A friendly reminder that voting is under way in the first round of Jen Forbus's "World's Favorite Detective" contest. You have until midnight (Eastern time) Friday, March 12, to vote for your favorite sleuths. There are 64 on the list - 32 pairs; the goal is for the first round to knock it down to the Sweet Sixteen in time for next week's second round voting.

Naturally, classicist that I am, I have voted for favorite classic detectives on the list. But there are plenty of names there, including several who are new to me - I see I have some catching up to do. If you haven't voted yet, what are you waiting for?

I have two mysteries to offer this month in our Children's Mystery Challenge. As March is designated as Youth Art Month, both books deal with mysteries that involve the world of fine art - a world, certainly, which plays an important role in quite a number of classic mysteries.

The first is also a classic children's book - one that my school-librarian wife says has always been one of her favorites: "From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler," written and illustrated by E. L. Konigsburg. It won the 1968 Newbery Award, one of the most distinguished honors in children's literature.

It's the story of two children: Claudia and Jamie Kincaid. Claudia decides to run away from her home in Connecticut - she is tired of being taken for granted. Being a practical child, however, she plans her getaway very carefully, and takes one of her younger brothers, Jamie, along with her, for the very good reason that he is the only child in the family who is enough of a miser to have saved some cash. The two children go to New York and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, eluding discovery by guards and workers, eating in a nearby Automat, even bathing (after the museum closes) in its fountain.

And they discover a mystery: a small statue of an angel, which may be the work of the Italian Renaissance master Michelangelo, has been acquired by the museum at an auction for a very low price indeed. Its authenticity and details about its background are not known. The children decide to try to help the museum (which has no idea of their presence, by the way) determine if it is authentic or not. In fact, Claudia feels that she must find out - and prove her case - before she and Jamie can go home again.

Which brings us to Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. She is the woman who is telling us the story (in the form of a long letter to her lawyer). Who is she? What is her relationship to the statue? And can she help Claudia find a way to return home on her terms?

It's a beautiful story, with delightful illustrations by the author, full of surprising twists - and teaching the young reader something about classic art and, of course, a well-clued mystery. It's meant for readers in the 9-12 age group, but, as my wife points out, it is also an excellent book for a parent to read aloud to/with a child.

UPDATE: Check out 5 Minutes for Books to see what others are reading in the challenge this month!

The second mystery for our Children's Mystery Challenge this month seems to me, in many ways, to be a direct descendant of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It's called "Chasing Vermeer," written by Blue Balliett and illustrated by Brett Helquist.

The story follows two classmates, both eleven years old, who meet as the result of a book, one which tries to find a pattern in unexplained/unexplainable occurrences. (The book is real - it is the work of controversial author Charles Fort, who wrote extensively on what we would call "paranormal" phenomena, such as UFOs.) The two children, Petra and Calder find themselves caught up in the midst of some very unexplained events, which seem to connect up in strange and unpredictable ways. Then, a priceless painting by the 17th century Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer is stolen. And Petra and Calder find themselves in the middle of an international art scandal and investigation, as they race to learn more about the mysterious life and death of Vermeer and find out what happened to the painting. Can they succeed where police and the FBI have been unsuccessful?

All this is wrapped up in a variety of wonderful puzzles and clues. Calder is a master of a set of pentominoes, pieces of a mathematical puzzle series, which prove invaluable to him in figuring out clues. One of the repeating puzzles in this book is the use of a code, based on the pentominoes, which Calder and his friend Tommy use to send notes to each other - notes which the reader will have to translate from the code. To add to the fun for the young reader, illustrator Brett Helquist has worked the pentomino code into his illustrations and challenged the reader to discover a hidden message.

I realize it sounds confusing. But the presentation is straightforward, even if the riddles and puzzles are challenging, and the coincidences are explained in a rather Fortean way. The blurb on the cover of the hardback edition says "Blue Balliett's bewitching first novel is a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, disguised as an adventure, and delivered as a work of art." That pretty well sums it up. The book would probably be most enjoyed by nine-to-twelve year old readers.

UPDATE: Check out 5 Minutes for Books to see what others are reading in the challenge this month!

I got an email from the Malice Domestic folks reminding me that registration closes next Monday, March 15, for this year's Malice Domestic conference, which happens April 30-May 2 in Arlington, VA.

Malice Domestic celebrates the traditional mystery, with emphasis on today's Cozies - violence is generally minimized and happens offstage. Settings and characterizations are important. The conference also is responsible for the annual Agatha Awards.

