Status Updates From The Long Arm of the Law: Cl...

15. The Moorlanders * by Gil North (1916-1988), first published in the London Evening News (1966). This was very patchy and didn’t make a lot of sense. North’s regular character Sergeant Cluff appears in a cameo. Weakest entry in the book and very odd that it was used as the closer.

14. Old Mr. Martin **** by Michael Gilbert (1912-2006), first published in Argosy (1960). A seemingly innocuous elderly owner of a candy store is killed in a hit and run. But then there is the discovery of a secret in the store’s basement.

13. The Chief Witness **** by John Creasey (1908-1973), first published in The John Creasey Mystery Magazine (1957). A mother is murdered while her little boy was sleeping and the husband has disappeared after a quarrel which was overheard by the neighbours. But was he really the killer?

12. Sometimes the Blind… *** by Nicholas Blake aka Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972), first published in the Evening Standard (1963). Blake’s regular private detective Nigel Strangeways does not appear in this one. The police figure out a murder culprit but find that it would be impossible to prove the case.

11. After the Event **** by Christianna Brand (1907-1988), first published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (1958). A retired warhorse detective loves retelling the story of one of his most famous cases. But then Inspector Cockerill is in the audience at a gathering and reveals the true solution to the crime.

10. Cotton Wool and Cutlets ***** by Henry Wade (1887-1969) Police Constable John Bragg’s final story in The 20 Story Magazine (May, 1940). An excellent police procedural where the discovery of a few simple clues leads to the unveiling of the murder conspiracy behind an apparent suicide.

9. Remember to Ring Twice **** by Edith Caroline Rivett as E. C. R. Lorac (1884-1959), first published in the Evening Standard (1950). An elderly woman appears to have fallen down the stairs when no one else was at home. But what if it was murder?

8. Fingerprints *** by Freeman Wills Crofts (1879-1957), first published in the Evening Standard (1952). Sometimes the lack of fingerprints is a clue in and of itself.

7. The Case of Jacob Heylyn *** by Leonard R. Gribble (1908-1985), first published possibly? in The Case Book of Anthony Slade (1937). An old miser appears to have committed suicide but Inspector Slade of Scotland Yard has other ideas about the case.

6. The Man Who Married Too Often **** by Roy Vickers (1889-1965), first published in The Fiction Parade (1936). The Marquis of Roucester and Jarrow has a tendency to marry a few too many times, which he will learn to his regret.

5. The Undoing of Mr. Dawes *** by Gerald Verner (1897-1980), first published in The Cleverness of Mr Budd (1935). A fence and a jewelry thief are tricked by Inspector Budd into revealing their heist.

4. The Cleverest Clue **** by Laurence W. Meynell, (1899-1989), first published 19??. A professor is kidnapped by war profiteers who seek to delay his announcement of an anti-war invention. He leaves a vital clue behind in a letter. Grammar fans, or at least haters of the split infinitive, will love this one!

3. The Mystery of a Midsummer Night *** by George R. Sims (1848-1922), first published 19?? in The Sketch as part of the DI Chance series. Based on the real-life Road Hill House murder (1860). A young boy is murdered and the rest of the household is suspected. See The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher by Kate Summerscale

2. The Silence of PC Hirley *** by Edgar Wallace (1875-1932), first published 1909 in a series featuring PC Lee. PC Lee observes the career of PC Hirley who advances through a remarkable series of self-induced confessions from criminals who can’t seem to keep their mouths shut. But then an even more remarkable event occurs. Recently dramatised by BBC Radio 4.

1. The Mystery of Chenholt *** by Alice Askew And Claude Askew (1897-1917) and (1865-1917), first published in The Adventures of Police Constable Vane M.A., on Duty and Off (1908). A butler comes to P.C. Reggie Vane saying that his mistress is being poisoned by her husband. Vane sends his fiancée Violet in undercover to discover the truth, which ends up being rather a turnabout.