Six Against the Yard

by The Detection Club, Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham

A unique anthology for crime aficionados – six ‘perfect murder’ stories written by the most accomplished crime writers of the 1930s, designed to fox real-life Scotland Yard Superintendent Cornish, who comments on whether or not these crimes could have genuinely been solved.

Is the ‘perfect murder’ possible? Can that crime be committed with such consummate care, with such exacting skill, that it is unsolvable – even to the most astute investigator?

In this unique collection, legendary crime writers Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Ronald Knox, Dorothy L. Sayers and Russell Thorndike each attempt to create the unsolvable murder, which Superintendent Cornish of the CID then attempts to unravel…

This clever literary battle of wits from the archives of the Detection Club follows The Floating Admiral and Ask a Policeman back into print after more than 75 years, and shows some of the experts from the Golden Age of detective fiction at their most ingenious.

For true crime aficionados, this new edition includes an essay by Agatha Christie, one of the inaugural members of the Detection Club. Unseen since 1929, her article discusses the infamous Croydon Poisonings, a real-life perfect murder, the solution to which remains a mystery to this day…

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, Agatha Christie, Audiobook, Detective

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Formed c. 1930, the Detection Club is a group of (mostly British) mystery writers who occasionally write collaborative works.

Presidents:
G.K. Chesterton (1930–1936)
E. C. Bentley (1936–1949)
Dorothy L. Sayers (1949–1957)
Agatha Christie (1957–1976)
Lord Gorell (1957–1963)
Julian Symons (1976–1985)
H. R. F. Keating (1985–2000)
Simon Brett (2000–2015)
Martin Edwards (2015–)

Past members include: Anthony Berkeley, G.D.H. Cole, Margaret Cole, Freeman Wills Croft, Clemence Dane , Edgar Jepson, Milward Kennedy, Ronald Knox, John Rhode, Henry Wade, Victor L. Whitechurch, Gladys Mitchell, E.C.R. Lorac and Helen de Guerry Simpson

Reviews

[Vikas Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Members of the Detection Club Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Willis Croft, Father Knox, Dorothy L. Sayers and Russell Thorndike, write a short story each illustrating a perfect murder. Each story is then followed by a superb account by Ex-Superintendent Cornish, CID detailing how the seemingly perfect murder could have been solved. First published in 1936, the 2014 edition has an article by Agatha Christie on the infamous Croydon case

[Fiona MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting and thought provoking! 'Six against the Yard' takes six of the most well loved crime writers of the day and challenges each of them to write a 'perfect crime story.' This is then analysed by a real, retired detective who informs us whether or not the ideas are credible enough to be believed in real life.
A couple of the stories were excellent and the others were good. I won't spoil it but clearly it is more difficult to execute (pardon the pun) a real life perfect crime than it is to write about one for fun.
I enjoyed the book however, and was interested to dip into other authors I have not yet read to see what they were all about.

[MaryG2E · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Detection Club is a real life association of British crime writers which formed in 1930 and continues to this day. The writers met socially, shared ideas and knowledge, and collaborated on stories that they were working on. The members agreed to adhere to a code which would give their readers a reasonable chance to figure out ‘whodunit’:
“Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them and not placing reliance on nor making use of Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence, or Act of God?”

This 1936 book comprises six short stories written by members of the Detection Club, in which the authors described in detail their version of the perfect murder. These stories were then given to a retired Scotland Yard detective, Ex-Superintendant Cornish to assess, with the aim of seeing if he could in fact solve the crimes, thus proving that the (fictitious) murders were not perfect.

The stories are very typical of their era - writing styles, language and plot lines that reflect the kind of crime writing that prevailed at that time. Agatha Christie was a member of the Club, and if you are familiar with her style, you’d recognise a similar kind of writing in these clever stories. They are:
Margery Allingham: It Didn't Work Out
Ronald Knox: The Fallen Idol
Anthony Berkeley: The Policeman Only Taps Once
Russell Thorndike: Strange Death of Major Scallion
Dorothy L. Sayers: Blood Sacrifice
Freeman Wills Crofts: The Parcel

Apart from Dorothy Sayers, I'd never heard of these authors, many of whom were well-known in the 1930s when this book was first compiled. I found most of the stories quite entertaining. Loved Margery Allingham's portrayal of early 20th century showgirls in It Didn't Work Out, and was thoroughly engrossed in the technical aspects of the perfect murder depicted in Anthony Berkeley's The Policeman Only Taps Once. I did not like the political one set in the fictitious country of Magnolia, The Fallen Idol, written by Father Ronald Knox (who I presume was a priest writing crime fiction) . There are common threads throughout many of them, such as being forced to resort to murder through blackmail. Also the emphasis in some of the stories is on the technical aspects of the crimes, no doubt something that the writers "workshopped" over drinks at the club in that long-past era.

