What do you think?
Rate this book
Bodies from the Library #5
Bodies from the Library 5: Forgotten Stories of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection
Classic crime fiction's 'Indiana Jones' Tony Medawar unearths more unpublished and uncollected stories from the Golden Age of suspense, including John Bude, John Dickson Carr, Dorothy L. Sayers and Julian Symons.
‘Five books in, and the selection here might well be the strongest yet. This series continues to delight with the high standard of forgotten gems that Medawar uncovers, and there’s sufficient range to ensure that all fans of the genre will find something to enjoy. Book 6 can’t come soon enough.’
Jim Noy, author of The Red Death Murders
The end of the First World War saw the rise of an insatiable public appetite for clever and thrilling mystery fiction and a new kind of hero – the modern crime writer. As the genre soared in popularity, so did the inventiveness of its best authors, ushering in a “Golden Age” of detective fiction – two decades of exemplary mystery the era of the whodunit, the impossible crime and the locked-room mystery, with stories that have thrilled and baffled generations of readers.
The Golden Age still casts a long shadow, with many of the authors who were published at that time still hugely popular today. Aside from novels, they all wrote short fiction – stories, serials and plays – and although many have been republished in books over the last 100 years, Bodies from the Library collects the ones that are impossible to stories that appeared in a newspaper, magazine or an anthology that has long been out of print; ephemeral works such as plays not aired, staged or screened for decades; and unpublished stories that were absorbed into an author’s archive when they died . . .
Complete with fascinating biographies by Tony Medawar of all the featured authors, this latest volume in the annual Bodies from the Library series once again brings into the daylight the forgotten, the lost and the unknown, and is an indispensable collection for any bookshelf.
‘Five books in, and the selection here might well be the strongest yet. This series continues to delight with the high standard of forgotten gems that Medawar uncovers, and there’s sufficient range to ensure that all fans of the genre will find something to enjoy. Book 6 can’t come soon enough.’
Jim Noy, author of The Red Death Murders
The end of the First World War saw the rise of an insatiable public appetite for clever and thrilling mystery fiction and a new kind of hero – the modern crime writer. As the genre soared in popularity, so did the inventiveness of its best authors, ushering in a “Golden Age” of detective fiction – two decades of exemplary mystery the era of the whodunit, the impossible crime and the locked-room mystery, with stories that have thrilled and baffled generations of readers.
The Golden Age still casts a long shadow, with many of the authors who were published at that time still hugely popular today. Aside from novels, they all wrote short fiction – stories, serials and plays – and although many have been republished in books over the last 100 years, Bodies from the Library collects the ones that are impossible to stories that appeared in a newspaper, magazine or an anthology that has long been out of print; ephemeral works such as plays not aired, staged or screened for decades; and unpublished stories that were absorbed into an author’s archive when they died . . .
Complete with fascinating biographies by Tony Medawar of all the featured authors, this latest volume in the annual Bodies from the Library series once again brings into the daylight the forgotten, the lost and the unknown, and is an indispensable collection for any bookshelf.
412 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2022
19 people are currently reading
97 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
November 4, 2022
The mystery of the missing stories…
This series of “forgotten stories of mystery and suspense” has now become an annual event, and one I look forward to. The stories are all ones that haven’t been collected before, or occasionally have never been published. Every year I feel the well must run dry but each year Tony Medawar proves me wrong. He ranges widely to find his treasures – through old magazines and newspapers, into the BBC archives for radio scripts, digging out stories written originally to boost a charity or good cause, and so on. There are sixteen stories in this collection, ranging from a few pages up to novella-length, and lots of familiar names show up, some very well known – John Dickson Carr, Dorothy L Sayers, Ellis Peters, etc. - and others who are becoming well known to those of us who are reading a lot of the vintage crime currently being re-issued by various publishers – Michael Gilbert, Anthony Berkeley, John Bude, et al. The quality is more consistent than it sometimes is in anthologies – I gave most of the stories a solid four-star rating, with just a couple that didn’t work for me, and a sprinkling that gained themselves the full galaxy of five stars.
Here’s a flavour of a few of my favourites:
The Ginger King by AEW Mason – Inspector Hanaud of the French police is in London, visiting his “Watson”, Ricardo. Because of his expertise, an insurance company asks him to look into a fire at a shop owned by a Syrian furrier. (Yes, there are some unfortunate out-dated racist attitudes – it’s a hazard of the era.) I particularly enjoyed this one because a cat plays a major role – the ginger king of the title. Happily the cat survives unscathed! Lots of humour in this one and a good, imaginative criminal method. Hanaud is more fun when he’s being a foreigner in England than when he’s in France, in my limited experience, especially since he mangles English idioms for our amusement.
