Some fairly brief thoughts on a couple of very enjoyable mysteries from the British Library Crime Classics series – both set in London, both initially published in the 1930s, but very different from one another in terms of style. The Port of London Murders by Josephine Bell (1938) A dark and gritty mystery set amidst […]
I have two crackers for you today – not necessarily Christmas crackers, but well suited to the season nonetheless. Crossed Skis by Carol Carnac (1952) This delightful mystery, written by Edith Caroline Rivett – who also published books under the pen-name of E. C. R. Lorac – has to be one of the most enjoyable […]
I have two crime fiction novels to share with you today – both of which were written in the late 1950s, albeit in very different tonal registers. E. C. R. Lorac’s Two-Way Murder is a thoroughly entertaining cosy crime novel, ideal escapism from 21st-century Britain; however, I’m going to start with its not-so-cosy counterpart, Ross […]
It’s always an unexpected joy when one of these lovely British Library Crime Classics drops through the door, especially if it’s as enticing as this. (My thanks to the publishers for kindly providing a review copy.) First published in 1944, Green for Danger – the second book in Brand’s Inspector Cockrill series – is set […]
Two very intriguing British Library Crime Classics for you today – both featuring Anthony Berkeley’s amateur detective / crime writer, Roger Sheringham. Murder in the Basement (1932) A very enjoyable mystery, and an excellent introduction to Berkeley’s work. The story opens with the discovery of a body, carefully concealed in the basement of a rented […]
It’s always a pleasure when one of these British Library Crime Classics anthologies drops through the door, especially in this instance given its literary focus! Murder by the Book is a collection of sixteen short stories that qualify for the genre of ‘bibliomysteries’. More specifically, each of these stories revolves around something bookish. For instance, […]
It’s always a joy to receive one of the latest British Library Crime Classics releases through the post, and this clever anthology of short stories, Guilty Creatures – a Menagerie of Mysteries, is no exception to the rule. (My thanks to the publishers for kindly providing a review copy.) Included here are fourteen vintage mysteries, […]
First published in 1943, Murder’s a Swine (US title: The Grinning Pig) was the second of two mystery novels co-written by Pamela Hansford Johnson and her husband, Gordon Neil Stewart, under the pen name ‘Nap Lombard’. This very engaging mystery has recently been reissued as part of the British Library Crime Classics series (my thanks […]
Something a little different from me today. Less a review as such, more a sequence of observations on the early George Smiley novels from John le Carré. I’ve been reading (and in some cases re-reading) them recently, broadly in chronological order, although I’ve skipped The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, a classic Cold […]
A couple of additional mini reviews of recent reads – this time novels by the wonderfully off-kilter Barbara Comyns and the British crime writer, E. C. R. Lorac. Enjoy! Mr Fox by Barbara Comyns (1987) I discovered this little gem of a novel a few months ago via Heaven Ali’s excellent review, which you can […]
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