The book concludes with an essay written by Agatha Christie about a series of killings that really did look like perfect murders in England in the 1920s. It was OK, but didn't thrill me.

Personally, I was a bit underwhelmed by the analyses given by the detective, Cornish. He was a bit dull, a bit too earnest for my liking, and he speculated far too much in his efforts to prove that the murders could be solved. I was much more engaged by the crimes, the victims and their perpetrators. I also enjoyed the historical aspects of the book, looking back at how crime stories were constructed back then, and the narratives that were considered important at that time in history.

[Robin Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six short, sharp and brilliantly twisty 'perfect murders' from 1930s greats. If I could travel to any part of time, and do anything, I think I'd like to be part of the original Detective Club. Just think of all the interesting murder conversations we could have had . . .

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this book mostly for the Dorothy L. Sayers story, of course, but I was interested in the premise, too. Six master mystery writers, including Margery Allingham and Dorothy Sayers, took it upon themselves to write a short story each in which someone committed the perfect murder. And then, in response, an ex-Superintendent of the CID explained the ways he thought that perfect crime could be picked apart.

Cornish didn't seem to think any of the six would really 'pass', for various reasons, but it bothered me a little that it didn't matter how many precautions the characters took to get rid of the evidence, Cornish was sure the police would find something. The police are not all-knowing or perfect; I guess the problem is that I approached the stories as literary, and Cornish tried to view them as reality, while still seeing himself having access to all the facts. Not quite fair!

Margery Allingham's story is good; she sets up a great narrator, handling themes of domestic violence and so on pretty well. I did applaud Cornish's understanding of psychology in his response, where he pointed out that the murderer presented themselves in the most sympathetic light possible, but there's no reason to take their word as gospel truth, even in a confession. Overall, clever but obvious.

I was pretty ambivalent toward Father Ronald Knox's story of a dictator murdered in his home. That all seemed fairly obvious. Cornish's feeling that the crime is perfect through unfair play is right: like he says, the crime is unpunishable, but not untraceable.

Anthony Berkeley's story is fun: another great narrator, fun set of characters. That aspect of it is better than the perfect murder stuff, and the whole story reminded me of Lynn O'Connacht's beef with first person narrators: why, how, and when are you telling the story? Berkeley didn't really explain why the two narrators would tell the story in the way they did.

Thorndike's story was simply too theatrical and contrived. Rooooolling of eyes actually happened here.

Sayers' story was well written, but fell down in terms of being the perfect murder because it wasn't a murder. She spent so much time tying up each loose end that Cornish could've used to untangle the thing that ultimately, while there was motive, means, and opportunity, there was no defining moment where the 'murderer' acted. He simply failed to act, and he wasn't even sure if that would change anything. I did like the set-up and the psychological understanding, though.

Freeman Wills Crofts' story has an interesting set-up, but I didn't think it was even nearly a perfect murder -- there were several holes in the logic, which Cornish quite rightly points out.

So as I said, entertaining little collection, nice idea; not overwhelmed by the result, but it's fun enough.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENGLISH: Six mystery stories of 25 to 30 pages, by six different authors, each describing a perfect crime. After each story, Cornish, a former Scotland Yard detective, analyses it and usually debunks the claim that it was a perfect crime.

First story: It Didn't Work Out by Margery Allingham. A former actress tries to help her best friend by murdering her annoying husband. The story, written in the first person, is written by the murderer, whom I found excessively amoral. Cornish debunks the conclusion of the story, explaining why the police would have discovered the narrator's guilt, relying mainly on the statement of the maid.

Second story: The Fallen Idol by Ronald Knox. The action takes place in an imaginary Latin American country, and the victim is the dictator in power. The end of the story leaves things unsolved. Cornish describes what the local investigator's conclusion could have been and why.

Third story: The Policeman Only Taps Once by Anthony Berkeley. This story is made up of two documents written by the two main characters, and its ending is surprising. Cornish explains why the crime would not have been perfect. I quite liked this story, even though a good part of it uses the slang of the American underworld.

Fourth story: Strange Death of Major Scallion by Russell Thorndyke. I had not read anything by this author. The murder is very unpleasant and the victim a blackmailer and "a monster." The author bases the method of the murder on another of his novels, and Cornish counterattacks by saying that "detectives sometimes read," to disprove the supposed perfect crime character of the story.

Fifth story: Blood Sacrifice by Dorothy L. Sayers. One of the best stories in the collection, but I agree with Cornish's diagnosis: it is not a perfect crime, because it is not a crime, at least from the judicial point of view, although one can speak of a certain moral responsibility. The story revolves around a blood transfusion for a wounded man, and the possibility that the samples had been exchanged. Possibility, not certainty, not even for the potential murderer.

