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Crime Classics Box Set: Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham, Murder Makes Mistakes by George Bellairs, Buried For Pleasure by Edmund Crispin
Three classic crime novels including work from the Golden Age crime queen, Margery Allingham, and master of the whodunnit, Edmund Crispin.
Police at the Funeral
The tranquility of Cambridge is punctured when Cousin Andrew of the illustrious Faraday family disappears without a trace. No time is wasted in summoning Albert Campion and his sleuthing skills away from the bustle of Piccadilly to investigate – but little does he expect to be greeted by a band of eccentric relatives all at daggers with each other.
Soon there are as many dead bodies as there are red herrings, and Campion must uncover the secrets of the Faraday dynasty before another victim falls…
'My very favourite of the four Queens of crime is Allingham' – J K Rowling
Murder Makes Mistakes
The many admirers of Sergeant Cromwell, faithful assistant and friend to Superintendent Littlejohn, will learn with dismay that, whilst attending the funeral of his uncle Richard, in the pretty Cheshire village of Rushton Inferior, he is shot through the head. The fact that Cromwell is quite unknown in Rushton raises the questions of whether or not the crime was an accident or deliberately done.
Littlejohn, casting all other tasks aside, hurries north to the hospital where his sergeant is lying and there the surgeon tells him that the crime was committed by the smallest bullet he has ever seen. A shot from a pop-gun, in fact!
The famous Superintendent settles down in Rushton Inferior, gets to work, and there unravels a series of stories and incidents, some comic, others tragic in the extreme, all of which finally lead him to solve the case. Throughout the course of the investigation, the most courteous of all detectives is accused of bad-manners and rudeness, but the convicted criminal in the end writes to him from prison and thanks him for being a true friend!
'Pure British detective story' - The New York Times
Buried For Pleasure
In the sleepy English village of Sanford Angelorum, professor and amateur detective Gervase Fen is taking a break from his books to run for Parliament. At first glance, the village he’s come to canvass appears perfectly peaceful, but Fen soon discovers that appearances can be someone in the village has discovered a dark secret and is using it for blackmail. Anyone who comes close to uncovering the blackmailer’s identity is swiftly dispatched.
As the joys of politics wear off, Fen sets his mind to the mystery but finds himself caught up in a tangled tale of eccentric psychiatrists, escaped lunatics, beautiful women and lost heirs
'the master of the whodunnit' - The New York Times
Police at the Funeral
The tranquility of Cambridge is punctured when Cousin Andrew of the illustrious Faraday family disappears without a trace. No time is wasted in summoning Albert Campion and his sleuthing skills away from the bustle of Piccadilly to investigate – but little does he expect to be greeted by a band of eccentric relatives all at daggers with each other.
Soon there are as many dead bodies as there are red herrings, and Campion must uncover the secrets of the Faraday dynasty before another victim falls…
'My very favourite of the four Queens of crime is Allingham' – J K Rowling
Murder Makes Mistakes
The many admirers of Sergeant Cromwell, faithful assistant and friend to Superintendent Littlejohn, will learn with dismay that, whilst attending the funeral of his uncle Richard, in the pretty Cheshire village of Rushton Inferior, he is shot through the head. The fact that Cromwell is quite unknown in Rushton raises the questions of whether or not the crime was an accident or deliberately done.
Littlejohn, casting all other tasks aside, hurries north to the hospital where his sergeant is lying and there the surgeon tells him that the crime was committed by the smallest bullet he has ever seen. A shot from a pop-gun, in fact!
The famous Superintendent settles down in Rushton Inferior, gets to work, and there unravels a series of stories and incidents, some comic, others tragic in the extreme, all of which finally lead him to solve the case. Throughout the course of the investigation, the most courteous of all detectives is accused of bad-manners and rudeness, but the convicted criminal in the end writes to him from prison and thanks him for being a true friend!
'Pure British detective story' - The New York Times
Buried For Pleasure
In the sleepy English village of Sanford Angelorum, professor and amateur detective Gervase Fen is taking a break from his books to run for Parliament. At first glance, the village he’s come to canvass appears perfectly peaceful, but Fen soon discovers that appearances can be someone in the village has discovered a dark secret and is using it for blackmail. Anyone who comes close to uncovering the blackmailer’s identity is swiftly dispatched.
As the joys of politics wear off, Fen sets his mind to the mystery but finds himself caught up in a tangled tale of eccentric psychiatrists, escaped lunatics, beautiful women and lost heirs
'the master of the whodunnit' - The New York Times
749 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 16, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 2, 2017
Amusing collection of three "classic crime books" - The first by Margery Allingham is probably the more satisfying of the three as it is evenly paced with one murder after another within the confines of an old family headed by interesting matriarch: "The mode of living of the house hasn't altered since she first set it down about eighteen-seventy. The house is run like clockwork. Everything is just on time. Everyone has to go to church on Sunday mornings. Most of us go by car - it's a nineteen hundred and thirteen Daimler - but we take it in turns to go with great-aunt, who drives in a victoria in the summer and a brougham in the winter...'Oho! I've seen them,' said Campion." So this is one of the Campion books popular with Allingham fans. It is peopled with a uniquely deranged cast of characters.
The second book by George Bellairs I had read previously and did not care for it since he wrote so many books that I really appreciate.
The third book by Edmund Crispin was entertaining, one of his works featuring Oxford don Gervase Fen who must use his wits to solve murders and attempted murders in a far-flung town where he is lodging while making a run for Parliament. There is a naked lunatic on the loose as he enters the town for the first time, and things get only stranger.
The second book by George Bellairs I had read previously and did not care for it since he wrote so many books that I really appreciate.
The third book by Edmund Crispin was entertaining, one of his works featuring Oxford don Gervase Fen who must use his wits to solve murders and attempted murders in a far-flung town where he is lodging while making a run for Parliament. There is a naked lunatic on the loose as he enters the town for the first time, and things get only stranger.
September 20, 2017
I read all three stories. I had heard that they were classics. I liked them all, although it took a reread of the third one to appreciate it. I have written separate reviews under each book title.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews