Alan (the Lone Librarian rides again) Teder’s Reviews > The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories > Status Update

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.