Sixth story: The parcel by Freeman Wills Crofts. I had not read anything by this author. It also deals with a blackmailer. But in this case I find Cornish's way of dismantling its perfect crime character less successful than in the other stories. The assumptions he makes about possible police discoveries seem a bit exaggerated.

The book ends with an article by Agatha Christie about a perfect crime, in this case from real life.

ESPAÑOL: Seis cuentos de misterio de 25 a 30 páginas, por seis autores diferentes, cada una de las cuales describe un crimen perfecto. Después de cada cuento, Cornish, ex-detective de Scotland Yard lo analiza y en general desmonta la afirmación de que se trate de un crimen perfecto.

Primer cuento: No funcionó de Margery Allingham. Una ex-actriz trata de ayudar a su mejor amiga asesinando a su fastidioso marido. El relato, escrito en primera persona, lo escribe la asesina, que me pareció excesivamente amoral. Cornish desmonta la conclusión del cuento, explicando por qué la policía habría descubierto la culpabilidad de la narradora, apoyándose sobre todo en la declaración de la criada.

Segundo cuento: El ídolo caído de Ronald Knox. La acción tiene lugar en un país iberoamericano imaginario, y la víctima de asesinato es el dictador de turno. El final del cuento deja las cosas en el aire. Cornish describe cuál podría haber sido la conclusión del investigador local y por qué.

Tercer cuento: El policía sólo llama una vez de Anthony Berkeley. Este cuento está formado por dos documentos escritos por los dos personajes principales, y su final es sorprendente. Cornish explica por qué el crimen no habría sido perfecto. Este cuento me ha gustado bastante, a pesar de que una buena parte utiliza el argot de los bajos fondos estadounidenses.

Cuarto cuento: La extraña muerte del comandante Scallion de Russell Thorndyke. No había leído nada de este autor. El asesinato es muy desagradable y la víctima un chantajista y "un monstruo". El autor basa el método del asesinato en otra novela suya, y Cornish contraataca diciendo que "los detectives a veces leen", para desmontar el supuesto carácter de crimen perfecto del cuento.

Quinto cuento: Sacrificio de sangre de Dorothy L. Sayers. Uno de los mejores cuentos de la colección, pero coincido con el diagnóstico de Cornish: no es un crimen perfecto, porque no es un crimen, al menos desde el punto de vista judicial, aunque se puede hablar de cierta responsabilidad moral. El cuento gira alrededor de una transfusión de sangre para un herido, y la posibilidad de que las muestras se hubieran intercambiado. Posibilidad, no seguridad, ni siquiera para el asesino en potencia.

Sexto cuento: El paquete de Freeman Wills Crofts. No había leído nada de este autor. También trata sobre un chantajista. Me parece que la forma en que Cornish desmonta el carácter de crimen perfecto de este caso está menos lograda que en los otros cuentos. Las suposiciones que hace sobre posibles descubrimientos de la policía parecen un poco exageradas.

El libro termina con un artículo de Agatha Christie sobre un crimen perfecto, en ese caso de la vida real.

[Gintautas Ivanickas · Rating 4 out of 5]

1930-ais grupelė britų detektyvų rašytojų susibūrė į savotišką draugiją, pavadine ją The Detection Club. Kažkokių toli siekiančių tikslų neturėjo – bet tarpusavio pagalbos įvairiais iškylančiais techniniais klausimais galima buvo tikėtis. O be to, klubo susirinkimai tapo puikia proga retsykiais susieiti draugėn papietauti ir, reik manyt, paliežuvauti apie tuos detektyvų autorius, kurie klubui nepriklausė. Turėjo jie ten savo priesaiką, savus ritualus, kuriuose pasitelkdavo tikrą kaukolę su įstatytomis akiduobėse lemputėmis. Žodžiu, linksma kompanija. O vienas jų – Ronaldas Knoxas netgi suformulavo dešimt detektyvo taisyklių. Tiesa, Agatha Christie nesuko sau galvos, kai laužė vieną pagrindinių taisyklių. Na, bet rimtai, matyt, į jas niekas nežiūrėjo. Nes „...kūrinyje neturi būti veikėjų kinų“, „...kūrinyje negali būti daugiau nei vienų slaptų durelių“ ir pan., atrodo veikiau kaip pasišaipymas iš to meto pramoginės literatūros klišių, nei rimtas dekalogas.
Mėgo jie ir literatūrinius žaidimus. Rašė grupinius romanus-pažaidimus, kur kiekvienas autorius rašydavo po skyrių ir nieko neaiškindamas perduodavo rankraštį tęsti kitam („The Floating Admiral“), rašė apsakymus, naudodami vienas kito herojus („Ask A Policeman“). Toks pat žaidimas ir šis rinkinukas. Šešetas autorių (Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Ronald Knox, Russell Thorndike) parašė po detektyvinį apsakymą apie „idealią žmogžudystę“, o Skotland Jardo inspektorius George W. Cornish po kiekvieno apsakymo pakomentavo, kaip tirtų, kur autoriai vis dėlto paliko kabliukų, na, ir visaip kaip kitaip pasistengė įrodyti, kad nei vienas iš tų apsakymų iki idealios žmogžudystės netempia. Rinkinį užbaigia nelabai prie jo limpanti Agathos Christie esė, bet matyt, jos pavardė turėjo padidinti knygos pardavimus.
Apsakymukai visai smagūs, nors man ir nelabai limpa trumpoji forma detektyvuose. Tai tebūnie keturi iš penkių. Tiems, kas mėgsta tokį, na visai jau klasikinį britišką detektyvą.

[Cybercrone · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a real dog's breakfast.
I really like the "old" mystery writers - they're what I grew up on. So the stories here were of a familiar type and I had read some of the authors.
HOWEVER, especially the second story, the OCR program used (I'm presuming) garbles the text so badly that, especially at the beginning of the story, there were whole passages which were incomprehensible. They sounded as if they'd been written by the translation program FaceBook uses (just try that one sometime!). In other stories it was mainly the odd word and bizarre punctuaton.
(I've read a new e-edition now in 2022, and most of those problems are cleared up. Didn't help me like the book much more though.)

The concept was really interesting, but the execution was more than partisan. A couple of the authors were unduly complimentary about the British police forces, but the worst part was the assumptions made by the ex-CID chap who was charged with deciding whether these would actually have been perfect crimes.
In at least one case he made all sorts of assumptions about what would have been done, when anyone with any experience in reading the news would know that he was wrong. A lot of times it would have boiled down to experience (country constables as first responders), available staff (chronic manpower shortages in all police forces, all the time) and in one story he makes the bizarre assumption that fingerprints (now remember this was written in the 1930s) from an unknown victim would have been traced from countryside Britain to Scotland, thus identifying the man. Uh-huh!

It was a brilliant idea for a book, but unfortunately the execution fell far short of the vision.

[Berna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although some were not perfect murder stories even for me. I liked the idea of using a real police detective very much. I found the crime stories very enjoyable to read.

It Didn’t Work Out by Margery Allingham 3,5/5
The Fallen Idol by Father Robert Knox 4/5
The Policeman Only Taps Once by Anthony Berkeley 4,5/5
Strange Death of Major Scallion by Russell Thorndike 4/5
Blood Sacrifice by Dorothy L. Sayers 4,5/5
The Parcel by Freeman Wills Crofts 4/5
Average: 4

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something unusual: a themed anthology contributed to by some of the best-known detective writers of the early 20th century: Margery Allingham, Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley, Dorothy L. Sayers, Freeman Wills Crofts, and Russell Thorndyke. There's also an article by Agatha Christie, not part of the original volume but published around the same time, about a real-life unsolved murder.

The theme is "the perfect murder," and in between the stories, George W. Cornish, a retired Scotland Yard detective, analyzes the crimes and talks about how they aren't perfect murders at all, and how detectives would go about solving them if they happened in real life. The one that he does concede is probably not soluble is the Sayers, but he manages to pull off a move of "even when I lose, I win" by claiming that it isn't actually a murder.

While Cornish's commentary is interesting, it does go a bit against the grain of the detective genre, which we all secretly know doesn't reflect real life. It's as if a relationship counsellor commented on a book of romance stories, or a Western historian on a book of cowboy stories, or an actual undercover agent on a book of spy stories. It takes the air out of them a bit.

The stories are mostly enjoyable, though. I'd read the Sayers before, in one of her collections, but the others were new to me, and they're varied and interesting - some told in first person, some in third. As with any anthology, some are better than others, but all of them, I thought, were at least competent. The Sayers was the best written, to my mind, though in terms of the actual crime story I most enjoyed Anthony Berkeley's venture into American-style hard-boiled meeting British matter-of-fact domestic crime.

The proofreading of what I assume is a scanned and OCR-interpreted text is, as usual, rough in spots.

[Catarina Nunes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

Gostei bastante dos 2 primeiros contos e suas análises, mas os restantes contos nem por isso

[Brenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is pretty fun: 6 detection writers are tasked to write the perfect undetectable murder. Then a retired Scotland Yard detective critiques the logic of undetectability, showing (with some humour and overly dramatic language) how they might get caught.

[Emmy B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so this is a four-star read for me, but it won't be for everyone. For me, the concept alone is breathtaking. So here we have six Golden Age crime writers (Margery Allingham and Dorothy L. Sayers being the most prominent ones represented) constructing short story "perfect murders", each followed up by an analysis by a real life Scotland Yard Chief Inspector, who takes these great minds down a peg and explains how the Yard would have got to the bottom of the mystery.

