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Bodies from the Library #1
Bodies from the Library 1: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection
This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 16 tales by masters of the golden age of detective fiction for the first time in book form; it includes a newly discovered Agatha Christie crime story that has not been seen since 1922.
Tony Medawar's collection came out in 2018 and proved popular; there have been five more since. Bodies from the Library, volume 6, came out in 2023.
At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, Bodies from the Library unearths lost stories from the period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public’s imagination. That period saw the emergence of some of the world’s cleverest and most popular storytellers.
It contains forgotten tales that have either been published only once before – perhaps in a newspaper or rare magazine – or have never before appeared in print. From a previously unpublished 1917 script featuring Ernest Bramah’s blind detective Max Carrados to early 1950s crime stories written for London’s Evening Standard by Cyril Hare, Freeman Wills Crofts and A.A. Milne, it spans five decades.
Most anticipated of all are the contributions by women writers: the first detective story by Georgette Heyer, unseen since 1923; an unpublished story by Christianna Brand, creator of Nanny McPhee; and a dark tale by Agatha Christie published in an Australian journal in 1922 during her grand tour of the British Empire.
With other stories by Detection Club stalwarts Anthony Berkeley, H.C. Bailey, J.J. Connington, John Rhode and Nicholas Blake, plus Vincent Cornier, Leo Bruce, Roy Vickers and Arthur Upfield, this essential collection harks back to a time before forensic science – when murder was a complex business.
Librarian's note: they are: 1) Before Insulin by J.J. Connington, 2) The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce, 3) Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts, 4) Linckes' Great Case by Georgette Heyer, 5) Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake, 6) The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode, 7) The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt by Cyril Hare, 8) The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cormier, 9) The Fool and the Perfect Murder, 10) Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne, 11) The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley, 12) The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand, 13) Blind Man's Bluff by Ernest Bramah, 14) Victoria Pumphrey by H.C. Bailey, 15) The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers, and 16) The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie.
Tony Medawar's collection came out in 2018 and proved popular; there have been five more since. Bodies from the Library, volume 6, came out in 2023.
At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, Bodies from the Library unearths lost stories from the period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public’s imagination. That period saw the emergence of some of the world’s cleverest and most popular storytellers.
It contains forgotten tales that have either been published only once before – perhaps in a newspaper or rare magazine – or have never before appeared in print. From a previously unpublished 1917 script featuring Ernest Bramah’s blind detective Max Carrados to early 1950s crime stories written for London’s Evening Standard by Cyril Hare, Freeman Wills Crofts and A.A. Milne, it spans five decades.
Most anticipated of all are the contributions by women writers: the first detective story by Georgette Heyer, unseen since 1923; an unpublished story by Christianna Brand, creator of Nanny McPhee; and a dark tale by Agatha Christie published in an Australian journal in 1922 during her grand tour of the British Empire.
With other stories by Detection Club stalwarts Anthony Berkeley, H.C. Bailey, J.J. Connington, John Rhode and Nicholas Blake, plus Vincent Cornier, Leo Bruce, Roy Vickers and Arthur Upfield, this essential collection harks back to a time before forensic science – when murder was a complex business.
Librarian's note: they are: 1) Before Insulin by J.J. Connington, 2) The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce, 3) Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts, 4) Linckes' Great Case by Georgette Heyer, 5) Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake, 6) The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode, 7) The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt by Cyril Hare, 8) The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cormier, 9) The Fool and the Perfect Murder, 10) Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne, 11) The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley, 12) The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand, 13) Blind Man's Bluff by Ernest Bramah, 14) Victoria Pumphrey by H.C. Bailey, 15) The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers, and 16) The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie.
337 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 154 reviews
May 1, 2025
A great collection of "lost" short stories from Golden Age detective writers.
The vast majority of these were published in magazines and had never been collected, and one had never before been published. Agatha Christie's Wife of the Kenite was the only one I had ever read. This led me to find several new authors to check out, and I ended up reading a few new books because of it.
It's really cool (for those of us who dig this sort of stuff) that they started making these collections.
I've left links to each story with a longer review in case anyone is interested in a particular one.
Before Insulin by J.J. Connington
Before insulin, diabetes was a death sentence.
This was a mystery about an inheritance, not so much a murder.
The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce
Sergeant Beef tells the story of the perfect alibi.
Or so it would seem...
Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts
A shady solicitor decides to kill his client and friend when it becomes apparent that he's going to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His old friend wants to get some of his securities out, and unfortunately, there is nothing left due to his mishandling of the funds.
Linckes' Great Case by Georgette Heyer
I love Heyer but this isn't her best work.
The plot was a lot like the one in Agatha Christie's Poirot short, The Submarine Plans, which also came out in 1923 in a different detective magazine. Submarines and spies were a hot topic that year.
Christie's little Belgian detective did it better, though.
Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake
Murder on a sea voyage!
Nobody likes Braithwaite. Not even his wife.
He hires the gentleman detective Nigel Strangeways to pretend to be his secretary while looking out for anything hinky.
And things do get hinky.
The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode
Back, and to the left.
Dr. Priestley is called upon to try and exonerate the heir of a wealthy businessman who was shot on a train after they were heard arguing. No gun is found, but it turns out that the nephew hopped on the train, as well. <--what are the odds he didn't off the old man?
The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt by Cyril Hare
Hilary is such a douchebag character.
Ok, so he's always been a wastrel (I love that word, btw) and had gotten himself into some hot water writing a few bad checks, which led his family to pack him off to Australia. After his brother and father died, he came back to England and quickly ran through the family fortune that came his way.
Now what?
The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cormier
A clever jewel robbery stumps the police.
The Fool and the Perfect Murder by Arthur W. Upfield
Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is a biracial detective from the Australian outback.
Lucky for Bony, the white ancestry in him allows him to be intelligent, and the aboriginal ancestry in him allows him to track a hawk on a cloudy day.
sigh
There's some cringy stuff here, yes. I believe the term is unintentionally racist. If that's something you can't abide (and I do understand) you should feel free to skip this one.
Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne
No good deed goes unpunished.
Or at least, this is the moral our narrator seems to be telling us.
The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley
A bit of romance with the mystery.
When a young woman who is down on her luck decides to throw caution to the wind and take a vacation to Monte Carlo, she finds more adventure than she bargained for.
But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand
Sergeant Troot serves some punch.
All Troot wants to do is drive his children and wife to the seaside for a vacation in his lovely car. To make some extra pocket change, he's agreed to help the wealthy family down the road with their party and ends up topping off the drinks at the punch bowl. Be back by 9, honey!
But then - MURDER!
Victoria Pumphrey by H.C. Bailey
Victoria comes from old money.
But all that money is long gone.
So, when an old servant recognizes her and asks if she will play detective to help protect the assets of a young boy in his charge, she perks up. A job is a job, but this job sounds far more interesting than anything else she has available to her.
The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers
This one was kind of wild.
So these two best friends are in love with the same woman. She (of course) marries the one who end up being a nutter. It's a curse!
And after a particularly bad episode, the man who has silently watched from afar as his friend ruined the life of his lady-love, finally snaps and kills the dude.
But in one of those super cool I've-got-an-airtight-alibi kind of ways.
Very clever, sir.
The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie.
Yikes, Agatha!
Ok, so most of Christie's short stories have been reprinted in multiple collections, and I've read my fair share.
BUT.
I've only run across this story once.
It's dark.
A great collection that any fan of golden-era detective fiction will likely love.
Recommended.
The vast majority of these were published in magazines and had never been collected, and one had never before been published. Agatha Christie's Wife of the Kenite was the only one I had ever read. This led me to find several new authors to check out, and I ended up reading a few new books because of it.
It's really cool (for those of us who dig this sort of stuff) that they started making these collections.
I've left links to each story with a longer review in case anyone is interested in a particular one.
Before Insulin by J.J. Connington
Before insulin, diabetes was a death sentence.
This was a mystery about an inheritance, not so much a murder.
The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce
Sergeant Beef tells the story of the perfect alibi.
Or so it would seem...
Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts
A shady solicitor decides to kill his client and friend when it becomes apparent that he's going to get caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His old friend wants to get some of his securities out, and unfortunately, there is nothing left due to his mishandling of the funds.
Linckes' Great Case by Georgette Heyer
I love Heyer but this isn't her best work.
The plot was a lot like the one in Agatha Christie's Poirot short, The Submarine Plans, which also came out in 1923 in a different detective magazine. Submarines and spies were a hot topic that year.
Christie's little Belgian detective did it better, though.
Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake
Murder on a sea voyage!
Nobody likes Braithwaite. Not even his wife.
He hires the gentleman detective Nigel Strangeways to pretend to be his secretary while looking out for anything hinky.
And things do get hinky.
The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode
Back, and to the left.
Dr. Priestley is called upon to try and exonerate the heir of a wealthy businessman who was shot on a train after they were heard arguing. No gun is found, but it turns out that the nephew hopped on the train, as well. <--what are the odds he didn't off the old man?
The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt by Cyril Hare
Hilary is such a douchebag character.
Ok, so he's always been a wastrel (I love that word, btw) and had gotten himself into some hot water writing a few bad checks, which led his family to pack him off to Australia. After his brother and father died, he came back to England and quickly ran through the family fortune that came his way.
Now what?
The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cormier
A clever jewel robbery stumps the police.
The Fool and the Perfect Murder by Arthur W. Upfield
Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte is a biracial detective from the Australian outback.
Lucky for Bony, the white ancestry in him allows him to be intelligent, and the aboriginal ancestry in him allows him to track a hawk on a cloudy day.
sigh
There's some cringy stuff here, yes. I believe the term is unintentionally racist. If that's something you can't abide (and I do understand) you should feel free to skip this one.
Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne
No good deed goes unpunished.
Or at least, this is the moral our narrator seems to be telling us.
The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley
A bit of romance with the mystery.
When a young woman who is down on her luck decides to throw caution to the wind and take a vacation to Monte Carlo, she finds more adventure than she bargained for.
But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand
Sergeant Troot serves some punch.
All Troot wants to do is drive his children and wife to the seaside for a vacation in his lovely car. To make some extra pocket change, he's agreed to help the wealthy family down the road with their party and ends up topping off the drinks at the punch bowl. Be back by 9, honey!
But then - MURDER!
Victoria Pumphrey by H.C. Bailey
Victoria comes from old money.
But all that money is long gone.
So, when an old servant recognizes her and asks if she will play detective to help protect the assets of a young boy in his charge, she perks up. A job is a job, but this job sounds far more interesting than anything else she has available to her.
The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers
This one was kind of wild.
So these two best friends are in love with the same woman. She (of course) marries the one who end up being a nutter. It's a curse!
