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#609: The Hooded Gunman: An Illustrated History of the Collins Crime Club...
Recent years have been very kind to the Golden Age Detection nerd seeking non-fiction reference works. Indeed, if it didn’t seem like so much of a rip-off of the Reprint of the Year Award Kate runs...
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#615: And the Knights are No More and the Dragons are Dead – Viewing the...
You’ve doubtless heard of Lee Child, author of the Jack Reacher books in which the gargantuan ex-serviceman does plenty of fightin’ and figurin’, and if there’s a bigger name in publishing today it’s...
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#661: The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907) by Gaston Leroux [trans. ???? 1909]
Can a book still be a masterpiece if it’s not brilliant? In the case of Gaston Leroux’s debut The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907) — which plays up to and anticipates so many of the established and...
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#670: Sleeping Murder (1976) by Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie famously wrote the final novels to feature her two biggest sleuths well ahead of their publication, and where Hercule Poirot’s swansong Curtain (1975) was a joyous return to the...
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#688: Sudden Death (1932) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Today, three previously very hard to find novels by Freeman Wills Crofts are republished by HarperCollins: Death on the Way (1932), The Loss of the ‘Jane Vosper’ (1936), and Man Overboard! (1936)....
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In GAD We Trust – Episode 8: Uncovering Long-Forgotten Short Stories + Bodies...
Today was due to have been the sixth (sixth!) Bodies from the Library conference at the British Library but, for obvious reasons, it’s not. I can’t, alas, give you a whole day of GAD-based...
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#701: Death on the Way, a.k.a. Double Death (1932) by Freeman Wills Crofts
No, I’m not back from hiatus. But if you think I’m going to let today’s reissue of three more Freeman Wills Crofts novels — Sudden Death (1932), Mystery on Southampton Water (1934), and Crime at...
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In GAD We Trust – Episode 13: Agatha Christie’s Poirot: The Greatest...
This year’s celebrations of the centenary of Hercule Poirot’s debut and, arguably, the dawn of the Golden Age of Detection have obviously been overshadowed by wider events, but there’s still much to...
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#755: Mystery on Southampton Water, a.k.a. Crime on the Solent (1934) by...
For evidence of the restless enthusiasm Freeman Wills Crofts brought to the writing of detective fiction, look no further than the two books he published in 1934. The first — The 12.30 from Croydon,...
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In GAD We Trust – Episode 19: Reissue! Repackage! Repackage! [w’ Various People]
On the back of the Reprint of the Year Award run by Kate at CrossExaminingCrime, I thought it might be interesting to see what those of us who submit titles for that undertaking would choose to bring...
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#285: The Sea Mystery (1928) by Freeman Wills Crofts
First thing first: yes, I’m aware that the 2017 Collins Crime Club edition of this novel — for which I am eternally grateful, since it has enabled me to read it in the first place — has been reissued...
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#321: The Maze, a.k.a. Persons Unknown (1932) by Philip MacDonald
Much like in one of those hilarious romantic comedies from the early 2000s starring Ben Stiller or Jennifer Lopez, Philip MacDonald and I got off to a rocky start that seemed to be improving, on the...
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#328: Sir John Magill’s Last Journey (1930) by Freeman Wills Crofts
This 2017 HarperCollins reprint — under the title Inspector French and Sir John Magill’s Last Journey — is 309 pages long and took me, almost to the hour, two full weeks to read. Ordinarily this would...
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#344: Spoiler Warning – Coming in April: Invisible Weapons (1938) by John Rhode
Right, the dust has settled on The Problem of the Wire Cage, so it’s time to pick another book to get all spoilerful over. There’s no mystery here, that book has been picked and its title is in the...
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#374: Spoiler Warning 6 – Invisible Weapons (1938) by John Rhode
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to talk about the 1938 impossible crime novel Invisible Weapons by John Rhode, one of the many noms de plume of Cecil John Charles Street. We — and by “we”...
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#388: Inspector French and the Cheyne Mystery (1926) by Freeman Wills Crofts
I wasn’t sure I wanted to dive into another complex alibi problem so soon after Cut Throat (1932) by Christopher Bush. But if anyone can convince me of the joys of alibi-breaking it’s Freeman Wills...
