An earlier British Library Crime Classics short story collection today, with The Long Arm of the Law [ss] (2017) featuring 15 stories of professional police selected by the hugely knowledgeable Martin Edwards.
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#1240: “Our investigation is foxed and bewildered because everybody is thinking of Christmas.” – Crimson Snow [ss] (2016) ed. Martin Edwards
Having looked at Silent Nights [ss] (2015), the first collection of Christmas-themed short stories in the British Library Crime Classic collection a fortnight ago, I move on to Crimson Snow [ss] (2016), the second such collection, edited once again by Martin Edwards.
Continue reading#1196: “It is not good for the dead to be alone.” – Best Detective Stories of Cyril Hare, a.k.a. Death Among Friends [ss] (1959) ed. Michael Gilbert
Thirty stories from the pen of Cyril Hare, an author whose legal-themed novels leave me rather cold, but whose scattered short fiction I have encountered is typically very positive. So a chance to dig deeper into that his miniature plots is to be seized.
Continue reading#1135: “Don’t be so infernally bloodthirsty!” – Who Killed Father Christmas? and Other Seasonal Mysteries [ss] (2023) ed. Martin Edwards
Astoundingly, Who Killed Father Christmas? (2023) is the fifth collection of seasonal mysteries collated by Martin Edwards for the British Library Crime Classics range. And, with the BL kind enough to provide me with a review copy, it seemed like the perfect excuse to start some Christmas reading a little earlier than planned.
Continue reading#1089: “Murder! What in God’s name do you mean?” – Crimes of Cymru [ss] (2023) ed. Martin Edwards
Another themed collection of crime and mystery stories from the British Library, Crimes of Cymru (2023) sees Martin Edwards’ exemplary genre knowledge tasked with selecting tales with Welsh settings or origin.
Continue reading#919: “Tonight, in this house, is there going to be another killing?” – Bodies from the Library 5 [ss] (2022) ed. Tony Medawar
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 Library 5 (2022) stack up?
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