Benefit of the Doubt by Anthony Berkeley – This is told as if it were a ‘true’ story, related by an elderly medical man about an incident that happened to him when he was a young, inexperienced doctor. One night he is called out by a worried young wife to see her older husband. However the man appears fine and jokingly assures the doctor his wife just likes to worry, so the doctor leaves it at that. But the next day the man is dead. The wife doesn’t blame the doctor, and since she doesn’t want an inquest and the doctor fears the possibility of being found to have been negligent, he signs the death certificate. That’s not the end of the story, though… A really good picture of a generally moral man doing the easy thing rather than the right thing, and how he himself perceives his own actions at the other end of his career.
The Magnifying Glass by Cyril Hare. A very short story, this one, and not a mystery. It involves two men fighting over some forged banknotes. One murders the other, and then tries to break into the murdered man’s safe. It’s a scorching hot day with a dazzling sun, and Hare uses the heat and the murderer’s awareness that someone may arrive at any time to build up a great atmosphere of tension. Can’t say more since it’s very short, but there’s a lovely twist in the tail.
The ‘What’s My Line’ Murder by Julian Symons. During a live recording, one of the panellists dies – poisoned – and another panellist, Gilbert Harding, investigates. Even my great age isn’t great enough to have a clear recollection of What’s My Line? – a long-long-ago TV panel game, where the regular panellists had to guess the profession of mystery guests by asking them questions. However, the story stands even if you don’t remember the show. Symons includes some of the actual panellists – Gilbert Harding was one of them – and I did have a vague memory of one or two of them so that added to the fun, though I felt fairly confident that while he could make one of them be the detective he couldn’t make a real person be the murderer! A good mystery, entertainingly written.
So another great addition to this series – I hope Collins Crime Club continue to bring these out for several more years to come, so long as that well doesn’t dry up! 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
This series of “forgotten stories of mystery and suspense” has now become an annual event, and one I look forward to. The stories are all ones that haven’t been collected before, or occasionally have never been published. Every year I feel the well must run dry but each year Tony Medawar proves me wrong. He ranges widely to find his treasures – through old magazines and newspapers, into the BBC archives for radio scripts, digging out stories written originally to boost a charity or good cause, and so on. There are sixteen stories in this collection, ranging from a few pages up to novella-length, and lots of familiar names show up, some very well known – John Dickson Carr, Dorothy L Sayers, Ellis Peters, etc. - and others who are becoming well known to those of us who are reading a lot of the vintage crime currently being re-issued by various publishers – Michael Gilbert, Anthony Berkeley, John Bude, et al. The quality is more consistent than it sometimes is in anthologies – I gave most of the stories a solid four-star rating, with just a couple that didn’t work for me, and a sprinkling that gained themselves the full galaxy of five stars.
Here’s a flavour of a few of my favourites:
The Ginger King by AEW Mason – Inspector Hanaud of the French police is in London, visiting his “Watson”, Ricardo. Because of his expertise, an insurance company asks him to look into a fire at a shop owned by a Syrian furrier. (Yes, there are some unfortunate out-dated racist attitudes – it’s a hazard of the era.) I particularly enjoyed this one because a cat plays a major role – the ginger king of the title. Happily the cat survives unscathed! Lots of humour in this one and a good, imaginative criminal method. Hanaud is more fun when he’s being a foreigner in England than when he’s in France, in my limited experience, especially since he mangles English idioms for our amusement.
Benefit of the Doubt by Anthony Berkeley – This is told as if it were a ‘true’ story, related by an elderly medical man about an incident that happened to him when he was a young, inexperienced doctor. One night he is called out by a worried young wife to see her older husband. However the man appears fine and jokingly assures the doctor his wife just likes to worry, so the doctor leaves it at that. But the next day the man is dead. The wife doesn’t blame the doctor, and since she doesn’t want an inquest and the doctor fears the possibility of being found to have been negligent, he signs the death certificate. That’s not the end of the story, though… A really good picture of a generally moral man doing the easy thing rather than the right thing, and how he himself perceives his own actions at the other end of his career.
The Magnifying Glass by Cyril Hare. A very short story, this one, and not a mystery. It involves two men fighting over some forged banknotes. One murders the other, and then tries to break into the murdered man’s safe. It’s a scorching hot day with a dazzling sun, and Hare uses the heat and the murderer’s awareness that someone may arrive at any time to build up a great atmosphere of tension. Can’t say more since it’s very short, but there’s a lovely twist in the tail.
The ‘What’s My Line’ Murder by Julian Symons. During a live recording, one of the panellists dies – poisoned – and another panellist, Gilbert Harding, investigates. Even my great age isn’t great enough to have a clear recollection of What’s My Line? – a long-long-ago TV panel game, where the regular panellists had to guess the profession of mystery guests by asking them questions. However, the story stands even if you don’t remember the show. Symons includes some of the actual panellists – Gilbert Harding was one of them – and I did have a vague memory of one or two of them so that added to the fun, though I felt fairly confident that while he could make one of them be the detective he couldn’t make a real person be the murderer! A good mystery, entertainingly written.
