,000 fans.

 

Peter Bartram

The World Cup Mystery is the latest Colin Crampton novel by British author Peter Bartram. It has so many twists, turns, surprises, and upsets that you might search for a page or two with a quiet sit in a church or a meditation in a wood. You might search for that, and your search will not be successful.

 

Bartram has published several Colin Crampton mystery novels and story collections. He had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

 

The World Cup Mystery is wisecracking fun (Crampton is an old-style, hard-drinking reporter, after all). But the biggest mystery is – will Crampton complete his proposal of marriage to Shirley? And will she kill him if he doesn’t?

 

Related:

 

My review of The Poker Game Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Comedy Club Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Tango School Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

 

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of Front-Page Murder by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Mother’s Day Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Beach Party Mystery.

"The Beach Party Mystery" by Peter Bartram

It’s the mid-1960s. Crime reporter Colon Crampton of the Brighton Chronicle has a reputation for upending the local police and his journalism competitors. What’s more, he clearly enjoys that reputation, and he isn’t above a little skullduggery to keep competitors from getting a story first. 

A man has been found bludgeoned to death in his Brighton flat. From what the police can tell, the victim was running several scam activities, bilking people out of their savings. Potential suspects abound, but the most likely perpetrator is Crampton’s own landlady, Mrs. Figgis. In fact, she finds herself arrested for the murder.

 

His connection to the suspect gets Crampton splashed across the pages of the Chronicle’s competitors’ newspapers, offending the paper’s owner enough to have the reporter yanked off the crime beat. But crime news sticks to Crampton like flypaper, and he quietly continues looking into what’s going on, with a lead to a boat moored just outside Britain’s three-mile territory, one that broadcasts rock music and is shortly to be sponsoring a big beach party featuring The Rolling Stones. 

 

Peter Bartram

The Beach Party Mystery by Peter Bartram is the latest “Crampton of the Chronicle” mystery series, all set in the city of Brighton in the 1960s. Like its predecessors, the story is told in a breezy, comedic style, with jokes (including some off-color ones) abounding. Crampton is nothing if not sarcastic, and Bartram displays the reporter’s character and mindset with what can only be personal experience. 

 

Bartram has published several Colin Crampton mystery novels and story collections. He had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

 

The Beach Party Mystery is fast-paced and easy reading, building toward a rather spectacular end that will leave the reader thankful for the skill of pickpockets, of all people. 

 

Related:

 

My review of The Poker Game Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Comedy Club Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Tango School Mystery by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

 

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of Front-Page Murder by Peter Bartram.

 

My review of The Mother’s Day Mystery by Peter Bartram.

"The Poker Game Mystery" by Peter Bartram

It’s the mid-1960s, and Colin Crampton, crime reporter for the Brighton Evening Chronicle, is facing one of his toughest professional crises yet. He discovers a body that at first looks like suicide but turns out to be murder; a strange poker hand is set up near the deceased. He and his girlfriend Shirley Goldsmith get chased and nearly caught by thugs. And his beloved newspaper, with all of its eccentric editors, reporters, and librarians, is experiencing an existential crisis – the owner has died, and the owner’s son has lost the paper in a poker game with an Australian businessman who likes putting titillating photographs on page 3. And that’s just for starters.

What’s a reporter to do?

Take it all on, and then some.

The Poker Game Mystery by Peter Bartram is the latest of the “Crampton of the Chronicle” mysteries, and if you’re a junkie for old-style journalism stories, this is a book for you. It has all of the memorable characters of the previous books in the series – chain-smoking editor Frank Figgis, the ladies of the newspaper library (morgue) who could out-Google Google, girlfriend Shirley who not only puts up with Crampton’s shenanigans but often instigates them; the bumbling police superintendent who’s bested by Crampton at every turn, and more.

Peter Bartram

The story includes one of the funniest, not to mention wildest, chase scenes ever – Crampton and Shirley on a bicycle, being chased through London’s Piccadilly by thugs in a car and on a motorbike, and careening their way through the lobby of the Ritz Hotel. 

Bartram has published several Colin Crampton mystery novels and story collections. He had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

The Poker Game Mystery takes Crampton back to World War II and secret plans to thwart the expected German invasion, along with having to learn (quickly) how to cheat at poker. It’s funny and wild, with a good mystery story thrown in for good measure.