And after a particularly bad episode, the man who has silently watched from afar as his friend ruined the life of his lady-love, finally snaps and kills the dude.
But in one of those super cool I've-got-an-airtight-alibi kind of ways.
Very clever, sir.
The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie.
Yikes, Agatha!
Ok, so most of Christie's short stories have been reprinted in multiple collections, and I've read my fair share.
BUT.
I've only run across this story once.
It's dark.
A great collection that any fan of golden-era detective fiction will likely love.
Recommended.
November 16, 2022
This was an enjoyable collection of short classic crime stories (and two plays, which I found just okay). Small bites were perfect for the busy week I was having. I will definitely be reading this series further and am so thrilled to find a wider world of classic works beyond the voluminous British Library Classic Crime series.
Before Insulin by J. J. Connington - A good story about a scheme to gain a sickly young man's inheritance. I was surprised with the ending because it left an opportunity for the culprits to try again on some other unfortunate.
The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce - This is the third story featuring Beef that I've read (and enjoyed). Another murder of a wealthy elderly lady in a garden for Beef to solve (a bit worrying that this is a recurring theme, lol). A clever killer and of course Beef works it out. Beef can also be found in the anthologies, Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries by Martin Edwards and Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes by Martin Edwards.
Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts - I've enjoyed both Inspector French before so this was a fun and good story that has a murderer foiled by a detail they never missed that screams guilt. Well done.
Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer- An espionage mystery unravelled by Inspector Linckes. Just an okay story for me.
Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake - One of the plays. it was a bit predictable as far as the culprit of the murder for me and while there was nothing wrong with the story(sort of locked room being on a yacht), it won't be one that I'd call memorable.
The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode- A really good story about a man found shot dead on a train. This wins for the mechanism and systematic problem-solving.
The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare - A layabout young man schemes to obtain his elderly, sickly aunt's fortune and is further shown to be a folly magnet. Great ending twist. I cheered out loud.
The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cornier- This was just okay for me. A jewellery heist and nobility is at the center of it but I found the provenance details integral to the solution to be tedious. It was wonderful for discovery of crossword words: sqirearchical, ceraceous, chiavacuore, intaglio, brusquerie and serried.
The Fool and the Perfect Murder by Arthur Upfield - Set in Australia, this story is noteworthy for having a biracial detective. I found the mystery (a fan of mystery novels tries to pull off a perfect crime) to be unravelled, well done but what really stood out to me were the character's own attitudes about race and his own self-regard. Even when I found him off-putting, I wanted to know more. I'd read a full-length novel (there are over 20 starring Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte) just to delve more deeply. This one came with a disclaimer for the accepted attitudes of too many, but never all, of the time. Very glad I got to read this one as while I love classic crime, detectives of colour are far and few between. Rarer still for the time are stories published by POC and I do have a short list of some I'm trying to obtain & read.
Bread Upon the Waters by A. A. Milne - I really enjoyed this story of a plotting nephew (another fan of mystery novels) who undertakes what he thinks is the perfect scheme to capture his uncle's money and fails spectacularly. Loved it all.
The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley - A cute story of three young people in Monte Carlo getting involved in espionage. I've enjoyed some of Berkeley's stories and in the bio, this is referred to as a "comic thriller". Very helpful to me as it read a bit madcap and the reactions of the characters would seem off without that known purpose. The best part was the bio on Berkeley.
The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand - I liked this one quite a bit and felt for poor Sgt. Troot who was just trying to take his family on vacation on time when he finds himself in the middle of a murder. The amount of lying and double-crossing was notable. This had a very good ending. I've read & enjoyed another short story by Brand and have a few of her books via the British Library reissues on my TBR.
Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah - The second play in the book. Not for me.
Victoria Pumphrey by H C Bailey - A young woman with a good name and no cash finds her way to being an investigator of sorts. Not a bad story.
The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers - I'll just leave the most memorable passage in the story here: "A gentleman might conceivably commit murder if he were utterly and absolutely convinced that by so dining he ensured an increase in the sum of human happiness. But a gentleman could in no circumstances allow another man, however intrinsically worthless, to pay the price of his own crime."
The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie - I liked this short story by Christie for the atmosphere alone. The dread and tension are perfectly constructed and the backdrop of the wider conflict helped too.
I very much enjoyed getting the chance to read stories that have not been otherwise published or very long ago in magazines. To think of daily newspapers that used to print short fiction for readers to enjoy. I can't even fathom a newspaper doing such a thing in my lifetime. Tony Medawar and Martin Edwards are promised spots on my TBR between the Bodies from the Library series and the Britsh Library Crime Classics reissues. They both have a wonderful knack with the little forwards they write and not only do I learn of more books/stories, I find the tidbits about the authors very interesting.
I'll be reading the next in this series, definitely. Recommended.
Before Insulin by J. J. Connington - A good story about a scheme to gain a sickly young man's inheritance. I was surprised with the ending because it left an opportunity for the culprits to try again on some other unfortunate.
The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce - This is the third story featuring Beef that I've read (and enjoyed). Another murder of a wealthy elderly lady in a garden for Beef to solve (a bit worrying that this is a recurring theme, lol). A clever killer and of course Beef works it out. Beef can also be found in the anthologies, Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries by Martin Edwards and Serpents in Eden: Countryside Crimes by Martin Edwards.
Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts - I've enjoyed both Inspector French before so this was a fun and good story that has a murderer foiled by a detail they never missed that screams guilt. Well done.
Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer- An espionage mystery unravelled by Inspector Linckes. Just an okay story for me.
Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake - One of the plays. it was a bit predictable as far as the culprit of the murder for me and while there was nothing wrong with the story(sort of locked room being on a yacht), it won't be one that I'd call memorable.
The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode- A really good story about a man found shot dead on a train. This wins for the mechanism and systematic problem-solving.
The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare - A layabout young man schemes to obtain his elderly, sickly aunt's fortune and is further shown to be a folly magnet. Great ending twist. I cheered out loud.
The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cornier- This was just okay for me. A jewellery heist and nobility is at the center of it but I found the provenance details integral to the solution to be tedious. It was wonderful for discovery of crossword words: sqirearchical, ceraceous, chiavacuore, intaglio, brusquerie and serried.
The Fool and the Perfect Murder by Arthur Upfield - Set in Australia, this story is noteworthy for having a biracial detective. I found the mystery (a fan of mystery novels tries to pull off a perfect crime) to be unravelled, well done but what really stood out to me were the character's own attitudes about race and his own self-regard. Even when I found him off-putting, I wanted to know more. I'd read a full-length novel (there are over 20 starring Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte) just to delve more deeply. This one came with a disclaimer for the accepted attitudes of too many, but never all, of the time. Very glad I got to read this one as while I love classic crime, detectives of colour are far and few between. Rarer still for the time are stories published by POC and I do have a short list of some I'm trying to obtain & read.
Bread Upon the Waters by A. A. Milne - I really enjoyed this story of a plotting nephew (another fan of mystery novels) who undertakes what he thinks is the perfect scheme to capture his uncle's money and fails spectacularly. Loved it all.
The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley - A cute story of three young people in Monte Carlo getting involved in espionage. I've enjoyed some of Berkeley's stories and in the bio, this is referred to as a "comic thriller". Very helpful to me as it read a bit madcap and the reactions of the characters would seem off without that known purpose. The best part was the bio on Berkeley.
The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand - I liked this one quite a bit and felt for poor Sgt. Troot who was just trying to take his family on vacation on time when he finds himself in the middle of a murder. The amount of lying and double-crossing was notable. This had a very good ending. I've read & enjoyed another short story by Brand and have a few of her books via the British Library reissues on my TBR.
Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah - The second play in the book. Not for me.
Victoria Pumphrey by H C Bailey - A young woman with a good name and no cash finds her way to being an investigator of sorts. Not a bad story.
The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers - I'll just leave the most memorable passage in the story here: "A gentleman might conceivably commit murder if he were utterly and absolutely convinced that by so dining he ensured an increase in the sum of human happiness. But a gentleman could in no circumstances allow another man, however intrinsically worthless, to pay the price of his own crime."
The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie - I liked this short story by Christie for the atmosphere alone. The dread and tension are perfectly constructed and the backdrop of the wider conflict helped too.
I very much enjoyed getting the chance to read stories that have not been otherwise published or very long ago in magazines. To think of daily newspapers that used to print short fiction for readers to enjoy. I can't even fathom a newspaper doing such a thing in my lifetime. Tony Medawar and Martin Edwards are promised spots on my TBR between the Bodies from the Library series and the Britsh Library Crime Classics reissues. They both have a wonderful knack with the little forwards they write and not only do I learn of more books/stories, I find the tidbits about the authors very interesting.
I'll be reading the next in this series, definitely. Recommended.
February 3, 2020
This collection of short stories from various Golden Age mystery writers was a mixed bag. I mean, they all are but this one struck me as more so than others. Maybe this was because there was no overarching theme to this collection.
And it somehow felt as if the story by Agatha Christie was only added to carry the rest of the book.
Dame Agatha's contribution was interesting, but not a favourite.
One thing that I have taken away from this is that Cyril Hare is definitely becoming one of my favourite GA mystery writers. His works tend to have a dark side, but with quite a bit of humor and irony, too.
And it somehow felt as if the story by Agatha Christie was only added to carry the rest of the book.
Dame Agatha's contribution was interesting, but not a favourite.
One thing that I have taken away from this is that Cyril Hare is definitely becoming one of my favourite GA mystery writers. His works tend to have a dark side, but with quite a bit of humor and irony, too.
April 3, 2019
A good collection on an excellent idea. These last several years I've found myself enjoying older mysteries over newer ones, probably mostly due to the lower body count and the awfulness of the victims. I appreciate that reading fiction is helpful in building empathy, but I am reading for distraction from the cares of the day, so a simple puzzle is more relaxing. And too, I'm tired of the modern victims so often being pretty young women, which probably makes it easier to sell to Hollywood, but is annoying. There are a number of authors who center women, and those I like very much indeed.
Anyway, enough "you young writers get off my yard." The glorious thing about the genre is that it contains multitudes: none of us is ever going to run out of really good reads.
The two primary advantages of this collection lie in its ability to bring "forgotten" authors and works to our attention. Most of the writers here were unknown to me, and discovering their often astoundingly extensive backlist is such a gift. But wait, don't answer yet, because the other cool thing Medwar has done is include works which aren't actually stories. Old radio scripts are totally fresh pastures. He does a nice job with the author blurbs, too, it's helpful getting pen names and series references. And I really like the the warnings for offensive racist content. One expects to encounter objectionable attitudes, but being forewarned is helpful.
I don't suppose anyone is going to really like all the stories, but they're a fair mix. Everyone is likely to find something new and delightful.
Library copy, as it should be.
Anyway, enough "you young writers get off my yard." The glorious thing about the genre is that it contains multitudes: none of us is ever going to run out of really good reads.
The two primary advantages of this collection lie in its ability to bring "forgotten" authors and works to our attention. Most of the writers here were unknown to me, and discovering their often astoundingly extensive backlist is such a gift. But wait, don't answer yet, because the other cool thing Medwar has done is include works which aren't actually stories. Old radio scripts are totally fresh pastures. He does a nice job with the author blurbs, too, it's helpful getting pen names and series references. And I really like the the warnings for offensive racist content. One expects to encounter objectionable attitudes, but being forewarned is helpful.
I don't suppose anyone is going to really like all the stories, but they're a fair mix. Everyone is likely to find something new and delightful.
Library copy, as it should be.
December 31, 2021
Nicely edited collection of previously unpublished (or published just the once decades and decades ago). The great draws are short stories by Agatha Christie and Georgette Hayer. Both really good but not the jewels in this particular collection.
That prize goes to ‘Calling James Braithwaite’, which was my personal favourite. A BBC radio script from July 1940 by Nicholas Blake (published for the first time) featuring a private detective called Nigel Strangeways. Close runners up were Freeman Wills Croft’s ‘Dark Waters’ and Arthur Upfield’s ‘Fool and the Perfect Murder’ - which features Detective Inspector Napoleon ‘Bony’ Bonaparte (I’m not even joking) of the Queensland police who has an aboriginal mother and because of his ancestry has a brilliant take on murders commited in the outback! Apparently this story got Upfield in a bit of hot water, not good idea telling people how to commit murder and get away with it!
Very few duds in my opinion, perhaps the only story I’d have gladly skipped was ‘The Man With The Twisted Thumb', By Anthony Berkeley which was an over-long (boring) espionage thriller (tedious) story without a murder and therefore no detection necessary, and it certainly didn’t thrill!
Overall a great collection and I look forward to the sequel which I see is due out next year!
I’ll be reading more Blake, Croft and Upfield as well as some of the others 4.5/5
That prize goes to ‘Calling James Braithwaite’, which was my personal favourite. A BBC radio script from July 1940 by Nicholas Blake (published for the first time) featuring a private detective called Nigel Strangeways. Close runners up were Freeman Wills Croft’s ‘Dark Waters’ and Arthur Upfield’s ‘Fool and the Perfect Murder’ - which features Detective Inspector Napoleon ‘Bony’ Bonaparte (I’m not even joking) of the Queensland police who has an aboriginal mother and because of his ancestry has a brilliant take on murders commited in the outback! Apparently this story got Upfield in a bit of hot water, not good idea telling people how to commit murder and get away with it!
Very few duds in my opinion, perhaps the only story I’d have gladly skipped was ‘The Man With The Twisted Thumb', By Anthony Berkeley which was an over-long (boring) espionage thriller (tedious) story without a murder and therefore no detection necessary, and it certainly didn’t thrill!
Overall a great collection and I look forward to the sequel which I see is due out next year!
I’ll be reading more Blake, Croft and Upfield as well as some of the others 4.5/5
March 10, 2021
A delightful anthology of short stories and screenplays from the Golden Age of Detection--stories that have either never been published before or only once upon a time in newspapers or magazines. Of particular interest (to me) are the earliest detective story by Georgette Heyer, and stories by A. A. Milne, Arthur W. Upfield, and Vincent Cornier. It was wonderful to have more to read by Heyer and Milne (I thought I had read all their work) and Vincent Cornier was a brand-new author for me. I will say that I had feelings of deja vu with the stories by John Rhode and Agatha Christie--even though these have supposedly never been collected before, I definitely had the feeling that I had read these. The Anthony Berkeley story reminded me of Christie's thrillers with young couples (the Beresfords and Bobby Owens & Lady Frances [Frankie] Derwent...etc.). A lot of fun. Overall, an enjoyable collection and I look forward to reading the second and third anthologies.
First posted on my blog--with story synopses: My Reader's Block.
First posted on my blog--with story synopses: My Reader's Block.
April 28, 2021
When I was feeling the urge for nostalgic British Golden Age mystery, I was glad to discover this anthology tucked onto my audio shelf. I've read/listened to a few different British mystery writers, but I mostly stuck to those and read their backlists instead of expanding into more of the genre. That was an error because I discovered several authors that I hadn't heard of or hadn't gotten around to that were fabulously entertaining when I caught their stories and bios in this entertaining collection.
Bodies from the Library is a classic mystery lovers' dream. Tony Medawar curated a sampling from several authors and some of these were never-before-published or lesser known works of the authors. What was also a tremendous extra was the fascinating author bios included with each story that I found as entertaining as the stories themselves.
As with any collection, I preferred some stories and some writing styles more than others. But, I am happy to report that I didn't dislike any of these. Even those that didn't do much for me had enjoyable elements and I enjoyed exploring the familiar mystery elements that were popular in the era from wildly improbable murder elements and character intuition to the historical backdrops themselves. Most stories were set in England, but a couple were in other countries. Some were from the eyes of the murderer, some from the detective, and some from interested third parties. I loved the variety.
I chose this anthology for what it was, but also I couldn't resist a previous unpublished Georgette Heyer or reading a mystery from the author of Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne. These were good, but turns out that some of the others ended up being fab.
Philip Bretherton was a new to me narrator, but I enjoyed his narration voice and the voices of the characters, accents, pacing, and tone of the stories. He caught the subtleties like humor and menace just great.
All in all, this was a scrumptious smorgasbord of short stories and a fab collection that I know I'll be returning to and using it as a jumping board to try more from these authors. I'll definitely be listening to the rest of the series. Definitely recommend to British classic mystery fans.
Bodies from the Library is a classic mystery lovers' dream. Tony Medawar curated a sampling from several authors and some of these were never-before-published or lesser known works of the authors. What was also a tremendous extra was the fascinating author bios included with each story that I found as entertaining as the stories themselves.
As with any collection, I preferred some stories and some writing styles more than others. But, I am happy to report that I didn't dislike any of these. Even those that didn't do much for me had enjoyable elements and I enjoyed exploring the familiar mystery elements that were popular in the era from wildly improbable murder elements and character intuition to the historical backdrops themselves. Most stories were set in England, but a couple were in other countries. Some were from the eyes of the murderer, some from the detective, and some from interested third parties. I loved the variety.
I chose this anthology for what it was, but also I couldn't resist a previous unpublished Georgette Heyer or reading a mystery from the author of Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne. These were good, but turns out that some of the others ended up being fab.
Philip Bretherton was a new to me narrator, but I enjoyed his narration voice and the voices of the characters, accents, pacing, and tone of the stories. He caught the subtleties like humor and menace just great.
All in all, this was a scrumptious smorgasbord of short stories and a fab collection that I know I'll be returning to and using it as a jumping board to try more from these authors. I'll definitely be listening to the rest of the series. Definitely recommend to British classic mystery fans.
March 24, 2019
This is a compilation of previously uncompiled detective short stories, most of them having appeared once in a periodical and then disappeared from view. They are ephemeral enough that that disappearance is hardly a literary crime, but there's a certain interest in seeing a really representative selection of what was coming out at a time when apparently turning your hand to a short detective story was a reliable way of making a bit of extra cash. The main selling point of this compilation is a largely unknown story by Agatha Christie (given pride of place at the end); other well-known names include Georgette Heyer and A.A. Milne. For me, the actual value of the collection was the 2-3 page biographical sketch of the authors at the end of each story. The collection redresses the historical female bias in the surviving material from the Golden Age by presenting mostly male authors, in many cases writing under a pseudonym, presumably to distinguish these stories from other, perhaps more "serious" work. I have not been impelled by any of these stories to run out and find the complete works of, say, Anthony Berkeley or Arthur Upfield, but it's good to have the list on hand for reference.
I see from Amazon that a volume 2 is to be coming out in July 2019.
I'm going to cheat now and just reproduce my brief and ungrammatical notes about the stories as I scribbled them while reading. Spoilers abound, so stop here if you're planning to read the collection.
Before Insulin (J.J. Connington) – An inheritance depends on the date of death of a young man with diabetes; mail fraud detected because of a heavy postmark through thin foreign paper. Date of story: 1936, in a magazine collection curated by D.L. Sayers. A “fair play” story – relevant clues clearly laid out before solution given.
The Inverness Cape (Leo Bruce) - Brief story about a double bluff; young man ensures he is accused of murder because of a distinctive outfit, and also ensures he has an alibi because said outfit is being mended by a servant at the time (two outfits, of course, and his mistake is disappointingly simple, as he doesn't dispose of the second one properly). Pub. 1952, one year before the author (whose real name was Rupert Croft-Crooke and was the biographer of Lord Alfred Douglas -was convicted and imprisoned for (homosexual) indecency.
Dark Waters (Freeman Wills Crofts) - an apparently perfect murder by drowning (covering up a financial fraud) is detected simply by the victim clutching a distinctive missing button from the perpetrator's overcoat. Not really a "fair play" story.
Linckes' Great Case - spy/senior aristocratic detective story about missing submarine plans, Georgette Heyer, pub. 1923. Characters more interesting than the plot, which had a very obvious and over-signalled solution (identical siblings whose existence was signalled by apparent massive mood swings and slight but significant changes in habits). Romance element intrusive, especially for such a short story.
"Calling James Braithwaite" - Nicholas Blake (i.e. Clive Day-Lewis). 2 part radio play (first half dramatizes the murder (very indirectly) the second has Blake's detective, Nigel Strangeways, coming to what is in fact a reasonably obvious conclusion. It's a closed-room mystery, set on a small commercial vessel where several different parties have reason to despise James Braithwaite, the owner. One of these is his unhappy wife; another is a man who loves her (but we are more or less given to understand no adultery has taken place, so this early on seems likely to be a red herring. A third is the captain of one of James Braithwaite's boats which he allowed to fall into disrepair and wreck for the insurance money the captain (Maclean) was railroaded into bearing responsibility, and now is first mate to the captain of the current vessel, Greer, who is also the father of Braithwaite's unhappy wife. There is a false alibi due to wrong time of death, somewhat reminiscent of Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.
The Elusive Bullet - John Rhode (one of several pseudonyms of Cecil ("John") Street). A professor with a horror of conjecture does a little bit of investigation into what seems to be a slam-dunk case of murder by firearm in a railway carriage. The solution turns on the existence of a flagstaff just beyond the end of a firing range.