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#400: The Rynox Mystery (1930) by Philip MacDonald
Well, who’d’ve thought it, eh? Philip MacDonald first featured in my reading life in 1-star ignominy, and here he is not just beating all-comers to feature my 400th blog post, but doing so with a...
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#417: The Ponson Case (1921) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Freeman Wills Crofts’ second novel The Ponson Case (1921) recently enjoyed a reissue thanks to the superlative efforts of HarperCollins and their revived Detective Club imprint. Nevertheless, I’m not...
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#472: The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Back in 2015, before I’d ever opened any of Freeman Wills Crofts’ works, Puzzle Doctor reviewed The Pit-Prop Syndicate (1922) at his place and ended by saying “I could go on, but I’ll just keep...
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#493: The Groote Park Murder (1923) by Freeman Wills Crofts
A mere nine books into the 37-strong output of Freeman Wills Crofts (soon to be 38 thanks to the excellent work of Tony Medawar and Crippen & Landru), I’m going to make a bold assertion: Crofts, I...
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#505: The Shop Window Murders (1930) by Vernon Loder
I shall refrain from pointing out the similarities between The Shop Window Murders (1930) by Vernon Loder and The French Powder Mystery (1930) by Ellery Queen — Nigel Moss does an excellent job of...
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#538: The Cask (1920) by Freeman Wills Crofts
If I asked you to name the debut novel of a hugely influential detective fiction author that was originally written in 1916, published four years later, featured a character called Hastings, and had...
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#560: Inspector French’s Greatest Case (1924) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. After a debut that laid the cornerstone of a new genre and three succeeding works exploring the principles of that genre from varying perspectives, now begins Freeman...
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#569: A Killing Kindness (1980) by Reginald Hill
At some point in the 1980s, Britain started pumping out crime fiction by authors who literary darlings could feel smug about admitting they slum it with: Colin Dexter, P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and...
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#584: Inspector French and the Starvel Hollow Tragedy (1927) by Freeman Wills...
As his seventh published novel, Inspector French and the Starvel Hollow Tragedy (1927) shows Freeman Wills Crofts again subtly altering his approach to take us through the minutiae of crime and...
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#590: Mystery at Olympia, a.k.a. Murder at the Motor Show (1935) by John Rhode
While Freeman Wills Crofts’ work has caused me much delight over the last few years, that of his fellow ‘Humdrum’ John Rhode/Miles Burton doesn’t inspire in me quite the same raptures. Rhode (as I’ll...
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#600: Murderers Make Mistakes – Poirot’s Early Cases [ss] (1974) by Agatha...
The majority of Agatha Christie referred to on this blog has been from her later, less popular phase while I work through her canon chronologically. So it’s lovely to be able to refer to some of her...
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#791: Death at Breakfast (1936) by John Rhode
Is it damning Cecil Street with disgustingly faint praise to say that he has become the author about whose work I am most likely to say “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I expected”? Whether writing as...
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In GAD We Trust – Episode 24: Bodies from the Library 4 (2021) ed. Tony...
Prepare yourself for what might just be the most jam-packed episode of In GAD We Trust to date — when you sit down with Tony Medawar, there’s always going to be a lot to talk about. With the podcast...
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#831: “As you know, an unusual crime has a deep interest for me…”– Bodies...
I can’t believe that there is a GAD enthusiast who doesn’t look forward to the annual Bodies from the Library collections so expertly curated by Tony Medawar. In bringing to public awareness some of...
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#855: The Wintringham Mystery, a.k.a. Cicely Disappears (1927) by Anthony...
Even though — or perhaps, because — I’m a fan of Anthony Berkeley Cox’s work, I approach him with some trepidation. At his best you get the innovative brilliance of The Poisoned Chocolates Case...
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#867: Crime at Guildford, a.k.a. The Crime at Nornes (1935) by Freeman Wills...
Five members of the board of Nornes Limited, a London-based jewellers, meet one Saturday evening at the home of the company’s managing director to discuss the dwindling health of the business away...
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#903: The Loss of the Jane Vosper (1936) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Hector Macdonald’s excellent thriller The Storm Prophet (2007) was the first book to ever make me consider the terror of being trapped aboard a sinking boat in the open sea. 15 years later, the...
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#918: The Life of Crime (2022) by Martin Edwards
To me falls the honour of rounding off the blog tour for The Life of Crime (2022) by Martin Edwards, adding to the deserved praise it has already garnered elsewhere. This “personal journey through the...
