From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Golden Age of Murder

Martin Edwards

Start date: December 11, 2021

Finish date: January 14, 2022

Discussion: Buddy reads

Why we're reading this: The perfect taster for our Detection Club-themed challenge for 2022
[close] The perfect taster for our Detection Club-themed challenge for 2022

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What Members Thought

Jun 16, 2020 Calum Fisher rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This is a wonderful, definitive history of the Detection Club and of Golden Age mystery fiction (in the UK at least) in general. Edwards has an encyclopedic knowledge of books and authors both classic and obscure, and the book has enough to-read suggestions to last a lifetime - even he can't have read them all, surely? But this is more than a discussion of fiction, it is also hugely enhanced by focusing on the lives and relationships of the authors, including to some extent their relationships w This is a wonderful, definitive history of the Detection Club and of Golden Age mystery fiction (in the UK at least) in general. Edwards has an encyclopedic knowledge of books and authors both classic and obscure, and the book has enough to-read suggestions to last a lifetime - even he can't have read them all, surely? But this is more than a discussion of fiction, it is also hugely enhanced by focusing on the lives and relationships of the authors, including to some extent their relationships with each other, and finding clues to these in their books. The whole thing is wonderfully done and beautifully woven together, the product of years of archive research as well as decades of reading. Christie, of course, has a prominent role in the book, but I was glad to see lesser-known characters such as Anthony Berkeley and Dorothy L Sayers more centre-stage, as they clearly played a more integral role in the Club.

Perhaps the book's greatest contribution is its righteous taking to task of Julian Symons, whose brilliant history of crime and detective fiction (he clearly separates these) was somewhat dismissive of the latter, and of the Golden Age in particular. Edwards criticises Symons directly and repeatedly, mounting a strong defence of these books as fiction - genre fiction, yes, but capable of considerable art, ingenious craft, and wider social commentary. He also mostly scotches Symons' claim that the vast majority of Golden Age writers were conservative right-wingers (this is simply false), though I could have done with more discussion of their politics and how they are (or are not) reflected in their work - the form still strikes me as conservative in a loose sense (not least aesthetically), regardless of the personal politics of its authors. Finally, and perhaps above all, Symons dismissed vast swathes of the Golden Age as 'Humdrums' - Edwards begs vehemently to differ, and rightly so. He mounts a particularly strong defence of Henry Wade. I would add Gladys Mitchell (whom Symons found mostly 'impenetrable') - interestingly an author that Edwards identifies as conservatively-inclined, yet whose books (and perhaps personal life) betray an anarchic, critical spirit. There is certainly more to be written about the personal and aesthetic politics of Golden Age writing.

The Golden Age of Murder is, however, an exceptional achievement and a riveting read. It's hard to imagine it being bettered. ...more

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Feb 06, 2018 Gillian Kevern rated it really liked it

Shelves: queens-of-crime, mystery, non-fiction, victorian, literary, reference, edwardian, academia, detective, 2010s

A fascinating examination of the professional and personal lives of the members of the Detection Club during the Golden Age of detective fiction, especially Sayers, Berkeley and Christie. I've now got a whole bunch of authors to add to my to-read list. ...more

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