The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt (Cyril Hare, pseudonym of Judge Gordon Clark). A short stinger - a ne'er do-well nephew prepares a sleeping draught to euthanize his terminally-ill aunt, but miscalculates because he is unaware of her true marital status. She disabuses him and then insists on taking the sleeping potion, leaving him without the reward of his misdeeds
The Girdle of Dreams (Vincent Cornier). "Often implausible, sometimes preposterously so, Cornier's work in nonetheless always entertaining." Eh - the wise old professor tracks down the provenance of a Renaissance bride's girdle, and links the only possible descendant to various obscure tropical poisonous substances which enabled said descendant (in disguise as an old woman) to rob a prominent jeweller. No particular character development or any hope of the reader actually discovering the methods, so this is just an "isn't that curious" kind of story. I have little doubt the obscure facts alleged in the story are fundamentally correct, but little reason to care.
The Fool and the Perfect Murder (Arthur Upfield). Australian, set in the outback. One remote rancher kills another, then disposes the body according to a set of procedures suggested by a drifter. Upton's half-aboriginal detective, "Bony" (Napoleon Bonaparte), catches him because he trips up by overdoing it and by missing a medical detail. Interesting mostly because of the racial details; I didn't think the warning about political incorrectness at the beginning was wholly necessary; as far as I could see the narrative voice evinced high respect for the aboriginal peoples.
Bread Upon the Waters (A.A. Milne, of all people). A short stinger - a nasty young man resolves to commit a money-related murder, and decides to muddy the matter of his own motive by doing a motiveless murder first, and then ensuring his detective-fiction-obsessed uncle (the object of his own schemes) gets involved. He gets his comeuppance because he has developed a relationship (and, it turns out, enough to establish a money-related motive) with his first victim.
The Man with the Twisted Thumb (Anthony Berkeley). This story of a pair of aristocratic Englishmen and an ex-governess, mucking about in spy matters they don't understand in Monte Carlo, has a Wodehouse feel to it - the dialogue is quite flip - with perhaps a nod to Lord Peter Wimsey, though neither of the young men is particular brilliant, and the solution is provided by a relative in the Secret Service. There is a nascent romance, which doesn't seem to be stifled in any way by the tendency of the young man in question to knock people out (using his Oxford expertise) at a moment's notice.
The Rum Punch (Christianna Brand). Framed by domestic concerns - story counts down the days until Sergeant Troot is due to take his wife and kids on vacation - a story of domestic conflict and deceit, and the use of the "woman's weapon", poison. Women don't come off well in this story; 2 of the 3 main ones are murderous, and the third dangles two lovers.
Blind Man's Bluff (Ernest Bramah) - short play set in WW1; an unsavoury couple and their Japanese associate scheme to acquire government dispatches being taken by a young American to French allies. Much revolves around the jiu-jitsu skills of the Japanese person (difficult to remember that in this war he is an ally against the Germans). Carrrados, the author's recurring blind detective, foils the scheme.
Victoria Pumphrey (H.C. Bailey) . A young woman of more ancestry than means finds herself stuck in a dead-end typing job in a lawyer's office. While there, she runs into a former butler who has done very well for himself financially, and who is trying to establish a claim for an inheritance for a protegé (whom we never see). Miss Pumphrey takes a trip to a country house to meet the old dying gentleman and an Autralian claimant of dubious veracity. She meets and spars flirtatiously with the Australian, but has to engineer a house fire in order to provoke the old gentleman to disappear - upon which, since she has met the family, she is able to verify that the old gentleman is long dead and his house servants have been playing a fraud. "This is how Miss Pumphrey entered upon the profession of which she is the most distinguished practitioner" - but the afterword about the author H.C. Bailey does not mention any sequels.
The Starting Handle Murder (Roy Vickers). A “gentleman” commits a well-planned murder (on a train) of another gentleman (whose behaviour and nickname is ‘Balmy’), thus ridding his long-time love of an abusive husband, and acceding to her affections and improved money & social position. Many years later, an unresolved loose end involving the theft of jewellery leads to the likely conviction/hanging of a groom and likely jailing of his innocent girlfriend. The gentleman, in compliance with his code, turns himself in. There’s a twist in the last sentence. This one is short, but I thought it was fairly trenchant in its comments on pre-WWI class attitudes that were fading away by the time this story was published.
The Wife of the Kenite (Agatha Christie). A grim tale of revenge taken by a woman against a brutal war opponent; the resolution is foreshadowed if you read Judges 4 (Deborah’s revenge), but it doesn’t take long to get there. Set in South Africa, with the villain being German and the outraged woman Flemish. Apparently Christie had recently visited South Africa, so there was some scene-setting and use of Afrikaans terms like kraal and stoep.
I see from Amazon that a volume 2 is to be coming out in July 2019.
I'm going to cheat now and just reproduce my brief and ungrammatical notes about the stories as I scribbled them while reading. Spoilers abound, so stop here if you're planning to read the collection.
Before Insulin (J.J. Connington) – An inheritance depends on the date of death of a young man with diabetes; mail fraud detected because of a heavy postmark through thin foreign paper. Date of story: 1936, in a magazine collection curated by D.L. Sayers. A “fair play” story – relevant clues clearly laid out before solution given.
The Inverness Cape (Leo Bruce) - Brief story about a double bluff; young man ensures he is accused of murder because of a distinctive outfit, and also ensures he has an alibi because said outfit is being mended by a servant at the time (two outfits, of course, and his mistake is disappointingly simple, as he doesn't dispose of the second one properly). Pub. 1952, one year before the author (whose real name was Rupert Croft-Crooke and was the biographer of Lord Alfred Douglas -was convicted and imprisoned for (homosexual) indecency.
Dark Waters (Freeman Wills Crofts) - an apparently perfect murder by drowning (covering up a financial fraud) is detected simply by the victim clutching a distinctive missing button from the perpetrator's overcoat. Not really a "fair play" story.
Linckes' Great Case - spy/senior aristocratic detective story about missing submarine plans, Georgette Heyer, pub. 1923. Characters more interesting than the plot, which had a very obvious and over-signalled solution (identical siblings whose existence was signalled by apparent massive mood swings and slight but significant changes in habits). Romance element intrusive, especially for such a short story.
"Calling James Braithwaite" - Nicholas Blake (i.e. Clive Day-Lewis). 2 part radio play (first half dramatizes the murder (very indirectly) the second has Blake's detective, Nigel Strangeways, coming to what is in fact a reasonably obvious conclusion. It's a closed-room mystery, set on a small commercial vessel where several different parties have reason to despise James Braithwaite, the owner. One of these is his unhappy wife; another is a man who loves her (but we are more or less given to understand no adultery has taken place, so this early on seems likely to be a red herring. A third is the captain of one of James Braithwaite's boats which he allowed to fall into disrepair and wreck for the insurance money the captain (Maclean) was railroaded into bearing responsibility, and now is first mate to the captain of the current vessel, Greer, who is also the father of Braithwaite's unhappy wife. There is a false alibi due to wrong time of death, somewhat reminiscent of Christie's Murder on the Orient Express.
The Elusive Bullet - John Rhode (one of several pseudonyms of Cecil ("John") Street). A professor with a horror of conjecture does a little bit of investigation into what seems to be a slam-dunk case of murder by firearm in a railway carriage. The solution turns on the existence of a flagstaff just beyond the end of a firing range.
The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt (Cyril Hare, pseudonym of Judge Gordon Clark). A short stinger - a ne'er do-well nephew prepares a sleeping draught to euthanize his terminally-ill aunt, but miscalculates because he is unaware of her true marital status. She disabuses him and then insists on taking the sleeping potion, leaving him without the reward of his misdeeds
The Girdle of Dreams (Vincent Cornier). "Often implausible, sometimes preposterously so, Cornier's work in nonetheless always entertaining." Eh - the wise old professor tracks down the provenance of a Renaissance bride's girdle, and links the only possible descendant to various obscure tropical poisonous substances which enabled said descendant (in disguise as an old woman) to rob a prominent jeweller. No particular character development or any hope of the reader actually discovering the methods, so this is just an "isn't that curious" kind of story. I have little doubt the obscure facts alleged in the story are fundamentally correct, but little reason to care.
The Fool and the Perfect Murder (Arthur Upfield). Australian, set in the outback. One remote rancher kills another, then disposes the body according to a set of procedures suggested by a drifter. Upton's half-aboriginal detective, "Bony" (Napoleon Bonaparte), catches him because he trips up by overdoing it and by missing a medical detail. Interesting mostly because of the racial details; I didn't think the warning about political incorrectness at the beginning was wholly necessary; as far as I could see the narrative voice evinced high respect for the aboriginal peoples.
Bread Upon the Waters (A.A. Milne, of all people). A short stinger - a nasty young man resolves to commit a money-related murder, and decides to muddy the matter of his own motive by doing a motiveless murder first, and then ensuring his detective-fiction-obsessed uncle (the object of his own schemes) gets involved. He gets his comeuppance because he has developed a relationship (and, it turns out, enough to establish a money-related motive) with his first victim.
The Man with the Twisted Thumb (Anthony Berkeley). This story of a pair of aristocratic Englishmen and an ex-governess, mucking about in spy matters they don't understand in Monte Carlo, has a Wodehouse feel to it - the dialogue is quite flip - with perhaps a nod to Lord Peter Wimsey, though neither of the young men is particular brilliant, and the solution is provided by a relative in the Secret Service. There is a nascent romance, which doesn't seem to be stifled in any way by the tendency of the young man in question to knock people out (using his Oxford expertise) at a moment's notice.
The Rum Punch (Christianna Brand). Framed by domestic concerns - story counts down the days until Sergeant Troot is due to take his wife and kids on vacation - a story of domestic conflict and deceit, and the use of the "woman's weapon", poison. Women don't come off well in this story; 2 of the 3 main ones are murderous, and the third dangles two lovers.
Blind Man's Bluff (Ernest Bramah) - short play set in WW1; an unsavoury couple and their Japanese associate scheme to acquire government dispatches being taken by a young American to French allies. Much revolves around the jiu-jitsu skills of the Japanese person (difficult to remember that in this war he is an ally against the Germans). Carrrados, the author's recurring blind detective, foils the scheme.
Victoria Pumphrey (H.C. Bailey) . A young woman of more ancestry than means finds herself stuck in a dead-end typing job in a lawyer's office. While there, she runs into a former butler who has done very well for himself financially, and who is trying to establish a claim for an inheritance for a protegé (whom we never see). Miss Pumphrey takes a trip to a country house to meet the old dying gentleman and an Autralian claimant of dubious veracity. She meets and spars flirtatiously with the Australian, but has to engineer a house fire in order to provoke the old gentleman to disappear - upon which, since she has met the family, she is able to verify that the old gentleman is long dead and his house servants have been playing a fraud. "This is how Miss Pumphrey entered upon the profession of which she is the most distinguished practitioner" - but the afterword about the author H.C. Bailey does not mention any sequels.