Related:

My review of The Comedy Club Mystery by Peter Bartram.

My review of The Tango School Mystery by Peter Bartram.

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

My review of Front-Page Murder by Peter Bartram.

My review of The Mother’s Day Mystery by Peter Bartram.

"The Comedy Club Mystery" by Peter Bartram

Colin Crampton of the Brighton Chronicle is on the case again – but this time without having an official reporter’s job.

A local theatrical agent has been found in his office, stabbed to death with a sword. The Chronicle’s theater critic is found there, too – with his hand on the sword and crying hysterically. The police see an open-and-shut case. Crampton isn’t so sure and begins investigating. When the Chronicle fires the critic, Crampton tells his editor that he quits.

The reporter learns that a lot of people are thrilled to see the agent dead, including most of his clients. The case becomes more complicated when Crampton, leaving a comedy club whose performers vastly outnumber the audience, is set upon by two American goon-types, wielding a baseball bat and looking to use Crampton’s head for a ball. They’re only stopped when Crampton’s girlfriend, Shirley Goldsmith, arrives on the scene, brandishing a fire extinguisher. Who would hire American mobster types over the death of a British theatrical agent?

You’d be surprised.

Peter Barttram

The Comedy Club Mystery by Peter Bartram is the newest installment in the Colin Crampton of the Chronicle mysteries, and it’s just as funny and fast-paced as its predecessors. Set in 1965, in rings with authenticity of newspapers of the time, and for good reason. Bartram has had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

Bartram fills the story with vivid characters. Frank Figges is the balding, chain-smoking editor who is constantly running interference between his staff and his publisher. Crampton’s landlady pounces faster than a vulture on roadkill. The police captain is a recognizable type, more than ready to lock the theater critic away because of a bad review the critic gave his wife. And Crampton himself is the cynical, wisecracking reporter who barely keeps himself out of the law’s reach.

The Comedy Club Mystery is a fun, entertaining story, and something of an indulgence for those of us who remember what newspapers and reporters used to be like.

Related:

My review of The Tango School Mystery by Peter Bartram.

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

My review of Front-Page Murder by Peter Bartram.

My review of The Mother’s Day Mystery by Peter Bartram.

“The Mother’s Day Mystery” by Peter Bartram

If there’s one thing we know for certain about Colin Crampton. Crime reporter for the Brighton Evening Chronicle, is that no matter where he shows up, a dead body is sure to follow.

Crampton is in the classic English village of Steyning, substituting as a speaker for his editor, Frank Figgis. He’s brought his girlfriend, Shirley Goldsmith, along. After the speech, they’re headed out of the village and on the way to a country pub for supper, when Shirley spots a mangled bicycle on the roadside. It doesn’t take long for Shirley to find a body, some distance away. It’s an 18-year-old student at a local school, and by the looks of things, he’s the victim of a hit-and-run accident that may not have been an accident.

Crampton, desperate for a good crime story, gets the reluctant approval from his editor to investigate (payback for the speech). And he learns that no one really liked the dead student, including his teachers, fellow students, and the school staff. It appears that the victim may have been a blackmailer, and someone got tired of it. Or he picked the wrong person to blackmail. Or both.

And then Shirley’s mother disappears just as she arrives in England from Australia for Mother’s Day. And Shirley expects Crampton to do something about it. As it turns out, everything is connected to everything else.

The Mother’s Day Mystery is another in the Colin Crampton of the Chronicle (note the alliteration) mystery series by Peter Bartram, and the second in Crampton’s Deadline Murder Series (the first was The Tango School Mystery). And it continues in the vein set by its predecessors – a good story, an irreverent journalist (sorry for the redundancy), crime abounding, and the hero having to find a killer in spite of the police.

Peter Bartram

Bartram has had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association.

Fast-paced, breezy, funny, and action-packed, The Mother’s Day Mystery is another solid entry in the Crampton of the Chronicle series.

Related:

My review of The Tango School Mystery by Peter Bartram.

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

My review of Front-Page Murder by Peter Bartram.