Here's the thing: are all the stories great? No. However, at least three of them are very much worth reading - they're very good efforts, with some beautiful attempts to outwit the Yard. And the Chief Inspector's input is wonderful in how down-to-earth he is. For those who, like me, love Golden Age crime fiction, this is plain fascinating.

The stories I really liked were Margery Allingham's "It Didn't Work Out", Anthony Berkley's "The Policeman Only Taps Once", and Dorothy L. Sayers' "Blood Sacrifice" - each very ingenious attempts at writing a murder that would never be detected. They really manage to convince you that they might be "perfect" and have you eagerly anticipate the Yard man's response. So, for me, this was a ton of fun.

[Damaskcat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six famous crime writers set out to commit the perfect murder and a former Scotland Yard detective - in real life - comments on whether he thinks the murders were incapable of detection. I must admit to being as interested in the detectives comments as I was in the stories themselves as they were well written and show how much emphasis the police pay to small details which could well be overlooked by ordinary people and crime writers alike.

I thought the murders described were really gruesome and quite unlike the normal writing of all these authors. However it is an entertaining book to read and I think all crime writers ought to read it to aid with the construction of their plots.

As well as the 'perfect' murders there is a short article by Agatha Christie with was originally published in 1929 about a real life arsenic poisoning case which was never solved. I found this an interesting book and would recommend it to all crime writing fans in spite of the fact that I have only given it four stars. It loses one star because of the graphic descriptions of the murders which were not to my taste.

[Cláudia Guedes da Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seis breves e intrigantes contos policiais do Detection Club para nos apresentarem o homicídio perfeito. Será o Ex-Superintendente Corsnish, do DIC, capaz de empreender com sucesso tal missão?
Deveras intrigante...

[Raquel Azevedo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este livro despertou-me a atenção, porque pela sinopse, diz-nos que foi uma ideia que surgiu de um grupo de seis escritores de livros policiais pertencentes a um clube: “The Detection Club”.
Escreveram cada um seu conto, com o que eles achavam ser o crime perfeito, para posteriormente ser avaliado por um ex superintendente de seu nome Cornish da Scotland Yard.
Tive curiosidade, pesquisei e realmente existiu o superintendente como também o clube de escritores policias que ainda está activo nos dias de hoje.
Uma coisa comum em todas as histórias é que é fácil o leitor ficar do lado do assassino, pois as vitimas passam a vida a infernizar quem os rodeia, e compreendemos perfeitamente a sua decisão.
Dos seis contos, os que mais gostei foram o da Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Russel Thorndike e o do Freeman Wills Crofts.
Houve um deles que não consegui chegar ao fim, o do Padre Ronald Knox, achei toda a história muito rocambolesca para o meu gosto.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This mystery collection has a unique concept and entertaining twist: six Golden Age mystery writers each write their story of the perfect crime, and a real life policeman, ex-Superintendent CID Cornish, tells how he thinks the truth would be found out. The authors are: Margery Allingham, Father Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley, Russell Thorndike, Dorothy L. Sayers and Freeman Wills Crofts. There’s also an afterword including Agatha Christie’s article on a true life poisoning case from 1929. (Note: this ebook edition would be helped by an introduction explaining the format and by including the authors’ names on the tables of contents). 3 1/2 stars

[Fatima Sheriff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I particularly liked the Allingham psychology and the spontaneity of the Sayers, another though I forget which was particularly amusingly gruesome. Superintendent chapters mostly superfluous after the fact analysis of how someone could get caught in a perfect crime but he did make some points. Loved the Christie essay at the end, I just know she'd hate the parasocial harassment of actual crime victims and suspects nowadays

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I found that this book was recently re-released I had to read it. It is a compilation of six short stories written by six Golden Age Mystery writers as they each try to craft a perfect murder. Each story is analyzed by Ex-Supt. Cornish. He points out where the murderer in the story may have left clues and how they could be uncovered by a proper investigation. The book was fun and to my mind all the murders outlined were ingenious. The six mystery writers that submitted stories are Margery Allingham, Father Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley, Russell Thorndyke, Dorothy L. Sayers and Freeman Wills Crofts. To top off this A-list of mystery authors, we have Dame Agatha Christie and her submission that tackles a real-life mystery of three deaths that occurred in 1929. I'm sure that any Golden Age aficionados will recognize these names from the Detection Club. I am so glad that these little gems have been resurrected. I enjoyed reading them.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun one! The club members have to write the perfect crime and a real life retired detective takes the cases apart. By far my favorite of The Detection Club books.

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off strong but became a bit boring and almost repetitive after a while. Especially the second half of stories all follow a very similar premise.

[Anna O. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very hit and miss book, while some of the stories were good, the other ones I tended to skim over and not pay attention what was happening-- good for being able to sleep. It's hard to find a synopsis on these stories so I thought someone might appreciate, however long but a brief summary of each story. And a little fun fact about each author was thrown in, in case one might not be familiar with some of the authors, most of which I admit, I didn't known until these stories, but glad I found them. As the name depicts, 6 authors go up against the famous Scotland Yard, each of which try to see if they can dupe the former Superintendent George Cornish. At the end of each story, Cornish closely examines and picks apart, what he thinks are lose threads in each story. Of course, Superintendent Cornish will say, none of these crimes committed could be the perfect murder, however one has to look at the fact in real life the police would not have all this information beforehand.

For those of you who don't know Superintendent George W. Cornish, served 38 years on the police force. At 21, Cornish became an officer on March 4, 1895. Cornish was assigned to Whitechapel, after only a mere 3 weeks training, he began his training in February. Cornish would go on to write a memoir of his time named, "Cornish of Scotland Yard", published in 1934. Cornish began his service on the police force only 7 years after the first Ripper victim was killed.


It Didnt Work Out by Margery Allingham.
The story is written in first person by the murderer. The story takes place where the murder a now elderly retired stage actress, wishes to free her friend also a former actress from an abusive husband. This story plays out over several decades, and we watch Polly look on helplessly on her friend Louie, as her husband Frank tears his wives successful career down, and her spirit. The two eventually become loggers of Polly and decides to make one more performance, but this time death isn't an act.
Considered one of the original 4, "Queens of Crime", she was the oldest of 3, and incidentally both her parents were published authors. Allingham studied speech training to help her manage a stammer she had since childhood.
The story took a bit to get going, however, this was one of my favorite stories.

The Fallen Idol by Ronald Knox.
The story takes place in Latin America. A fictitious dictator Enrique Gamba, who emerged victorious after a coup, is now seeing circulating messages and threats pop up around the city. The messages are signed THE AVENGER, and threaten to burn down his house with him in it. A fire does break out and the dictator is murdered in his apartment, although he's not found in the apartment, the dictator is found outside the grounds. It was accidental, as it's discovered he's not burned and couldn't have jumped as they see a bullet has entered his skull. In his apartment that's supposedly under close watch and under lock and key, how could this murder have been pulled off?
Oddly enough Ronald Knox was a prominent English priest and the author of 6 detective novels. This story to me never seemed to really get going, it was probably my least favorite story and was definitely good for a one time read only.

The Policeman Only Taps Once by Anthony Berkeley
This story also takes places in first person, who was the murderer. The story starts out with a conman, who goes from the good 'ole US of A to Jolly old England. The conman Eddie had a racket, and to avoid a tarnish in his record, decides to skip town- or rather skip country and goes to England. Eddie decides once he's there he's going to find a rich old English dame and lay on the flattery and get her to marry him-- which turns out to be a huge mistake for him.. Eddie tries his charm with an enormous woman named Myrtle, whom he thinks is ripe for the picking. The conman conned into getting married and hating every minute of it decides to set push up her departure from this world. If only he knew the saying, "old age and treachery will always beat youth and skill every time".
Anthony Berkeley, Margery Allingham, and Russell Thorndike, were a toss up of which was my favorite story. It's a great story and the ending is sure to surprise you. Anthony Berkeley, was a Lieutenant in the British Army, who served in the First World War. He suffered from a gas attack in France, causing him to suffer long term damage to his health. After the war he worked as a journalist, he was one of many who helped shape crime fiction to what it is today. He was one of the founders of The Detection Club, which this book is written under.

The Strange Death of Major Scallion by Russell Thorndike
This is our last story to be told from a first person point of view, or in this case from the murderer. Best known for his doctor Syn novels- Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, has his murderer perfect a murder read from one of the Doctor Syn novels. The victim, as from the title is Major Scallion, the murderers fat, conceited, lying, self indulgent, blackmailer for a cousin. The blackmailer, the thorn in our murderers side, comes the damaging information, when the cousin comes to the Major for advice. Advice the cousin quickly regrets asking for, the Major helps our murder out of his dilemma, but not without a cost. For his silence he asks for money, his cousin gives him money, the Major goes away, and when all is spent he comes back. Eventually the cousin gets married and they move away, however, the Major tracks his cousin down, and decides he's going to stay with them. The cousin like a bad penny, demands payment as before. When the cousin refuses, Major gives him an ultimatum, money or he tells his wife. The Major does everything to get under his cousins skin and attempts to get in his cousins wife good graces, eventually his wife gets annoyed of the Major. That's when a seed plants itself in his head, MURDER.
I enjoyed this story a lot, it was a very unorthodox approach to murder, but at least in the case of our
protagonist, he was finally able to get rid of his little-- well in this case, "BIG", problem.

Blood Sacrifice by Dorothy L. Sayers
Our murderer or passive actor John Scales, finally gets his big break when a well known actor/manager, Garrick Drury, decides to put on a play John has written called, "Bitter Laurel". The play was written to be cynical and shocking, about a veteran changed by the horrors of war, who in the end is saved from an attempt to end his life. John gives over the rights to Drury, who piece by piece rewrites the play into a laughing stock, makes the war hero a coward, and the heroine who comes to the rescue is promiscuous. John is outraged, the public thinks the show is a joke, but the only thing holding it together is Drury. Drury, a once successful actor, wants to be in the spotlight again and where there's a show featuring Drury, people are more than willing to spend their money. Throughout the story John becomes more and more frustrated and wishes the the play could become non-existent. The play, ruined from its original form, his reputation in tatters, that's when murder is sent to center stage. While John doesn't technically kill Drury, he doesn't intend to make any haste to stop it, and allows Death, to come in and draw the curtains on the scene.
Dorothy L. Sayers, recognized as one of the 4, "Queens of Crime," she was a devout Anglo-Catholic, she wrote wrote several religious plays for performances on stage and for the BBC. She wrote a radio dramatization on the life of Christ, "The Man Born to be King". Sayers, is said to have been one of many to have shaped crime fiction into what it is today.
While an interesting story, it was rather slow, and could have been written with fewer pages than it was, and was not my favorite.

The Parcel by Freeman Wills Crofts
Our last story begins with Stewart Hasler, are unfortunate victim Henry Blunt. You can expect a Golden Age type, Unabomber story, and in some ways is similar to that of Anthony Berkeleys story. The story takes place 3 years after the torment from Blunt began. Hasler believed that while Blunt was alive, he would have neither peace or safety. We receive a brief history of the issue in question, which started 35 years ago, Hasler a then 20 year old, and Blunt a then 31 year old; the story explains Hasler, then named John Matthews, was a junior clerk;Blunt in the same department. Blunt was a gambler and gambled so much he faced ruin, Hasler well liked and eager to please became a pawn in Blunts game to avoid ruin, only Hasler saw it too late, and Hasler was caught red-handed. In court, while Hasler tried to prove he had an accomplice, Blunt was able to weasel his way out of suspicion, while Hasler was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Once released Stewart changed his name from Matthews to Hasler and moved to Australia. He eventually became successful, married and through the spurring of his wife Gina, who hated Australia, moved back to England-- where disaster awaited him. Haslar and Gina have now settled down the charming English Country, the couple got on well, Gina had her old friends again. Everything couldn't be more perfect for them, until Blunt unexpectedly shows up, Blunt demands money and when he learns his wife isn't aware of his former life, he finds his foothold into securing money for as long as he lives. After 3 long years, and funds dwindling, a man can only take so much; with the fear of losing his wife, there's only one answer-Murder.
Freeman Wills Crofts was a mild-mannered, devout Irish Protestant, and former railway engineer.
I enjoyed this story much better than I did Ronald Knox and Dorothy Sayer's.

All in all all 4 out of the 6 stories are good, the other two aren't my favorite, but another reader might find those stories more enjoyable than I did. Sorry for the long post, I did put a good chunk of time into this, to give you the best summary, and to give some background into the authors.
I gave it 4 stars, due to the 2 stories that lacked any real pace or substance in my opinion.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting concept, but I found it a mixed thing. Some stories were pretty good, others just ok. And the detective's analysis afterwards was not my kind of thing.
Still, I enjoyed reading stories by some favorite authors like Margery Allingham and Dorothy Sayers.

[Anwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting premise. Six mystery writers, at the top of their game, write about the 'perfect murder'. A retired superintendant of Scotland Yard then comments on whether the murder is, indeed, perfect, or whether the police would solve it.

I mainly picked this up because two of the stories were written by Allingham and Sayers - and those were the two I enjoyed the most. Of the remaining four stories, one was marred by the odd line appearing to be missing, two I disliked intensely, and one was truly horrific in its denoument. That particular one had shades of Poe in its devilish ingenuity. The parts written by the Super were both eye opening and fascinating. Interesting to see how the police mind works. Nothing is too small to escape notice and, whilst much of the work is repetitive and pedantic, it garners results. Not as romantic as fictional crime, maybe, but far more reliable. There is also a bonus in the form of a reportage written by Christie on a true unsolved crime. All in all a good book. It only gained four stars because of the stories I did not like - inevitable in a joint effort such as this one. I will, however, be looking out for more examples of the Detection Club books.

[Marc Diepstraten · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit disappointing actually. A total of 6 short stories: Perfect Murders which after conclusion are dissected by a policeman of the Yard. Most of these stories are quite good. The trouble I'm having with it is the second part in which the murders are supposedly solved. Leaps and bounds are taken with snippets of information used in the story, which would never be known to the police to prove it actually isn't a perfect murder. For certain stories it goes to extremes in such a way it becomes irritating. The policeman has read the story and knowns it's a murder and then shows it really isn't. However in certain stories the circumstances are painted in such a way it's hard to envision that you would switch from accident to begin with. With absolute knowledge of the facts that major hurdle is directly tackled. There is where it comes of the rails for me: it is not a battle of wits, more a battle of wits against ego: "yes it is good, but I would have solved it!" Read the short stories, and skip the following tales which solve them!

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun gimmick for a book of short stories, but I think it would have been way more interesting if the detective had been given part of the story first and had to try and figure out how the murder was done, and then was provided with the solution. In most of them, he already knows the solution so of course it's easy for him to say he would have figured it out.
Story-wise, some were better than others - I did enjoy the twist in the Anthony Berkley one which was interesting as I thought I wasn't going to like it when I started reading it. Having recently read The 12:30 from Croydon by Freeman Wills Crofts, his story was pretty much the exact same plot but with a different murder method, which was a bit tedious.
Worth a read for the interesting idea of it, but nothing amazing, however I did like the inclusion in this edition of the Agatha Christie true crime article.

[Laura Verret · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, the tagline for this book is ‘Who Better to Commit the Perfect Murders than the World’s Greatest Mystery Writers?’ but from the description on the back, I couldn’t tell if these stories were written by the ‘world’s greatest mystery writers’, or were about them. I bought it anyway. Turns out they were by. ; )

The idea behind this book was for six great detective writers – Margery Allingham, Anthony Berkeley, Freeman Wills Crofts, Father Ronald Knox, Dorothy Sayers, and Russell Thorndike – to write mysteries which they considered to record the perfect murder. These mysteries would then be turned over to Scotland Yard’s Superintendent Cornish who would try to prove why and how the murderer could be captured. An intriguing idea…

[josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

thank you everyone (not you margery allingham) for being dull as dirt and thank you ex-superintendent cornish for being the worst part of this book and building entire cases against these stories based on nothing except conjecture and your own personal hearsay... i had a marvellous time getting frustrated at you!!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Yard Wins All 6 (But It Cheats)

I wish I could go back in time to a meeting of the Detective Club. Now that would be interesting! All the best mystery writers of the 1930s would be together, unlocking locked room murders and inspiring each other.

This book is a reprint of a 1930s book containing a "perfect" murder story by each of six Club members: Marjorie Allingham, Dorothy Sayers, Father Ronald Knox, Anthony Berkeley, Russell Thorndike, and Freeman Willis Crofts.

After each story, Ex-Superintendent Cornish, a Scotland Yard retiree, dissects the tale and shows how good police and detective work would solve the case.

The stories are not their authors' best, but were written for this book. Many are filled with information about chemical reactions and even a diagram of an explosive device. They would appeal to a true murder story enthusiast, but much of the information was wasted on me.

I liked the Dorothy Sayers entry, but it wasn't really a perfect murder but a moral dilemma.

Many of the others are interesting for historical reasons. Even interpreting the long ago slang was challenging, but fun.

The former Scotland Yard detective added his insights to the stories, but many of his defenses depended on detectives coming upon a person who might have seen something or evidence that might not exist. Since Cornish was the author of these critiques, he could arrange for the murderers to always be caught.

I am glad I read the stories, but I'd rather read a book of short stories by my favorites among the authors.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Six renowned Golden Age crime authors write “the perfect crime” and Superintendent Cornish from Scotland Yard gives his professional opinion on whether the crime would indeed have been unsolvable…

This wasn’t quite what I was expecting - I thought each story would be a mystery to be solved, and both the reader and Superintendent Cornish would attempt to solve it. However, in almost each, we know from the outset who commits the crime with the story explaining how they go about doing so and commentary at the end from Cornish about how Scotland Yard would have approached the crime and the likelihood of the murderer getting away with it.

So I didn’t get the kick out of trying to solve the murders that I thought I would, but it was actually very interesting to read Cornish’s commentary and get an insight into how Scotland Yard operated at the time and how the psychology of criminals was understood by the police. Things have certainly changed in the last 90ish years! (Thankfully!)

This edition includes a 1929 essay by Agatha Christie about a real-life unsolved case, which is interesting enough and vaguely relevant in that it remains unsolved (as far as I know), so could be considered a “perfect crime.” But since it is inconclusive and doesn’t fit the format of the rest of the book, it does feel a little shoe-horned in.

A fun idea, but the execution results in less mystery-solving and more insight into the operation of Scotland Yard at the time.