The Starting Handle Murder (Roy Vickers). A “gentleman” commits a well-planned murder (on a train) of another gentleman (whose behaviour and nickname is ‘Balmy’), thus ridding his long-time love of an abusive husband, and acceding to her affections and improved money & social position. Many years later, an unresolved loose end involving the theft of jewellery leads to the likely conviction/hanging of a groom and likely jailing of his innocent girlfriend. The gentleman, in compliance with his code, turns himself in. There’s a twist in the last sentence. This one is short, but I thought it was fairly trenchant in its comments on pre-WWI class attitudes that were fading away by the time this story was published.
The Wife of the Kenite (Agatha Christie). A grim tale of revenge taken by a woman against a brutal war opponent; the resolution is foreshadowed if you read Judges 4 (Deborah’s revenge), but it doesn’t take long to get there. Set in South Africa, with the villain being German and the outraged woman Flemish. Apparently Christie had recently visited South Africa, so there was some scene-setting and use of Afrikaans terms like kraal and stoep.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2018
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
November 26, 2024
4.5 stars
If you enjoy classic crime, there is a lot to enjoy here.
If you enjoy classic crime, there is a lot to enjoy here.
January 3, 2021
Il giallo è un mondo immenso e variegato, composto da opere disparate, percorso da molteplici anime. Romanzi, novelle, racconti, testi teatrali: il genere si è avvalso di ogni forma letteraria per esprimersi. Tuttavia, accade spesso che alcune opere rimangano intradotte oppure non vengano più ripubblicate, nonostante siano ricercate dagli appassionati, sia per motivi legati a diritti, sia per l'irreperibilità del materiale. Recentemente però, nell'ambito dell'editoria poliziesca, si sta assistendo ad una sorta di "età dell'oro delle ripubblicazioni", in cui titoli introvabili e dimenticati vengono riportati alla luce dopo tempo immemore grazie all'opera di coraggiosi esperti nel settore. In Italia una delle case editrici che più si è prodigata nel tradurre e pubblicare opere inedite e difficili da trovare persino in lingua originale è sicuramente la Polillo, a cui noi giallofili italiani saremo per sempre grati. Anche all'estero però molte case editrici si stanno adoperando in questo lavoro di riscoperta di opere sconosciute, come la British Library Crime Classic ma anche la Collins Crime Club. In particolare quest'ultima, grazie al lodevole impegno di Tony Medawar, grande esperto del genere, sta pubblicando diverse raccolte di racconti inediti o qui pubblicati per la prima volta dopo decenni di totale oblio. La prima di queste è "Bodies from the Library 1", che contiene 16 storie di altrettanti autori diversi, che spaziano in più sottogeneri del giallo. Dopo un'interessante ed ottima prefazione di Medawar sulle origini e sullo sviluppo del genere, si passa ai vari corti, seguiti da una breve biografia dell'autore dei medesimi. Ecco il mio giudizio sui singoli scritti:
BEFORE INSULIN (J.J. CONNINGTON): 4 STELLE
Il signor Wendover, con la scusa della pesca, porta con sé nel weekend sir Clifford Driffield, capo della polizia della contea, per chiedergli consiglio su una questione ambigua: egli era stato nominato in passato esecutore del testamento dell'ormai defunto magnate del ferro John Ashby. Il suo unico figlio, James, era morto quindici anni prima assieme a sua moglie in un incidente ferroviario e dunque l'unico possibile erede della grande ricchezza era rimasto il figlio di quest'ultimo, Robin. Purtroppo il ragazzo, gravemente malato di diabete, era morto due settimane prima in una clinica in Francia, nel giorno del suo compleanno, proprio quando aveva raggiunto l'età adulta. Ciò che impensierisce Wendover è una lettera che ha ricevuto da un certo Sidney Eastcote, il quale sostiene che Robin ha stilato un testamento in cui gli lasciava tutta la sua eredità. Perciò ha chiesto a Sir Clinton di essere presente per sondare il campo quel giorno all'arrivo dell'uomo, in quanto trova la situazione alquanto sospetta. Sorprendentemente non è un uomo che si presenta ma una donna, e, tra l'altro, è l'infermiera che teneva in cura il povero Robin, che asserisce che egli si era innamorato di lei. Sarà davvero così? Sir Clinton Driffield, attraverso accurati metodi scientifici, scoprirà la verità. Racconto breve ma molto ben scritto, con una bella risoluzione basata su indizi tecnici ma astuti. L'autore espone questi ultimi poco prima della risoluzione per rendere un minimo "fair" la storia.
P.S.: questo è l'unico racconto con Sir Clinton Driffield protagonista, non più pubblicato dal 1936.
THE INVERNESS CAPE (LEO BRUCE): 4 STELLE
Il sergente Beef racconta ad un anonimo interlocutore un caso risolto in passato, che, al tempo, lo aveva turbato molto: Miss Lucia, ricca signora che viveva assieme alla sorella paralizzata, Miss Agatha, era stata assassinata a colpi di bastone davanti agli occhi di quest'ultima, nel giardino, da un individuo che indossava abiti simili a quelli di Sherlock Holmes. Miss Agatha accusò subito il nipote Richard Luckery di essere l'omicida. Infatti lui era solito indossare quegli abiti particolari che erano stati chiaramente visti addosso al colpevole da Miss Agatha nel momento del delitto. Dopo un sommario interrogatorio, l'anziana signora affermò però di non aver visto l'assalitore in faccia. Il dubbio che qualcuno abbia voluto implicare il nipote nell' omicidio divenne certezza quando si scoprì che il suo soprabito alla Holmes era stato per tutto il giorno nelle mani della domestica che lo stava rammendando. Chi era stato allora?
Racconto godibile, che utilizza un espediente classico, ma in modo ingegnoso. Si nota l'intento dell'autore di costruire una mini-parodia nell'immagine di uno pseudo-Holmes che invece che investigare diviene un assassino.
P.S. Interessante la vita dell'autore, che subì la medesima sorte di Oscar Wilde per via della sua omosessualità. Non a caso fu anche biografo di Lord Alfred Douglas, il "Bosie" del dandy inglese.
DARK WATER (FREEMAN WILLS CROFTS): 3 STELLE
Weller è un avvocato disonesto: ha infatti venduto i titoli del suo amico e cliente Marbeck a sua insaputa. E ora quest'ultimo gli chiede di poterli sistemare. Se scopre tutto è la fine della sua carriera e della sua reputazione. Deve dunque ucciderlo. Ma come? E riuscirà a farla franca al metodico ispettore French?
È il classico inverted-mystery, molto breve, in cui la tensione è data non dall'attesa della scoperta del colpevole, ma dal modo con cui l'investigatore riuscirà a smascherarlo. Storia carina, con buona descrizione dello stato d'animo dell'assassino ma con una risoluzione troppo blanda e troppo abusata per divenire memorabile.
LINCKES' GREAT CASE (GEORGETTE HEYER): 3 STELLE
Roger Linckes è incaricato dal suo superiore Masters di un caso molto delicato: a quanto pare i piani super segreti sui sottomarini britannici sono stati venduti ai Russi. Il problema è che non si sa né chi sia stato né come. I documenti erano infatti sempre rimasti protetti in una cassaforte a prova di ladro, di cui solo il Segretario del Ministero della Guerra Caryu e il suo sottosegretario Winthrop posseggono la chiave e la combinazione. Già altri detective avevano fallito, ora tocca al giovane Lincles riuscire a scoprire il piano di un astuto traditore.
Racconto un po' più lungo degli altri, con uno stile gradevole. Sebbene la risoluzione sia carina, anche se non originale (la medesima meccanica è usata in famosi corti di Doyle e della Christie), si può comprendere chi sia il colpevole, anche perché l'attenzione è tutta focalizzata su un unico punto. Avevo pensato ad un movente diverso per spiegare il comportamento ambiguo di un personaggio, ma mi sbagliavo. Inoltre non viene neanche data la spiegazione finale, ma la si lascia alla fantasia del lettore.
P.S. Questo è l'unico racconto della Heyer a non essere stato più ripubblicato in altre raccolte dal 1923, quando è apparso sul raro magazine "Detective".
CALLING JAMES BRAITHWAITE (NICHOLAS BLAKE, RADIODRAMMA): 5 STELLE
Sir John Braithwaite ingaggia il detective Nigel Strangeways per tenere gli occhi aperti durante un viaggio in mare sulla nave-cargo che porta il suo stesso nome. Cosa intenda con il "tenere gli occhi aperti" non vuole spiegarlo subito, ma egli induce Nigel a farsi passare per il suo nuovo segretario. A bordo, durante questa strana crociera, ci sono sua moglie Alice, il suo socio nella ditta navale Laurence Annesley, la sorella di questi Laura, il padre di Alice, nonché comandante del mezzo, il capitano Greer, e vari subordinati. L'atmosfera è tesa, Alice è sull'orlo di una crisi emotiva a causa del carattere di suo marito, che la vessa continuamente, trasformando la sua esistenza in un inferno. Il matrimonio, fortemente voluto dal padre per innalzare la sua posizione sociale della figlia, non è stato dunque uno dei più felici, ma la giovane cerca di non farlo comprendere. Per alleviare le sue pene si lega sentimentalmente a Laurence, che le consiglia di fuggire con lui, ma lei è riluttante, perché così non solo perderebbe tutto, ma farebbe precipitare la carriera di suo padre, che sarebbe stato immediatamente licenziato da suo marito, essendo lui il capo della compagnia. Cosa fare dunque? In un clima già poco cordiale, si aggiunge un messaggio trasmesso alla barca che li avvisa che un lunatico, fuggito da un manicomio, sarebbe stato avvistato il pomeriggio precedente sul molo dove la nave era attraccata. Che fosse entrato a bordo? Tutti sono in agitazione, un maniaco omicida può spuntare da un momento all'altro ed ucciderli, tanto più che si verrà a sapere che si tratta di un marinaio impazzito a causa del naufragio di un'imbarcazione dello stesso Braithwaite. Che covi desideri di vendetta? In questa tensione parossistica, lo stesso padrone scomparirà, gettato in mare. Chi è stato? Il lunatico omicida o qualcuno del gruppo che ha colto la palla al balzo facendolo sembrare il crimine di uno squilibrato?
Radiodramma stupendo, che riesce a creare una grande tensione e a delineare bene psicogicamente i personaggi pur con i soli dialoghi. La sensazione di angoscia e inquietudine è costruita mirabilmente e la soluzione è logica, ingegnosa e tragica al tempo stesso. Come sempre Blake non si smentisce e immette pathos in ogni riga, crea una trama drammatica all'interno di un orizzonte poliziesco. Grandioso.
P.S. Il radiodramma, trasmesso dalla BBC in due episodi nel 1940 e facente parte di una serie di scritti ideati dai membri del Detection Club per la radio, è stato pubblicato qui per la prima volta in assoluto.