So another great addition to this series – I hope Collins Crime Club continue to bring these out for several more years to come, so long as that well doesn’t dry up! 4½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Collins Crime Club.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
October 29, 2023
Table of Contents
Introduction vii
The Predestined 1
Q Patrick 12
Villa for Sale 15
Ellis Peters 21
The Ginger King 26
A. E. W. Mason 47
Sugar-Plum Killer 52
Michael Gilbert 65
Vacancy with Corpse 68
Anthony Boucher 135
Where Do We Go from Here? 139
Dorothy L. Sayers 162
[missing from audiobook]
Benefit of the Doubt 165
Anthony Berkeley 173
Scandal of the Louvre 176
S. S. Van Dine 191
The Pressure of Circumstance 195
J. J. Connington 227
The Riddle of the Cabin Cruiser 230
John Dickson Carr 236
[missing from audiobook]
Skeleton in the Cupboard 239
Ianthe Jerrold 246
The Year and the Day 249
Edmund Crispin 257
Murder in Montparnasse 262
John Bude 334
The Thistle Down 337
H. C. Bailey 351
The Magnifying Glass 354
Cyril Hare 359
The 'what's My Line?' Murder 362
Julian Symons 403
Acknowledgments 407
Introduction vii
The Predestined 1
Q Patrick 12
Villa for Sale 15
Ellis Peters 21
The Ginger King 26
A. E. W. Mason 47
Sugar-Plum Killer 52
Michael Gilbert 65
Vacancy with Corpse 68
Anthony Boucher 135
Where Do We Go from Here? 139
Dorothy L. Sayers 162
[missing from audiobook]
Benefit of the Doubt 165
Anthony Berkeley 173
Scandal of the Louvre 176
S. S. Van Dine 191
The Pressure of Circumstance 195
J. J. Connington 227
The Riddle of the Cabin Cruiser 230
John Dickson Carr 236
[missing from audiobook]
Skeleton in the Cupboard 239
Ianthe Jerrold 246
The Year and the Day 249
Edmund Crispin 257
Murder in Montparnasse 262
John Bude 334
The Thistle Down 337
H. C. Bailey 351
The Magnifying Glass 354
Cyril Hare 359
The 'what's My Line?' Murder 362
Julian Symons 403
Acknowledgments 407
February 1, 2024
I really enjoy short stories and anthologies and my favorite genre is golden age mysteries so I loved this and all the ones before this. Of course some are more interesting than others. If you're a fan of golden age mysteries this might be worth a look.. or read or listen:).
January 22, 2024
The best anthology that I have read. Not one less than. 4*. Keep more like this coming.
March 3, 2025
Tony Medawar has done it again. He's gone searching the highways and byways of Golden Age Detection fiction and authors to bring us another collection of little-known or never-before-seen mystery stories. In previous collections there have, actually, been more that I had read before (thanks, in part to some of the obscure little anthologies I've been able to get my hands on). But this time, there are only two that I vaguely feel like I've read before and I can't nail down where I would have gotten hold of them. This is a strong selection and almost all by authors I had already read. ★★★★
"The Predestined" by Q. Patrick (Richard Webb): Jasper, an orphan with a doting grandma, is sure he's meant for great things. But periodically an odd red weal appears around his neck, inhibits his breathing, and manages to to put him out of sorts in very important situations. We learn that he is predestined...but perhaps not quite in the way he anticipates.
"Villa for Sale" by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter): A wealthy widow offers a fabulous villa to a young couple for a mere pittance. There must be a catch somewhere and there is...but who is going to be caught?
"The Ginger King" by A. E. W. Mason: An insurance representative calls on M. Hanaud, who is visiting in England, because he's not quite satisfied over an insurance claim. A fire that cleaned out the stock of a furrier has been investigated every which way and no one can see anything but an accident. But John Middleton will feel much better about paying the claim if Hanaud would take a look at the case as well. It could save his company 25,000 pounds.
"Sugar-Plum Killer" by Michael Gilbert": Probationary Detective Walkinshaw is determined to make the grade as a detective on the force. He gets his chance when D.I. Chapman is killed in a hit & run and the perpetrator winds up being someone Chapman had sent to prison.
"Vacancy with Corpse" by Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White): Lt. Ben Latimer is asked by his fiancee, Liz (Felicity) Cain if he could arrange for protection for her grandfather, Judge Cain. Someone has been sending the elderly judge threatening notes. Soon there's murder done in the Cain house...but has the wrong man died? [The whole time I was reading this one, I felt like I'd read it before. Like déjà vu--not enough that I knew the solution. But I have no idea where I would have read it.]
"Where Do We Go from Here?" by Dorothy L. Sayers: George is in a hurry to get his wife Laura out of the house. Why? Because he's expecting a blackmailer. Lucky for him, Laura sneaks in the back way and hears all about it. Or is it really that lucky?
