Classic English Crime

by Tim Heald (Editor), Crime Writers Association

In honor of the Agatha Christie Centenary, leading members of the Crime Writers' Association offer thirteen stories set in the Golden Age of detective fiction, between the two world wars

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

215 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Tim Heald (b. 1944) is a journalist and author of mysteries. Born in Dorchester, England, he studied modern history at Oxford before becoming a reporter and columnist for the Sunday Times. He began writing novels in the early 1970s, starting with Unbecoming Habits (1973), which introduced Simon Bognor, a defiantly lazy investigator for the British Board of Trade. Heald followed Bognor through nine more novels, including Murder at Moose Jaw (1981) and Business Unusual (1989) before taking a two-decade break from the series, which returned in 2011 with Death in the Opening Chapter.

Reviews

[Adam Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of stories published in 1990 for the Christie Centenary, gathered from 13 members of the Crime Writers' Association. Some of the stories are a very direct homage to Christie, others are more generally detective stories with a vague Christie atmosphere. As a whole, the collection does have the feel of writers writing for a deadline, and I'm not sure any of them are at their best here, but there are some enjoyable stories.

The three highlights were Julian Symons' pastiche "Holocaust at Mayhem Parva", Susan Moody's "All's Fair in Love", with its clever twist, and Peter Lovesey's "The Lady in the Trunk", with its interesting inter-detective dynamic. Those three stories happen to appear consecutively in the anthology, so maybe I was just in a better mood that day.

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOTTOM LINE: The current CWA members (1991) were asked to write “Christie Style” short stories, and this entertaining volume was the result. Subtitled
“13 stories for the Christie Centenary from the Crime Writers’ Association”, the majority of the stories were very good.

The best IMO: “A Good Time Had By All”, Robert Barnard; “A Fete Worse than Death”, Paula Gosling; “Holocaust at Mayhem Parva”, Julian Symons; “Experts for the Prosecution”, Tim Heald; also includes stories from Catherine Aird, Simon Brett, Liza Cody, Celia Dale, H.R.F. Keating, Peter Lovesey, Susan Moody, David Williams, Margaret Yorke,


Aird, Catherine: “Cause and Effects”
— nicely tidy classic villiage murder-at-the-table mystery

Barnard, Robert: “A Good Time Had by All”
— excellent Christie-ish whodunit solved in the servant’s hall, sly and funny

Brett, Simon: “A Little Learning”
— at first funny, but ultimately tiresome, spoof of The Erudite Basis for mysteries

Cody, Liza: “Spasmo”
— a self absorbed little boy with a big mouth, an uncomfortable story, chilling

Dale, Celia: “Wednesday Matinee”
— murder backstage, smooth and sad

Gosling, Paula, “A Fete Worse than Death”
— absolutely superb tale of a deadly cake-tasting

Heald, Tim: “Experts for the Prosecution”
— nifty twist on The Great Detective ethos

Keating, H.R.F.: “Jack Fell Down”
— gentle Christie spoof, classily done but easy to guess

Lovesey, Peter: “The Lady in the Trunk”
— tidy PP about an odd railroad station

Moody, Susan: “All’s Fair in Love”
— twisted tale of a lady PI with a job, and a lover, and a Plan

Symons, Julian: “Holocaust at Mayhem Parva”
— classic Marple spoof, one of the best

Williams, David: “Smoke Gets In...”
— nifty 20s tale of arson and murder and romance, OTT but fun

Yorke, Margaret: “Means to Murder”
— creepy tale of a son’s revenge on his Mother’s murderer

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To celebrate the centenary of the birth of Agatha Christie, still by common consent the doyenne of English Detective Fiction, a team of her most distinguished descendants have joined in a highly original tribute. Leading members of the British Crime Writers' Association have responded with ingenuity and enthusiasm to the challenge of producing stories set in the Golden Age of Detective Fiction -- the period between the World Wars.

"The crime scenes vary from country house to seaside hotel, from village fete to West End theatre -- while the crimes themselves are as bizarre and cunning as anything Hercule Poirot of Miss Marple had to deal with.

"The outstanding contributors to this volume are all in top form in this sparkling collection that is both an atmospheric trip through the corpse-littered world of the English Mystery's G9olden Age and a devilishly affectionate salute to Agatha Christie -- its undisputed queen."
~~back cover

A delightful read! Each story is individual, unique -- a different slant on either Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot (or both!) All the authors have caught the tone of the era exactly -- you would swear you were reading a book written in the '30s. Highly recommended if you're a lover of English cozies.

[Lynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice range of tales with a nod to the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie and produced to celebrate her centenary, several years ago. Most are gently affectionate and feature a typical array of Christiesque characters, vicars' wives, pretty young things, village fetes and the occasion foray into theatrical shenanigans as well as cameos from Miss Marple, Poirot and even Ariadne Oliver's Finnish detective Sven Hjerson. Crime supremo Julian Symons' 'Holocaust at Mayhem Parva' stands out primarily as a parody in that the story is peopled by the likes of Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum and a suspiciously familiar blue-eyed old lady with a disturbing knowledge of toxins.
Great fun.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Members of the British Crime Writers Association were asked to write stories based on Agatha Christie's work for this collection. The result is a group of new stories (I'd only read one before), all of which include some elements of Golden Age mystery, although Simon Brett takes a rather different approach. Most of the tales are on the lighter side, and of course I have my favorites which may well differ from your favorites, but the collection is packed with reading enjoyment.

[Stephen Bacon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology was commissioned to celebrate the centenary of Agatha Christie's birth, and it's an enjoyable collection of 13 short crime stories from members of the Crime Writers' Association, edited by Tim Heald.

There's nothing too groundbreaking, it felt rather safe, with most authors contributing traditional tales which will no doubt appeal to fans of Ms Christie.

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these shorts were pretty good, others not so much. Agatha Christie is just such an exceptional crime/mystery writer, it feels odd when others try to replicate her style.

[Lia Marcoux · Rating 2 out of 5]

The competent entries were written by Paula Gosling, Liza Cody, and Robert Barnard (the first and last of these are completely charming, the second skillful but not necessarily fun). The rest were floppy.

[Danni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hated this book. About the time I got interested in the story I was reading it was over. Not the way that I like to do books.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well I wish I could rate the short stories individually- I really liked some of them and really didn't like some of them. It was enjoyable, nonetheless.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

very enjoyable. obviously some were better than others