Top photograph of the Brighton Palace Pier by Joseph Pearson via Unsplash. Used with permission.

“The Tango School Mystery” by Peter Bartram

Wherever reporter Colin Crampton of the Brighton Evening Chronicle shows up, a dead body is sure to appear. Like when he and his girlfriend are out to dinner, and her rare steak gets a lot rarer when blood starts dripping from the ceiling. 

It’s 1964, and Crampton’s reporting seems to always connect to a crime wave. The dead man turns out to be something of a closet Nazi. And then Crampton’s publisher discovers his brother his missing, and Crampton gets the assignment to find him. Turns out the missing man was interned during World War II for his Nazi sympathies. And there’s a man running for public office who seems to share those Nazi sympathies.

And what is it with this tango dance studio? All the suspect roads seem to lead right to it.

Peter Bartram

The Tango School Mysteryby Peter Bartram is the newest installment of the Colin Crampton mysteries, and it includes Bartram’s trademark humor (often dark, like that rare steak) and insight into the journalism of the 1960s (having worked for a newspaper in the early 1970s, I can testify that the characters at Crampton’s newspaper fit the period, even across the Atlantic). 

Crampton manages to finesse his way out of some seriously uncomfortable (and borderline illegal) situations. He hires a lock picker to get inside a delivery van. When he bangs on the door of the van owner’s house, he finds a dead body. He manages to extricate himself and alert the police without the police knowing his involvement. 

What Crampton comes to realize is that this is no ordinary series of deaths; something major is afoot, and he has to find out what it is.

The Tango School Mysteryis a fun read, like all of the Crampton mysteries. Bartram, himself a former journalist, depicts newspaper life in the 1960s with humor, insight, and even affection. 

Related:

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

A Journalist and Crime – Stories and a Novella by Peter Bartram.

Top photograph: an Argentine tango dance stage, by Fran Hogan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

"Front Page Murder" by Peter Bartram

Comic postcard artist Archie Flowerdew has been sentenced to hang (on Christmas Eve) for the murder of Percy Despart, a fellow postcard artist – and a man seemingly hated by just about everyone for his malicious artistic use of real Brighton, England, residents. The victim was stabbed in the neck with an artist’s pencil, right in the middle of drawing another nasty postcard. Archie’s niece Tammy believes her uncle to be innocent; he’s been convicted on circumstantial evidence and the police found no direct evidence of his guilt.

Archie knows he’s innocent, too, but won’t confide his alibi because it would, he says, threaten the safety of a woman. The niece spray paints the doors of the Brighton Pavilion and chains herself to a column to call attention to what she says is a miscarriage of justice. And at that point, Colin Crampton, crime reporter for the Brighton Evening Chronicle, intervenes to help. Including helping Tammy move to a succession of safe houses to avoid arrest by the police for her vandalism.

Welcome to Front Page Murder.

Crampton looks at the evidence given at the trial, knows he is dealing with an investigating police officer who’s not terribly competent, and starts his own investigation, racing against the clock ticking toward the hanging. Other promising suspects include a retired army commando, a canon of the local church, and an artist. And all the time Crampton is having to fight off a newspaper executive who wants him fired. The reporter soon find himself in one crazy situation after another, and seems to attract these happenings.

Peter Bartram

Author Peter Bartram has had a long career in journalism, including being a reporter on a weekly newspaper, an editor for newspapers and magazines in London, and freelance journalism – all of which have been utilized in creating the character of Colin Crampton. Bartram is also a member of the Society of Authors and the Crime Writers’ Association. He’s published several Colin Crampton mysteries.

The cast of eccentric characters at the Evening Chronicle are a delight, and for someone like myself who worked in journalism, even for a short time, they are completely recognizable – the garrulous editor, the four ladies of the newspaper morgue (library), the photographer, and the other reporters. (The prodigious consumption of alcohol is also a newspaper staple.)

Front Page Murder is a fun, action-packed, you-never-know-what’s-going-to-happen-next mystery.

Related:

A Journalist and crime – stories and a novella by Peter Bartram.

My review of Murder in the Morning Edition by Peter Bartram.

Top photograph by Bank Phrom via Unsplash. Used with permission.