"Benefit of the Doubt" Anthony Berkeley: A young doctor is called out in the middle of the night to attend a man who has supposedly been in severe gastric distress. He can find little wrong with the man, so it is quite a shock when the man is dead by the next morning.
"Scandal of the Louvre" by S. S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright): A gang of thieves (who specialize in getting the "ungettable" for collectors arrive at the Louvre in the guise of holidaymakers. They manage to steal the Mona Lisa, collect a hefty reward for the deed, and.... (well, that's the twist and I'd hate to spoil it)
"The Pressure of Circumstance" by J. J. Connington (Alfred Walter Stewart): The Lessingham family holds a promise as a sacred trust. So when Jack Lessingham leaves for an expedition to Brazil, he asks his father to see that "Claire [his wife] comes to no harm" while he's away, his father tells him, "Of course. That's a promise." And not even the man who's dangling after the lonely little wife will keep him from keeping his promise.
"The Riddle of the Cabin Cruiser" by John Dickson Carr: George Randolph, wealthy stockbroker, is found stabbed to death in his drifting cabin cruiser--found by his wife and Mr. Huntley Hurst. There have been rumors about Mrs. Randolph's "friendship" with Hurst. Was Randolph's death suicide as has been posited by Hurst and Mrs. Randolph? There's one telling sentence in this radio play that will give you the answer--if you catch it. [I didn't.]
"Skeleton in the Cupboard" by Ianthe Jerrold: Corney Dew was sure he'd found the perfect spot to dispose of his brother-in-law's body when he buried him in the ancient mound on his property. But then the local Antiquities Club gets interested in digging the place up...and the club's sponsor doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer. [Another déjà vu story...I'm sure I've read this one before, but not sure where.]
"The Year & the Day" by Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery): Two old school fellows meet at their club and one (a doctor) reminds our narrator (a barrister) of another school fellow who has recently died. The barrister begins to wonder why "X" (as he calls him) has brought the subject up. [And, quite frankly, so did I. Was there a point to implying that something nasty had happened when apparently no one suspected it?
"Murder in Montparnasse" by John Bude (Ernest Carpenter Elmore): The disappearance of an artist coincides with the death of a paralyzed, drunken old man. Inspector Moreau must find the connection. [*I agree with Kate at Cross Examining Crime that this is much longer than it needed to be. A short story would have been sufficient. As a novella, it seems to have a lot of padding.]
"The Thistle Down" by H. C. Bailey: Reggie Fortune is asked (nay, commanded) to investigate the death of Sir Max Tollis's secretary. It's being put down as suicide, but Sir Max insists it isn't.
"The Magnifying Glass" by Cyril Hare (Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark): A meeting between two men to settle up over a couple of cases of forged bank notes ends in death and tragedy.
"The 'What's My Line?' Murder" by Julian Symons: One of the panelists on the famed British version of the game show is poisoned in the studio. But it's soon proved that he poured his own drink and nobody went near it between the pouring and his drinking. So who poisoned him and how? [Once again, I'm in agreement with Kate--I don't always get on with Symons' work. But I think I'm discovering that I prefer him in short form to his novels. This is quite good--not least because of its connection to "What's My Line?" (though I'm more familiar with the US version started in 1950).]
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
"The Predestined" by Q. Patrick (Richard Webb): Jasper, an orphan with a doting grandma, is sure he's meant for great things. But periodically an odd red weal appears around his neck, inhibits his breathing, and manages to to put him out of sorts in very important situations. We learn that he is predestined...but perhaps not quite in the way he anticipates.
"Villa for Sale" by Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter): A wealthy widow offers a fabulous villa to a young couple for a mere pittance. There must be a catch somewhere and there is...but who is going to be caught?
"The Ginger King" by A. E. W. Mason: An insurance representative calls on M. Hanaud, who is visiting in England, because he's not quite satisfied over an insurance claim. A fire that cleaned out the stock of a furrier has been investigated every which way and no one can see anything but an accident. But John Middleton will feel much better about paying the claim if Hanaud would take a look at the case as well. It could save his company 25,000 pounds.
"Sugar-Plum Killer" by Michael Gilbert": Probationary Detective Walkinshaw is determined to make the grade as a detective on the force. He gets his chance when D.I. Chapman is killed in a hit & run and the perpetrator winds up being someone Chapman had sent to prison.
"Vacancy with Corpse" by Anthony Boucher (William Anthony Parker White): Lt. Ben Latimer is asked by his fiancee, Liz (Felicity) Cain if he could arrange for protection for her grandfather, Judge Cain. Someone has been sending the elderly judge threatening notes. Soon there's murder done in the Cain house...but has the wrong man died? [The whole time I was reading this one, I felt like I'd read it before. Like déjà vu--not enough that I knew the solution. But I have no idea where I would have read it.]