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#919: “Tonight, in this house, is there going to be another killing?”– Bodies...
Another year, another collection of forgotten or unknown tales from the luminaries of detective fiction’s Golden Age brought to us by the tireless efforts of Tony Medawar. So how does Bodies from the...
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#945: Man Overboard!, a.k.a. Cold-Blooded Murder (1936) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Today sees the republication of Found Floating (1937), the twentieth of Freeman Wills Crofts’ novels and the sixteenth to feature (Chief) Inspector Joseph French, the first of eight reprints due...
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#946: Law and Order – Ranking the First Fifteen Inspector French Novels...
With the sixteenth to twenty-fourth novels by Freeman Wills Crofts to feature his series detective Chief Inspector Joseph French due to be republished between now and January 2023 (well, #18, Antidote...
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#1003: Found Floating (1937) by Freeman Wills Crofts
In the same year that Agatha Christie mixed sight-seeing and shipboard slaughter in Death on the Nile (1937), Freeman Wills Crofts sent his series detective, Chief Inspector Joseph French, into bat...
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#1023: “The act of homicide always throws a man off balance.”– Bodies from...
The annual Bodies from the Library (2018-present) collections, in which Tony Medawar expertly selects long-forgotten and previously-unpublished stories and plays, have become essential purchases for...
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#1049: The End of Andrew Harrison, a.k.a. The Futile Alibi (1938) by Freeman...
It’s been a long road to The End of Andrew Harrison, a.k.a. The Futile Alibi (1938) by Freeman Wills Crofts. Back when I was fairly new to classic era detective fiction in general, and impossible...
View Article#1088: The Moving Finger (1942) by Agatha Christie
I had intended to review Behind the Crimson Blind (1952) by Carter Dickson this week, but the opening chapters of that puzzled my will and so I’ve taken the coward’s way out and opted to reread what I...
View Article#1112: Fatal Venture, a.k.a. Tragedy in the Hollow (1939) by Freeman Wills...
Fatal Venture (1939) represents, by my count, the ninth time in twenty-three books that Freeman Wills Crofts has devised a criminal scheme which contains a significant strain of maritime malfeasance....
View Article#1141: “He must have known he was playing a dangerous game.”– Bodies from the...
Bodies from the Library 6 (2023) represents another delightful foray into the neglected and forgotten stories from many of the luminaries of the Golden Age, as editor Tony Medawar puts his enviable...
View Article#1152: The Sittaford Mystery, a.k.a. Murder at Hazelmoor (1931) by Agatha...
I’ve been struggling to enjoy my reading of late, so it was something of a relief to revisit The Sittaford Mystery (1931) by Agatha Christie and find it so enjoyable. We’re probably in the lower half...
View Article#1163: Golden Ashes (1940) by Freeman Wills Crofts
Rendered a widow and penniless at a young age — well, she is a Freeman Wills Crofts protagonist — Betty Stanton is fortunate in finding a job as housekeeper and general organiser of newly-minted...
View Article#1169: A Little Help for My Friends – Finding a Modern Locked Room Mystery...
I really rather enjoyed Faith Martin’s impossible crime novel The Castle Mystery (2019) when I read it back in 2019, so stumbling over a new hardback by her at my local library — and learning that...
View Article#1185: How Sleek the Woe Appears – My Ten Favourite Golden Age Reprint Covers
As someone who has never taken the time to foster any artistic talent, I’m amazed at the skill of people who design book covers. I even tried to start a regular feature on this blog celebrating such...
View ArticleIn GAD We Trust – Episode 33: Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness...
Another surprise episode of my increasingly-irregular podcast In GAD We Trust, this time featuring Mark Aldridge in discussion about his new book, Agatha Christie’s Marple: Expert on Wickedness (2024)....
View Article#1217: James Tarrant, Adventurer, a.k.a. Circumstantial Evidence (1941) by...
Having previously had a new business undertaking result in murder in Fatal Venture (1939), and having dealt in business manipulation in The End of Andrew Harrison (1938), Freeman Wills Crofts once...
View Article#1220: “About ghosts in particular he was a blatant and contemptuous...
Let’s take a moment to reflect on what Tony Medawar has done in recent years for GAD fans, with Wicked Spirits (2024) being the eighth collection of lost, forgotten, and...
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