THE ELUSIVE BULLET (JOHN RHODE): 3 STELLE
L'ispettore Hanslet visita il dr Priestley, scienziato e criminologo dilettante, per un caso di cui è incaricato. Nel frattempo vede sul giornale la notizia di un omicidio: il ricco mercante Farquharson è stato ritrovato assassinato in una cabina del treno che lo riconduceva a casa dal suo ufficio a Londra. L'ispettore lo trova interessante, mentre Priestley, non avendo dati certi su cui fondare ipotesi, si astiene dal commentare. Pochi giorni dopo l'ispettore torna dal suo amico raccontandogli che il caso Farquharson gli era stato assegnato ed è già convinto della colpevolezza del nipote della vittima, Robert Halliday, che avrebbe avuto una lite con lo zio la mattina stessa dell'assassinio e che si trovava proprio sullo stesso treno della vittima con un fucile, l'arma impiegata nell'omicidio. Il dottor Priestley è dubbioso e induce l'ispettore a riesaminare tutti i fatti prima di fare qualsiasi deduzione. Ma l'ispettore è sicuro più che mai. Solo su implorazione della figlia della vittima, Priestley indagherà per conto suo, scoprendo come sono andate realmente le cose.
Racconto carino, abbastanza tecnico nella risoluzione come d'altronde lo sono spesso gli scritti di Rhode, il "meccanico" del giallo. Il finale è abbastanza deludente. Non capisco perché non si sia arrivati a scartare la teoria dell'ispettore sulla base di un semplice esame della scientifica.
THE EUTHANASIA OF HILARY'S AUNT (CYRIL HARE): 4 STELLE
Hilary è un giovane buono a nulla, il classico spendaccione, proveniente da una vecchia famiglia nobile ma ormai non più ricchissima. Accumulò debiti su debiti, tanto che dovette sfuggire dai creditori in Australia e poté tornare in patria solo grazie all'eredità del padre e del fratello defunti. Ma la sperpera subito e si ritrova nelle stesse condizioni di prima. Per fortuna c'è ancora zia Mary, donna ricca, a cui può chiedere una mano. E sapendo che è prossima alla morte, può sperare che lo citi nel suo testamento. Già, sperare...
Racconto molto breve ma davvero piacevole, intriso di humour britannico sottile. Non è propriamente un giallo, più un inverted-story con un bel colpo di scena finale.
CONTINUA NEI COMMENTI
BEFORE INSULIN (J.J. CONNINGTON): 4 STELLE
Il signor Wendover, con la scusa della pesca, porta con sé nel weekend sir Clifford Driffield, capo della polizia della contea, per chiedergli consiglio su una questione ambigua: egli era stato nominato in passato esecutore del testamento dell'ormai defunto magnate del ferro John Ashby. Il suo unico figlio, James, era morto quindici anni prima assieme a sua moglie in un incidente ferroviario e dunque l'unico possibile erede della grande ricchezza era rimasto il figlio di quest'ultimo, Robin. Purtroppo il ragazzo, gravemente malato di diabete, era morto due settimane prima in una clinica in Francia, nel giorno del suo compleanno, proprio quando aveva raggiunto l'età adulta. Ciò che impensierisce Wendover è una lettera che ha ricevuto da un certo Sidney Eastcote, il quale sostiene che Robin ha stilato un testamento in cui gli lasciava tutta la sua eredità. Perciò ha chiesto a Sir Clinton di essere presente per sondare il campo quel giorno all'arrivo dell'uomo, in quanto trova la situazione alquanto sospetta. Sorprendentemente non è un uomo che si presenta ma una donna, e, tra l'altro, è l'infermiera che teneva in cura il povero Robin, che asserisce che egli si era innamorato di lei. Sarà davvero così? Sir Clinton Driffield, attraverso accurati metodi scientifici, scoprirà la verità. Racconto breve ma molto ben scritto, con una bella risoluzione basata su indizi tecnici ma astuti. L'autore espone questi ultimi poco prima della risoluzione per rendere un minimo "fair" la storia.
P.S.: questo è l'unico racconto con Sir Clinton Driffield protagonista, non più pubblicato dal 1936.
THE INVERNESS CAPE (LEO BRUCE): 4 STELLE
Il sergente Beef racconta ad un anonimo interlocutore un caso risolto in passato, che, al tempo, lo aveva turbato molto: Miss Lucia, ricca signora che viveva assieme alla sorella paralizzata, Miss Agatha, era stata assassinata a colpi di bastone davanti agli occhi di quest'ultima, nel giardino, da un individuo che indossava abiti simili a quelli di Sherlock Holmes. Miss Agatha accusò subito il nipote Richard Luckery di essere l'omicida. Infatti lui era solito indossare quegli abiti particolari che erano stati chiaramente visti addosso al colpevole da Miss Agatha nel momento del delitto. Dopo un sommario interrogatorio, l'anziana signora affermò però di non aver visto l'assalitore in faccia. Il dubbio che qualcuno abbia voluto implicare il nipote nell' omicidio divenne certezza quando si scoprì che il suo soprabito alla Holmes era stato per tutto il giorno nelle mani della domestica che lo stava rammendando. Chi era stato allora?
Racconto godibile, che utilizza un espediente classico, ma in modo ingegnoso. Si nota l'intento dell'autore di costruire una mini-parodia nell'immagine di uno pseudo-Holmes che invece che investigare diviene un assassino.
P.S. Interessante la vita dell'autore, che subì la medesima sorte di Oscar Wilde per via della sua omosessualità. Non a caso fu anche biografo di Lord Alfred Douglas, il "Bosie" del dandy inglese.
DARK WATER (FREEMAN WILLS CROFTS): 3 STELLE
Weller è un avvocato disonesto: ha infatti venduto i titoli del suo amico e cliente Marbeck a sua insaputa. E ora quest'ultimo gli chiede di poterli sistemare. Se scopre tutto è la fine della sua carriera e della sua reputazione. Deve dunque ucciderlo. Ma come? E riuscirà a farla franca al metodico ispettore French?
È il classico inverted-mystery, molto breve, in cui la tensione è data non dall'attesa della scoperta del colpevole, ma dal modo con cui l'investigatore riuscirà a smascherarlo. Storia carina, con buona descrizione dello stato d'animo dell'assassino ma con una risoluzione troppo blanda e troppo abusata per divenire memorabile.
LINCKES' GREAT CASE (GEORGETTE HEYER): 3 STELLE
Roger Linckes è incaricato dal suo superiore Masters di un caso molto delicato: a quanto pare i piani super segreti sui sottomarini britannici sono stati venduti ai Russi. Il problema è che non si sa né chi sia stato né come. I documenti erano infatti sempre rimasti protetti in una cassaforte a prova di ladro, di cui solo il Segretario del Ministero della Guerra Caryu e il suo sottosegretario Winthrop posseggono la chiave e la combinazione. Già altri detective avevano fallito, ora tocca al giovane Lincles riuscire a scoprire il piano di un astuto traditore.
Racconto un po' più lungo degli altri, con uno stile gradevole. Sebbene la risoluzione sia carina, anche se non originale (la medesima meccanica è usata in famosi corti di Doyle e della Christie), si può comprendere chi sia il colpevole, anche perché l'attenzione è tutta focalizzata su un unico punto. Avevo pensato ad un movente diverso per spiegare il comportamento ambiguo di un personaggio, ma mi sbagliavo. Inoltre non viene neanche data la spiegazione finale, ma la si lascia alla fantasia del lettore.
P.S. Questo è l'unico racconto della Heyer a non essere stato più ripubblicato in altre raccolte dal 1923, quando è apparso sul raro magazine "Detective".
CALLING JAMES BRAITHWAITE (NICHOLAS BLAKE, RADIODRAMMA): 5 STELLE
Sir John Braithwaite ingaggia il detective Nigel Strangeways per tenere gli occhi aperti durante un viaggio in mare sulla nave-cargo che porta il suo stesso nome. Cosa intenda con il "tenere gli occhi aperti" non vuole spiegarlo subito, ma egli induce Nigel a farsi passare per il suo nuovo segretario. A bordo, durante questa strana crociera, ci sono sua moglie Alice, il suo socio nella ditta navale Laurence Annesley, la sorella di questi Laura, il padre di Alice, nonché comandante del mezzo, il capitano Greer, e vari subordinati. L'atmosfera è tesa, Alice è sull'orlo di una crisi emotiva a causa del carattere di suo marito, che la vessa continuamente, trasformando la sua esistenza in un inferno. Il matrimonio, fortemente voluto dal padre per innalzare la sua posizione sociale della figlia, non è stato dunque uno dei più felici, ma la giovane cerca di non farlo comprendere. Per alleviare le sue pene si lega sentimentalmente a Laurence, che le consiglia di fuggire con lui, ma lei è riluttante, perché così non solo perderebbe tutto, ma farebbe precipitare la carriera di suo padre, che sarebbe stato immediatamente licenziato da suo marito, essendo lui il capo della compagnia. Cosa fare dunque? In un clima già poco cordiale, si aggiunge un messaggio trasmesso alla barca che li avvisa che un lunatico, fuggito da un manicomio, sarebbe stato avvistato il pomeriggio precedente sul molo dove la nave era attraccata. Che fosse entrato a bordo? Tutti sono in agitazione, un maniaco omicida può spuntare da un momento all'altro ed ucciderli, tanto più che si verrà a sapere che si tratta di un marinaio impazzito a causa del naufragio di un'imbarcazione dello stesso Braithwaite. Che covi desideri di vendetta? In questa tensione parossistica, lo stesso padrone scomparirà, gettato in mare. Chi è stato? Il lunatico omicida o qualcuno del gruppo che ha colto la palla al balzo facendolo sembrare il crimine di uno squilibrato?
Radiodramma stupendo, che riesce a creare una grande tensione e a delineare bene psicogicamente i personaggi pur con i soli dialoghi. La sensazione di angoscia e inquietudine è costruita mirabilmente e la soluzione è logica, ingegnosa e tragica al tempo stesso. Come sempre Blake non si smentisce e immette pathos in ogni riga, crea una trama drammatica all'interno di un orizzonte poliziesco. Grandioso.
P.S. Il radiodramma, trasmesso dalla BBC in due episodi nel 1940 e facente parte di una serie di scritti ideati dai membri del Detection Club per la radio, è stato pubblicato qui per la prima volta in assoluto.
THE ELUSIVE BULLET (JOHN RHODE): 3 STELLE
L'ispettore Hanslet visita il dr Priestley, scienziato e criminologo dilettante, per un caso di cui è incaricato. Nel frattempo vede sul giornale la notizia di un omicidio: il ricco mercante Farquharson è stato ritrovato assassinato in una cabina del treno che lo riconduceva a casa dal suo ufficio a Londra. L'ispettore lo trova interessante, mentre Priestley, non avendo dati certi su cui fondare ipotesi, si astiene dal commentare. Pochi giorni dopo l'ispettore torna dal suo amico raccontandogli che il caso Farquharson gli era stato assegnato ed è già convinto della colpevolezza del nipote della vittima, Robert Halliday, che avrebbe avuto una lite con lo zio la mattina stessa dell'assassinio e che si trovava proprio sullo stesso treno della vittima con un fucile, l'arma impiegata nell'omicidio. Il dottor Priestley è dubbioso e induce l'ispettore a riesaminare tutti i fatti prima di fare qualsiasi deduzione. Ma l'ispettore è sicuro più che mai. Solo su implorazione della figlia della vittima, Priestley indagherà per conto suo, scoprendo come sono andate realmente le cose.
Racconto carino, abbastanza tecnico nella risoluzione come d'altronde lo sono spesso gli scritti di Rhode, il "meccanico" del giallo. Il finale è abbastanza deludente. Non capisco perché non si sia arrivati a scartare la teoria dell'ispettore sulla base di un semplice esame della scientifica.
THE EUTHANASIA OF HILARY'S AUNT (CYRIL HARE): 4 STELLE
Hilary è un giovane buono a nulla, il classico spendaccione, proveniente da una vecchia famiglia nobile ma ormai non più ricchissima. Accumulò debiti su debiti, tanto che dovette sfuggire dai creditori in Australia e poté tornare in patria solo grazie all'eredità del padre e del fratello defunti. Ma la sperpera subito e si ritrova nelle stesse condizioni di prima. Per fortuna c'è ancora zia Mary, donna ricca, a cui può chiedere una mano. E sapendo che è prossima alla morte, può sperare che lo citi nel suo testamento. Già, sperare...
Racconto molto breve ma davvero piacevole, intriso di humour britannico sottile. Non è propriamente un giallo, più un inverted-story con un bel colpo di scena finale.
CONTINUA NEI COMMENTI
October 24, 2025
This project is a multi-volume collection of “lost” short stories from the Golden Age of Detection. That is an ambitious project and the editor, Tony Medawar, mostly does a good job with his part of it, as far as that goes. There is a good introduction, and short biographies of each author follow their stories. My only serious criticism of Medawar’s work is the cringeworthy political correctness. He includes two “trigger warnings” and numerous other disclaimers about the authors and stories, all to the effect that writers of a century ago had different attitudes than the woke today. Lighten up, Francis! If any readers can’t deal with that obvious fact, f*ck ‘em.
Unfortunately, the overall project is a victim of its own contradictions. “Lost” means that it includes quite a few largely and understandably forgotten second- and third-rate writers. Where the collection includes first-rate writers like Agatha Christie, it is typically their third or fourth tier stories that have understandably been left out of numerous earlier collections. There is not a first-rate story in the bunch, and several dogs. It could hardly be otherwise given the requirements for inclusion. So, I could really only recommend this collection to completists and die-hard fans of the Golden Age of Detection.
On a lighter note, this is the first time I have read anything by Georgette Heyer, and it will certainly be my last.
Unfortunately, the overall project is a victim of its own contradictions. “Lost” means that it includes quite a few largely and understandably forgotten second- and third-rate writers. Where the collection includes first-rate writers like Agatha Christie, it is typically their third or fourth tier stories that have understandably been left out of numerous earlier collections. There is not a first-rate story in the bunch, and several dogs. It could hardly be otherwise given the requirements for inclusion. So, I could really only recommend this collection to completists and die-hard fans of the Golden Age of Detection.
On a lighter note, this is the first time I have read anything by Georgette Heyer, and it will certainly be my last.
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April 25, 2021I listened to this as an audio book on the Libby app. Bodies from the Library is a real mixed bag, with a few of the short stories quite entertaining and others more a reminder of how much attitudes and style have changed since they were written.
December 13, 2019
Ah. the golden age of mystery - excellent short stories I'd never read before.
October 14, 2025
5 Stars. A compendium of 16 great stories by authors who are distant but still remembered, most anyway! Some of the stories have been lost in time, and one may never have been published until now. Well worth reading. If you'd like to find a new author or two in the field, especially from the golden age of detective crime, the 1920s to the 50s, this is for you. Some touch the edge of horror, and others the same for romance. Let's look at a few. Agatha Christie has an almost-lost story, The Wife of the Kenite. Horror, it takes its inspiration from Judges in the Bible. J.J. Connington reminds us in Before Insulin that diabetes was an even more terrible disease prior to the discovery of insulin in Canada in the 1920s; his story is about a crime using these factors. Georgette Heyer's Linckes' Great Case was her only detective short story - a good one too. I liked The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand; Sergeant Troot promises his two little girls that his extra work at a wedding announcement party on Tuesday evening won't interfere with their family's planned visit to the beach on the weekend. Is it a clue to say that the girls are happy and the vacation went ahead? You'll enjoy the different styles of writing. I did.
I have reviewed 15 of the 16 stories individually on GR elsewhere (see my comment below). Here's the review of the only one in the collection of 16 which does not have an entry elsewhere.
Story #3. Dark Waters: an Inspector French Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts (1879-1957). JLH review: "4 Stars. Quite compelling. It came out in 1953 in the London Evening Standard. Just 5 pages. Crofts published 30 novels starring Detective Joseph French of Scotland Yard. Plus numerous short stories and BBC radio plays; French was prominent in many of them too. This one features a man named Weller who was a solicitor; one of his clients was Marbeck - a trusting sole who had designated Weller as his stock exchange agent for his investments. Marbeck used their dividends as his main source of income. An important sidebar, Weller lived on the north bank of the Thames in Surrey outside of London, his friend on the south. The two played bridge once a week and would join the other using a skiff or rowboat to cross the river. Unknown to Marbeck, Weller had sold the securities to maintain his life style. I can't go any further but Weller needs to cover his tracks. The ever practical Inspector French pulls something from the dark waters of the Thames - and a solution too." (De2024/Oc2025)
Bodies from the Library 2
11. The Mental Broadcast, by Clayton Rawson. JLH review: "2 Stars. I cannot fathom why editor Tony Medawar selected this one for Bodies from the Library 2. There's no murder; there's not even a crime. It's all about a special magic trick - did I pick up the wrong book? I checked: the publisher states on the cover that: "[this book] is a showcase of uncollected and unpublished stories by acclaimed queens and kings of crime .. " Just 5 pages. Our narrator is visiting a magic shop on behalf of an author who is collecting contributions for a book of tricks. It's the Great Merlini's store and, after his offer of an illusion of cutting an elephant in half fails to make the grade, Merlini suggests a card trick where the participant goes to another room and selects a card from a deck. Of course, hocus pocus, he deduces which card it was. After the narrator works out how it was done, Merlini throws a brass bowl at the narrator and misses. That's it. Is the story included because author Clayton Rawson helped found the Mystery Writers of America in 1945, the association which presents the annual Edgar Awards? I don't know. (Oc2025)
I have reviewed 15 of the 16 stories individually on GR elsewhere (see my comment below). Here's the review of the only one in the collection of 16 which does not have an entry elsewhere.
Story #3. Dark Waters: an Inspector French Mystery by Freeman Wills Crofts (1879-1957). JLH review: "4 Stars. Quite compelling. It came out in 1953 in the London Evening Standard. Just 5 pages. Crofts published 30 novels starring Detective Joseph French of Scotland Yard. Plus numerous short stories and BBC radio plays; French was prominent in many of them too. This one features a man named Weller who was a solicitor; one of his clients was Marbeck - a trusting sole who had designated Weller as his stock exchange agent for his investments. Marbeck used their dividends as his main source of income. An important sidebar, Weller lived on the north bank of the Thames in Surrey outside of London, his friend on the south. The two played bridge once a week and would join the other using a skiff or rowboat to cross the river. Unknown to Marbeck, Weller had sold the securities to maintain his life style. I can't go any further but Weller needs to cover his tracks. The ever practical Inspector French pulls something from the dark waters of the Thames - and a solution too." (De2024/Oc2025)
Bodies from the Library 2
11. The Mental Broadcast, by Clayton Rawson. JLH review: "2 Stars. I cannot fathom why editor Tony Medawar selected this one for Bodies from the Library 2. There's no murder; there's not even a crime. It's all about a special magic trick - did I pick up the wrong book? I checked: the publisher states on the cover that: "[this book] is a showcase of uncollected and unpublished stories by acclaimed queens and kings of crime .. " Just 5 pages. Our narrator is visiting a magic shop on behalf of an author who is collecting contributions for a book of tricks. It's the Great Merlini's store and, after his offer of an illusion of cutting an elephant in half fails to make the grade, Merlini suggests a card trick where the participant goes to another room and selects a card from a deck. Of course, hocus pocus, he deduces which card it was. After the narrator works out how it was done, Merlini throws a brass bowl at the narrator and misses. That's it. Is the story included because author Clayton Rawson helped found the Mystery Writers of America in 1945, the association which presents the annual Edgar Awards? I don't know. (Oc2025)
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August 30, 2022Table of Contents
Before Insulin by J. J. Connington (1936)
The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce (1952)
Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts (1953)
Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer (1923)
Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake (1940)
The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode (1936)
The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare (1950)
The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cornier (1933)
The Fool and the Perfect Murder by Arthur Upfield (1948)
Bread Upon the Waters by A. A. Milne
The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley (1933)
The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand (first publication 2018)
Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah (play debut 1918)
Victoria Pumphrey by H C Bailey (1939)
The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers (1934)
The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie (1922)
Before Insulin by J. J. Connington (1936)
The Inverness Cape by Leo Bruce (1952)
Dark Waters by Freeman Wills Crofts (1953)
Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer (1923)
Calling James Braithwaite by Nicholas Blake (1940)
The Elusive Bullet by John Rhode (1936)
The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare (1950)
The Girdle of Dreams by Vincent Cornier (1933)
The Fool and the Perfect Murder by Arthur Upfield (1948)
Bread Upon the Waters by A. A. Milne
The Man with the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley (1933)
The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand (first publication 2018)
Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah (play debut 1918)
Victoria Pumphrey by H C Bailey (1939)
The Starting-Handle Murder by Roy Vickers (1934)
The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie (1922)
August 16, 2018
The Golden Age of Detection, generally defined as the era between the two World Wars, saw the detective story come into its own. During this time, detection moved away from the who and how to the why, focusing on the psychology behind the murder instead of the mechanics of the murder. Many of the most famous detective writers got their start during this era, with a group of the best coming together to create the Detection Club in 1930, where they created a set of standards for fairplay in mystery stories.
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
Read the rest of this review and other fun, geeky articles at Fangirl Nation
August 31, 2020
Some of these stories are pretty good, some less so. One or two of them made me chuckle, which are probably going to be the ones that will stay with me. none of them however, are particularly exceptional.
February 5, 2021
This book of short stories by classic mystery authors includes work by Agatha Christie, Georgette Heyer, Nicholas Blake and even A.A. Milne. A great selection of cozies to curl up with on a cold winter night.
May 12, 2024
An exceedingly dull collection of second-rate short stories.
August 10, 2024
Very enjoyable! Surprising to see AA Milne in here. Anthony Berkeley and Christianna Brand's especially slayed.
June 22, 2021
I can’t remember who recommended this book but I know why I read it – because it’s a collection of short stories from the Golden Age of Mystery! You should know by now that I’m always keen to read more authors from this period of time and I thought a collection of short stories would be another great way to do that.
Bodies from the Library contains 16 short stories, all from different authors. I won’t try to talk about all of them, but these were the stories that, for better or worse, stood out to me:
- Before Insulin by J.J. Connington – This short story about a sickly heir and the suspicious timing of a will was tightly written and a great start to the collection. I’d definitely want to read more from Connington.
- Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer – This one caught my eye because of the author. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Georgette Heyer so I had high hopes for this story about a detective sent to investigate a leak in classified information. Sadly, despite a fun start, I was very confused by the resolution and ultimately this story was a disappointment for me.
- [SPOILER ALERT] The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare – This one reminded me of Before the Fact by Frances Iles, but with a twist. It follows Hilary as he is tempted to kill his aunt for money. I thought this was a very clever story that managed to pack a punch despite its length.
- Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne – Another story that caught my eye because of the author (why didn’t Winnie the Pooh have murder in it?), unlike Linckes’ Great Case, this one was fun and satisfying. It’s the tale of Julian Crayne, who is doing his best to get his hands on his uncle’s money, but without what he calls “the profit motive” to implicate him.
- The Man With the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley – If I wasn’t already a fan of Berkeley, this would have made me interested in reading his works. It’s a fun and dramatic story with some romance (and I found the romance to be cute, despite not normally liking romance) and a satisfying ending. I actually found this to be quite Christie-like, if this makes sense.
- Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah – This was the only story (actually, a play) that I could not finish because it had a Japanese character and the stereotyping of the Japanese character was just so awful and offensive I could not finish his lines.
- The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand – I would honestly like to see a Sergeant Troot series because this was really fun! Sergeant Troot is counting down the days to his family holiday, but unfortunately, his decision to do a side-job and make some extra cash has him involved in a murder. Now, he has to solve the case quickly or his kids’ holiday will be ruined.
- The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie – Oddly enough, the Christie story wasn’t typical Christie, but felt like an experiment (a great one, nonetheless). It follows Herr Schaefer, a paid agitator, as he tries to carry out his job. I can’t really say much but Christie is an expert and building tension in this story.
Overall, this was a fun collection of short stories. I enjoyed most of them, and I think this is a great way to sample authors from the Golden Age of Mystery and figure out who you’d like to read more of.
Bodies from the Library contains 16 short stories, all from different authors. I won’t try to talk about all of them, but these were the stories that, for better or worse, stood out to me:
- Before Insulin by J.J. Connington – This short story about a sickly heir and the suspicious timing of a will was tightly written and a great start to the collection. I’d definitely want to read more from Connington.
- Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer – This one caught my eye because of the author. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Georgette Heyer so I had high hopes for this story about a detective sent to investigate a leak in classified information. Sadly, despite a fun start, I was very confused by the resolution and ultimately this story was a disappointment for me.
- [SPOILER ALERT] The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare – This one reminded me of Before the Fact by Frances Iles, but with a twist. It follows Hilary as he is tempted to kill his aunt for money. I thought this was a very clever story that managed to pack a punch despite its length.
- Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne – Another story that caught my eye because of the author (why didn’t Winnie the Pooh have murder in it?), unlike Linckes’ Great Case, this one was fun and satisfying. It’s the tale of Julian Crayne, who is doing his best to get his hands on his uncle’s money, but without what he calls “the profit motive” to implicate him.
- The Man With the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley – If I wasn’t already a fan of Berkeley, this would have made me interested in reading his works. It’s a fun and dramatic story with some romance (and I found the romance to be cute, despite not normally liking romance) and a satisfying ending. I actually found this to be quite Christie-like, if this makes sense.
- Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah – This was the only story (actually, a play) that I could not finish because it had a Japanese character and the stereotyping of the Japanese character was just so awful and offensive I could not finish his lines.
- The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand – I would honestly like to see a Sergeant Troot series because this was really fun! Sergeant Troot is counting down the days to his family holiday, but unfortunately, his decision to do a side-job and make some extra cash has him involved in a murder. Now, he has to solve the case quickly or his kids’ holiday will be ruined.
- The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie – Oddly enough, the Christie story wasn’t typical Christie, but felt like an experiment (a great one, nonetheless). It follows Herr Schaefer, a paid agitator, as he tries to carry out his job. I can’t really say much but Christie is an expert and building tension in this story.
Overall, this was a fun collection of short stories. I enjoyed most of them, and I think this is a great way to sample authors from the Golden Age of Mystery and figure out who you’d like to read more of.
October 30, 2021
I had mixed feelings about picking up this book, because I was a bit nervous about a collection based on obscurity rather than quality (the USP being that these stories are previously uncollected, or in a few cases unpublished).
Some of the stories were excellent. AA Milne's "Bread Upon the Waters" (1950) was the highlight. I also enjoyed the dark humour of Cyril Hare's "The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt" (1950), the simple neatness of Leo Bruce's "The Inverness Cape" (1952) and the great writing from Christianna Brand in "The Rum Punch". Anthony Berkeley's "The Man with the Twisted Thumb" (1933) was surprisingly enjoyable, given its espionage thriller vibes.
Some of the others had compelling premises, but didn't quite sustain the compellingness through to the end. And then there were a few that were immediately forgettable. And then there's the Agatha Christie story, which I think was included just so they could put her name on the front cover.
But returning to the positive side, Tony Medawar's introduction is brilliant, as are his author overviews after each chapter. And for that reason, I'll give this a 4 rather than a 3.
Some of the stories were excellent. AA Milne's "Bread Upon the Waters" (1950) was the highlight. I also enjoyed the dark humour of Cyril Hare's "The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt" (1950), the simple neatness of Leo Bruce's "The Inverness Cape" (1952) and the great writing from Christianna Brand in "The Rum Punch". Anthony Berkeley's "The Man with the Twisted Thumb" (1933) was surprisingly enjoyable, given its espionage thriller vibes.
Some of the others had compelling premises, but didn't quite sustain the compellingness through to the end. And then there were a few that were immediately forgettable. And then there's the Agatha Christie story, which I think was included just so they could put her name on the front cover.
But returning to the positive side, Tony Medawar's introduction is brilliant, as are his author overviews after each chapter. And for that reason, I'll give this a 4 rather than a 3.
November 8, 2022
As with every anthology, there are stories here that I liked and stories that I didn't. They are varied and cover a broad spectrum of mystery tales, although some are awfully outdated (racism, misogyny and xenophobe show their ugly face).
I liked the introductions and, mainly, the short biographic notes at the end because, in some cases, at least for me, some of these authors were unknown.
All in all, an entertaining book.
I liked the introductions and, mainly, the short biographic notes at the end because, in some cases, at least for me, some of these authors were unknown.
All in all, an entertaining book.
March 9, 2019
Some of the authors of the golden age of mystery (crime) fiction. These are unpublished or very early published stories first published as a serial in a newspaper or short story in a magazine. There are some very interesting stories here by well-known authors and a few that I wasn't familiar with but would now like to read more of their stories.
May 24, 2022
I love short story anthologies because it allows you to get an idea of different authors writing style. Not every story in this was my favorite but overall most of them were entertaining and interesting. It's made me want to read further work from some of the authors that I've never heard of before.
February 28, 2023
3 stars for the content
Mixed bag of stories. Some of them were exciting while others were quite dull. I was most surprised by Agatha Christie's story. Compared to her full length books, I found it to be quite lackluster.
Adding an extra star of the idea, the efforts taken to collect these stories and the great introduction.
Mixed bag of stories. Some of them were exciting while others were quite dull. I was most surprised by Agatha Christie's story. Compared to her full length books, I found it to be quite lackluster.
Adding an extra star of the idea, the efforts taken to collect these stories and the great introduction.
August 23, 2018
This is a fascinating collection of stories and plays by Golden Age authors, including the one that got Arthur Upfield into so much trouble, about the perfect murder, and an Agatha Christie story The Wife of the Kenite published in in an Australian Women's Magazine in 1922. This is the earliest published Christie story that I have read. (See my list here).
Most of the stories in the anthology have only been published once, or not previously. Some have worn well, others were more 19th century in their "feel". After each short story is an excellent short biography of the author. The introduction also gave an excellent summary of the Golden Age period. What a productive time it was!
The contents
Before Insulin, J.J. Connington
The Inverness Cape, Leo Bruce
Dark Waters, Freeman Wills Croft
Lincke's Great Case, Georgette Heyer
Calling James Braithwaite, Nicholas Blake - a play
The Elusive Bullet, John Rhode
The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt, Cyril Hare
The Girdle of Dreams, Vincent Cornier
The Fool and the Perfect Murder, Arthur Upfield
Bread Upon the Waters, A.A. Milne
The Man with the Twisted Thumb, Anthony Berkeley
The Rum Punch, Christianna Brand
Blind Man's Buff, Ernest Bramah - a play
Victoria Pumphrey, H.C. Bailey
The Starting-Handle Murder, Roy Vickers
The Wife of the Kenite, Agatha Christie
Most of the stories in the anthology have only been published once, or not previously. Some have worn well, others were more 19th century in their "feel". After each short story is an excellent short biography of the author. The introduction also gave an excellent summary of the Golden Age period. What a productive time it was!
The contents
Before Insulin, J.J. Connington
The Inverness Cape, Leo Bruce
Dark Waters, Freeman Wills Croft
Lincke's Great Case, Georgette Heyer
Calling James Braithwaite, Nicholas Blake - a play
The Elusive Bullet, John Rhode
The Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt, Cyril Hare
The Girdle of Dreams, Vincent Cornier
The Fool and the Perfect Murder, Arthur Upfield
Bread Upon the Waters, A.A. Milne
The Man with the Twisted Thumb, Anthony Berkeley
The Rum Punch, Christianna Brand
Blind Man's Buff, Ernest Bramah - a play
Victoria Pumphrey, H.C. Bailey
The Starting-Handle Murder, Roy Vickers
The Wife of the Kenite, Agatha Christie
September 24, 2019
This was a really interesting collection. Some stories were better than others but overall it was very entertaining.
January 8, 2022
This collection of short mysteries from history's best mystery writers was indeed a treat. Granted not all stories were a homerun, but overall it was a delight
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