"Where Do We Go from Here?" by Dorothy L. Sayers: George is in a hurry to get his wife Laura out of the house. Why? Because he's expecting a blackmailer. Lucky for him, Laura sneaks in the back way and hears all about it. Or is it really that lucky?
"Benefit of the Doubt" Anthony Berkeley: A young doctor is called out in the middle of the night to attend a man who has supposedly been in severe gastric distress. He can find little wrong with the man, so it is quite a shock when the man is dead by the next morning.
"Scandal of the Louvre" by S. S. Van Dine (Willard Huntington Wright): A gang of thieves (who specialize in getting the "ungettable" for collectors arrive at the Louvre in the guise of holidaymakers. They manage to steal the Mona Lisa, collect a hefty reward for the deed, and.... (well, that's the twist and I'd hate to spoil it)
"The Pressure of Circumstance" by J. J. Connington (Alfred Walter Stewart): The Lessingham family holds a promise as a sacred trust. So when Jack Lessingham leaves for an expedition to Brazil, he asks his father to see that "Claire [his wife] comes to no harm" while he's away, his father tells him, "Of course. That's a promise." And not even the man who's dangling after the lonely little wife will keep him from keeping his promise.
"The Riddle of the Cabin Cruiser" by John Dickson Carr: George Randolph, wealthy stockbroker, is found stabbed to death in his drifting cabin cruiser--found by his wife and Mr. Huntley Hurst. There have been rumors about Mrs. Randolph's "friendship" with Hurst. Was Randolph's death suicide as has been posited by Hurst and Mrs. Randolph? There's one telling sentence in this radio play that will give you the answer--if you catch it. [I didn't.]
"Skeleton in the Cupboard" by Ianthe Jerrold: Corney Dew was sure he'd found the perfect spot to dispose of his brother-in-law's body when he buried him in the ancient mound on his property. But then the local Antiquities Club gets interested in digging the place up...and the club's sponsor doesn't seem to want to take no for an answer. [Another déjà vu story...I'm sure I've read this one before, but not sure where.]
"The Year & the Day" by Edmund Crispin (Robert Bruce Montgomery): Two old school fellows meet at their club and one (a doctor) reminds our narrator (a barrister) of another school fellow who has recently died. The barrister begins to wonder why "X" (as he calls him) has brought the subject up. [And, quite frankly, so did I. Was there a point to implying that something nasty had happened when apparently no one suspected it?
"Murder in Montparnasse" by John Bude (Ernest Carpenter Elmore): The disappearance of an artist coincides with the death of a paralyzed, drunken old man. Inspector Moreau must find the connection. [*I agree with Kate at Cross Examining Crime that this is much longer than it needed to be. A short story would have been sufficient. As a novella, it seems to have a lot of padding.]
"The Thistle Down" by H. C. Bailey: Reggie Fortune is asked (nay, commanded) to investigate the death of Sir Max Tollis's secretary. It's being put down as suicide, but Sir Max insists it isn't.
"The Magnifying Glass" by Cyril Hare (Alfred Alexander Gordon Clark): A meeting between two men to settle up over a couple of cases of forged bank notes ends in death and tragedy.
"The 'What's My Line?' Murder" by Julian Symons: One of the panelists on the famed British version of the game show is poisoned in the studio. But it's soon proved that he poured his own drink and nobody went near it between the pouring and his drinking. So who poisoned him and how? [Once again, I'm in agreement with Kate--I don't always get on with Symons' work. But I think I'm discovering that I prefer him in short form to his novels. This is quite good--not least because of its connection to "What's My Line?" (though I'm more familiar with the US version started in 1950).]
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
July 5, 2025
Good stories; fascinating bios.
If you're familiar with the series of classic mystery stories collected by editor Martin Edwards, you'll recognize this format. The difference is that Edwards edits collections of like-themed stories (train murders, etc.) while these are more varied. Both editors provide a well-written biographical note with each story. I like to know something about an author of anything I enjoy and information about obscure writers is hard to come by. So I treasure those biographical sketches.
All of the authors were known to me except "Q Patrick" - an Englishman who wrote under this and other names in tandem with an ever-changing list of collaborators. Maybe he was afraid of shadows and liked company while he wrote. That story is fun, but not memorable.
Dorothy Sayer's contribution is a radio play concerning a husband and wife (?) and their former spouses (never heard from for reasons which become obvious toward the end of the story.) The third party is a down-on-his-luck relative who shows up for a bit of blackmail. Sadly (from his standpoint) George and Laura are well-matched and impervious to threats - from outsiders or from each other. Very clever and I loved the ending. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
John Dickson Carr's story is short and leaves the solution up to the reader. Can you spot the hole in the couple's smooth explanation of how they came to find a body in a cabin cruiser some distance away?
I've read and enjoyed two of Ianthe Jerrold's witty mystery novels. The delicate irony of her story makes me want to reread them. Edmund Crispin's mysteries are some of my favorites. This story doesn't feature Professor Gervais Fen, but a middle-aged lawyer who wishes he'd studied medicine when he meets an old school friend, now retired and very prosperous. However, there's a story behind that prosperity and it centers on the strange English law concerning EXACTLY how long a victim can linger before a charge of murder becomes impossible. This law was the basis of one of Joyce Porter's hilarious books about Inspector Wilf Dover. It pays to know the law, especially if you hope to profit by it.
There's a Reggie Fortune story (H.C. Bailey.) The editor claims that readers either love Mr Fortune or hate him. "Hate" is overstating the case, but you can have my share of the detecting doctor. Cyril Hare was a judge who wrote a few wonderful mysteries before dying at a relatively young age. His specialty was irony and this story is no exception. Truly, it's risky to still the voice of your enemy until you're CERTAIN you know all his secrets.
I've seen J.J. Connington's books, but never tried one. His story is about a loving father anxious to save his son from betrayal by a frivolous wife. As a scientist, he's working with specialized knowledge and his plan succeeds beautifully. I'm definitely going to try some of Connington's book-length mysteries.
My favorite (for a while) was Anthony Boucher's "Vacancy With Corpse" - a long story set in WWII-era USA. I was familiar with Boucher as a critic and editor and a founding member of Mystery Writers of America. His story is very entertaining, with a "love horseshoe" (since it has too many components to be called a "love triangle.") Roger loves Liz, who loves Ben, who loves Sherry, who loves God. God may love Roger, but (presumably) not in a romantic way. Homicide Detective Ben Latimer does some good detective work, but is overshadowed by Sister Ursula, a nun who solves murders on the side.
I was so pleased with this story, I decided to see if any other Sister Ursula stories are available. Sure enough, I found a book of Boucher stories, some featuring the canny nun. AND on sale. My lucky day, indeed.
By the end of the book, I'd found another favority - "The 'What's My Line?' Murder" by Julian Symons. Symons' "Death's Darkest Face" is an outstanding novel/mystery and one of my favorites. Symons was a man who followed his own drummer and this story is one in which he not only used a real radio program, but a real English television personality as the amateur detective. The surprise ending is fine and quite convincing.
With the exception of "Murder in Montparnasse" (which I couldn't read) it's a very good selection of mystery stories from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. And I discovered Sister Ursula. So I owe Mr. Medawar a vote of thanks and I'll be reading more of this series.
If you're familiar with the series of classic mystery stories collected by editor Martin Edwards, you'll recognize this format. The difference is that Edwards edits collections of like-themed stories (train murders, etc.) while these are more varied. Both editors provide a well-written biographical note with each story. I like to know something about an author of anything I enjoy and information about obscure writers is hard to come by. So I treasure those biographical sketches.
All of the authors were known to me except "Q Patrick" - an Englishman who wrote under this and other names in tandem with an ever-changing list of collaborators. Maybe he was afraid of shadows and liked company while he wrote. That story is fun, but not memorable.
Dorothy Sayer's contribution is a radio play concerning a husband and wife (?) and their former spouses (never heard from for reasons which become obvious toward the end of the story.) The third party is a down-on-his-luck relative who shows up for a bit of blackmail. Sadly (from his standpoint) George and Laura are well-matched and impervious to threats - from outsiders or from each other. Very clever and I loved the ending. What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
John Dickson Carr's story is short and leaves the solution up to the reader. Can you spot the hole in the couple's smooth explanation of how they came to find a body in a cabin cruiser some distance away?
I've read and enjoyed two of Ianthe Jerrold's witty mystery novels. The delicate irony of her story makes me want to reread them. Edmund Crispin's mysteries are some of my favorites. This story doesn't feature Professor Gervais Fen, but a middle-aged lawyer who wishes he'd studied medicine when he meets an old school friend, now retired and very prosperous. However, there's a story behind that prosperity and it centers on the strange English law concerning EXACTLY how long a victim can linger before a charge of murder becomes impossible. This law was the basis of one of Joyce Porter's hilarious books about Inspector Wilf Dover. It pays to know the law, especially if you hope to profit by it.
There's a Reggie Fortune story (H.C. Bailey.) The editor claims that readers either love Mr Fortune or hate him. "Hate" is overstating the case, but you can have my share of the detecting doctor. Cyril Hare was a judge who wrote a few wonderful mysteries before dying at a relatively young age. His specialty was irony and this story is no exception. Truly, it's risky to still the voice of your enemy until you're CERTAIN you know all his secrets.
I've seen J.J. Connington's books, but never tried one. His story is about a loving father anxious to save his son from betrayal by a frivolous wife. As a scientist, he's working with specialized knowledge and his plan succeeds beautifully. I'm definitely going to try some of Connington's book-length mysteries.
My favorite (for a while) was Anthony Boucher's "Vacancy With Corpse" - a long story set in WWII-era USA. I was familiar with Boucher as a critic and editor and a founding member of Mystery Writers of America. His story is very entertaining, with a "love horseshoe" (since it has too many components to be called a "love triangle.") Roger loves Liz, who loves Ben, who loves Sherry, who loves God. God may love Roger, but (presumably) not in a romantic way. Homicide Detective Ben Latimer does some good detective work, but is overshadowed by Sister Ursula, a nun who solves murders on the side.
I was so pleased with this story, I decided to see if any other Sister Ursula stories are available. Sure enough, I found a book of Boucher stories, some featuring the canny nun. AND on sale. My lucky day, indeed.
By the end of the book, I'd found another favority - "The 'What's My Line?' Murder" by Julian Symons. Symons' "Death's Darkest Face" is an outstanding novel/mystery and one of my favorites. Symons was a man who followed his own drummer and this story is one in which he not only used a real radio program, but a real English television personality as the amateur detective. The surprise ending is fine and quite convincing.
With the exception of "Murder in Montparnasse" (which I couldn't read) it's a very good selection of mystery stories from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. And I discovered Sister Ursula. So I owe Mr. Medawar a vote of thanks and I'll be reading more of this series.
January 15, 2023
Overall, the idea of this collection was more interesting than the collection itself. The detailed bios really added colour, though.
July 16, 2022
This selection in "... the series that aims to unearth the unknown, to find the forgotten and to locate the lost", includes 2 novellas, 2 scripts of radio plays and 12 short stories. The earliest dates from 1916 and the latest from 1966. Some are published for the first time. All of the authors are well-known and respected practitioners of the art of crime fiction. They are:-
HC Bailey
Anthony Berkeley
Anthony Boucher
John Bude
JD Carr
JJ Connington
Edmund Crispin
Michael Gilbert
Cyril Hare
Ianthe Jerrold
AEW Mason
Q Patrick
Ellis Peters
DL Sayers
Julian Symons
SS van Dine
Overall this is, for my taste, the strongest in the series so far. I thought the weakest entry was the John Bude novella, which, while well-written, goes on too long, and is quite transparently easy to solve. However it was his only piece of this length and his many fans, myself included, will rejoice that it has been unearthed.
For British readers of my generation the Symons story "The 'What's My Line?' Murder" will evoke nostalgic memories of Sunday evenings in front of a tiny TV screen, and for everyone there are lots of delights, murderous and more generally criminous, throughout the volume.
Tony Medawar adds joy in the shape of informative tail-/tale-pieces on the authors and the works. As ever we are indebted to him for his research in the archives and the splendid results.
This was another birthday present which made a great partner to the new Martin Edwards' history of the detective genre which I also received.
4.25 stars.
HC Bailey
Anthony Berkeley
Anthony Boucher
John Bude
JD Carr
JJ Connington
Edmund Crispin
Michael Gilbert
Cyril Hare
Ianthe Jerrold
AEW Mason
Q Patrick
Ellis Peters
DL Sayers
Julian Symons
SS van Dine
Overall this is, for my taste, the strongest in the series so far. I thought the weakest entry was the John Bude novella, which, while well-written, goes on too long, and is quite transparently easy to solve. However it was his only piece of this length and his many fans, myself included, will rejoice that it has been unearthed.
For British readers of my generation the Symons story "The 'What's My Line?' Murder" will evoke nostalgic memories of Sunday evenings in front of a tiny TV screen, and for everyone there are lots of delights, murderous and more generally criminous, throughout the volume.
Tony Medawar adds joy in the shape of informative tail-/tale-pieces on the authors and the works. As ever we are indebted to him for his research in the archives and the splendid results.
This was another birthday present which made a great partner to the new Martin Edwards' history of the detective genre which I also received.
4.25 stars.
May 16, 2024
For my full review click on the links below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
September 14, 2024
Bodies from the Library is one of my most favorite series. Each new one is much awaited and instantly bought.
The stories themselves are great, but the introduction to the author at the end of each story is really well written, and introduces us to some of the other work by the same author.. Which means if we like someone, we can read more of them.
This compilation, however, does not meet the same high standards.
Because every single story ever has been stellar, even a 'normal' crime story kind of appears to be falling short.
Vacancy with corpse, though long, justifies the length.
The Magnifying Glass by Cyril Hare and The Predestined by Q Patrick are the other stories that stand out. Both stand for natural justice.
The year and the day by Edmund Crispin is a delightful, intriguing read.
Murder in Montparnasse has to take the credit for being the most convoluted plot and somehow, magically, it still manages to bore the reader to death.
If you are a Bodies from the Library fan like me, do collect this one. its worth keeping in the library. But if you are just starting out on the genre of Golden Age of Crime Fiction, this is not the right book to start with. Start with Bodies from the Library 1, or the Strand magazine, which, I believe is now free to read somewhere on the internet.