It sounds like fun. I'll be attending this year - my first time there. Check out the link for full details and registration information, and I hope to see you there.

An impoverished bookkeeper in Dublin quite suddenly inherits a prosperous estate in Ireland's County Wicklow - and enough money to allow him to enjoy the life of a country gentleman. He falls in love with the small Irish village. But when a neighbor is murdered - a man hated pretty thoroughly by just about everyone - our bookkeeper finds himself with far too many suspects among his friends.

In a nutshell, that's what happens in "Sent to His Account," the second mystery by the Irish author Eilis Dillon, and a delightful gem. It's the subject of today's Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the whole review here. Dillon was an extremely prolific author, but she only wrote three mysteries - which, based on the three that we do have seems to be a pity. There is a great deal of charm in the book, written with a great deal of warmth and humor by someone whose love of Ireland and the Irish people was quite evident in everything she wrote.

Otto Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. He's also a mystery author, the editor of several excellent mystery collections (some of which have been reviewed here) and a collector. His collection of rare mysteries is said to exceed 60,000 volumes.

Apparently it's about to get a bit smaller: on April 8, the Swann Galleries auction house in New York is planning to auction off some of his collection, focusing on British espionage and thrillers. I presume these are mint condition, with dust jackets, extremely valuable books - including, we are told, first editions of the original James Bond novels Casino Royale and Moonraker by Ian Fleming.

According to the news release they sent me, in addition to the Bond books, there will be "a first edition of Eric Ambler's Cause for Alarm, signed and inscribed to Penzler in a scarce dust jacket.  The sale will also feature works by Francis Beeding, John Buchan, Len Deighton, Grahame Greene, John le Carré, William Le Queux, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Baroness Orczy, Captain A. O. Pollard, Dennis Wheatley and many more."

That's impressive. Obviously, these books are expected to bring in some serious money at the auction. Let's hope the new owner gives the books the same loving care Penzler has shown them over the years.

Who will be crowned the World's Favorite Detective? As I noted in an earlier post, Jen Forbus at Jen's Book Thoughts is running a contest to find out. Based on the nominations she received in February, Jen has come up with a bracket containing the 64 detectives who received the most nominations - see her post to find out the names and the details of how they were selected.

Now, there will be weekly voting, starting Monday, to bring down the 64 to just one winner. If you'd like to take part,click here. Oh - at that link, you'll find a contest, as well (just as with the basketball version of March Madness in the real world) which everyone is invited to enter. You'll have to predict the final 8, 4, 2 and, of course, the winner - and you have to enter by Monday, March 8, the day voting begins on the first round.

Sounds like a fun way to spend a few weeks. Go to it!

Hat tip: The Rap Sheet

The monkey is a grotesquely ugly little stoneware statue. Some art critics think it's a magnificent specimen of something or other - it's difficult to say exactly what. But that statue will eventually turn out to play a significant role in helping Dr. John Thorndyke solve a difficult and rather gruesome murder. It happens in "The Stoneware Monkey," by R. Austin Freeman, a Golden Age classic. It's our subject of this week's Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the review here.

Some 80 years ago, Freeman and Dr. Thorndyke were enormously popular among mystery readers. As opposed to the intuitive detective style of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Thorndyke was strictly scientific, working in what were then relatively new areas of forensic investigation.

"The Stoneware Monkey" was one of Freeman's last novels, and it's generally considered one of his best efforts. In addition to a good, fairly-clued mystery, we're also treated to some very funny writing about artistic monstrosities. The whole package is highly enjoyable.

I'm late coming to this, but Jen over at Jen's Book Thoughts wants to know if you have a favorite detective. She's only accepting nominations through today, February 28, but - starting next week - you'll be able to vote for already-nominated favorites at her site.

She's looking for official detectives - somebody connected with the police, or a licensed private investigator. He/she can be from anywhere in the world.

Go to it!

hat tip: The Rap Sheet

Readers - particularly you whippersnappers - listen up: did you ever wonder how books got printed and published back in the good old days (defined perhaps as post-Gutenberg but pre-Microsoft)? The book blog Omnivoracious has come up with a vintage-1947, Encyclopedia Britannica film that shows the whole process - from the author, through typesetting (what's THAT, you may ask), to printing, to making the book covers. I suspect that many in today's audiences will be amazed by the amount of work and the number of people involved. I can pretty well guarantee that a great many of the classic mysteries reviewed here were published (in their original editions) in precisely this manner.

Hat tip: Instapundit