The stories themselves are great, but the introduction to the author at the end of each story is really well written, and introduces us to some of the other work by the same author.. Which means if we like someone, we can read more of them.
This compilation, however, does not meet the same high standards.
Because every single story ever has been stellar, even a 'normal' crime story kind of appears to be falling short.
Vacancy with corpse, though long, justifies the length.
The Magnifying Glass by Cyril Hare and The Predestined by Q Patrick are the other stories that stand out. Both stand for natural justice.
The year and the day by Edmund Crispin is a delightful, intriguing read.
Murder in Montparnasse has to take the credit for being the most convoluted plot and somehow, magically, it still manages to bore the reader to death.
If you are a Bodies from the Library fan like me, do collect this one. its worth keeping in the library. But if you are just starting out on the genre of Golden Age of Crime Fiction, this is not the right book to start with. Start with Bodies from the Library 1, or the Strand magazine, which, I believe is now free to read somewhere on the internet.
October 2, 2022
This is an anthology containing 16 hitherto uncollected stories by "Golden Age" mystery authors (i.e., from the 1920s-1950s). Included are unfamiliar works by Q Patrick (aka Patrick Quentin), Ellis Peters, Anthony Boucher, Dorothy Sayers, Anthony Berkeley, S.S. Van Dine, J.J. Connington, John Dickson Carr, Edmund Crispin, Julian Symons, A.E.W. Mason, Michael Gilbert, Ianthe Jerrold, John Bude, H.C. Bailey, and Cyril Hare.
For me the value of a collection like this is that it introduces me to writers I've not read, and in this case that turned out to be most of them. I left with a desire to read more Connington and Berkeley, and to revisit Peters, Crispin, and Van Dine.
I enjoyed most of the stories, with particular favorites being Van Dine's "Scandal of the Louvre" and Peters' "Villa for Sale," neither of which is a traditional murder mystery, which probably enhanced their appeal.
There are no clunkers; the anthology is well-curated and benefits greatly from editor Medawar's detailed bios of each of the authors, following their stories.
There are four preceding volumes in this series that I now will check out.
For me the value of a collection like this is that it introduces me to writers I've not read, and in this case that turned out to be most of them. I left with a desire to read more Connington and Berkeley, and to revisit Peters, Crispin, and Van Dine.
I enjoyed most of the stories, with particular favorites being Van Dine's "Scandal of the Louvre" and Peters' "Villa for Sale," neither of which is a traditional murder mystery, which probably enhanced their appeal.
There are no clunkers; the anthology is well-curated and benefits greatly from editor Medawar's detailed bios of each of the authors, following their stories.
There are four preceding volumes in this series that I now will check out.
October 20, 2023
Tony Medawar’s (ed.) “Bodies from the Library, Volume 5" (2022) is a collection of 16 short stories or radio plays by writers from the golden age of mystery and suspense. It’s a nice collection. My favorite stories and their authors are “Villa for Sale” (Ellis Peter), “Vacancy with a Corpse” (a nice tale set at the beginning of World War II by Anthony Boucher), “The Year and the Day” (Edmund Crispin), and “The What’s My Line Murder” (Julian Symons). Recommended.
September 29, 2025
This contains sixteen mysteries mainly from the 1940s and early 1950s most of which have not been collected before. Most of them are short stories but there are two radio plays and a novella too. As well as a general introduction the editor provides a short biography of each author after each piece. It's bit of a mixed bag but I found this an enjoyable read with a better selection than the previous two volumes in this series.
November 6, 2022
Short stories from the golden age of mysteries that have never appeared in print or were only published in a magazine or newspaper as a serial. One was a story by Edmund Crispin that was not about Professor Gervase Fen. The story had a really different angle. Others I had not heard of. But a good collection of stories.
Read
March 11, 2024I like this series. The short stories give me a taste of different authors without any tediousness. In this one, the story set in San Francisco was very clever. I wasn't that happy with the essays after each story. They seemed long, and I think I would have preferred them before the story.
September 26, 2025
The written equivalent of a b-sides collection. Anthony Boucher and Julian Symons are worth reading, but mostly the author biographies prove more diverting than the stories. John Bude’s (only ever) novella ‘Murder in Montparnasse’ is a laborious slog through the patently obvious.
February 5, 2023
Would not recommend.
January 28, 2025
Some stories are better than others.
March 2, 2025
I always end up looking/buying books by the authors included in these compilations 😊 love a golden era crime novel.
March 13, 2024
If you enjoy Dorothy L Sayers or Agatha Christie this collection will be for you. A well voiced collection of varied short stories by various authors of differing degrees of fame. They are from about the 1920s through to the 1950s and as such you can expect some old fashioned sexism and racism. Some stories are worse than others on that front.
August 13, 2024
Good read includes a couple which were in play format.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews