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White Nights by Ann Cleeves (Shetland #2) (August/Sept 25)
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What mysteries are you reading at the moment? Old thread
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What mysteries are you reading at the moment? (2023)
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What Members Thought
3.5*
Like any collection of short stories, this one is a mixed bag. Martin Edwards is, of course, an expert in the stories and authors selected here, but as with his other selections, and indeed any other selection, his tastes and favourites are somewhat different to mine.
And, let's not forget that some authors are better at writing short stories than others. The authors selected for this collection seem to represent some of the big names of mystery writing, but not necessarily the ones who were ...more
Like any collection of short stories, this one is a mixed bag. Martin Edwards is, of course, an expert in the stories and authors selected here, but as with his other selections, and indeed any other selection, his tastes and favourites are somewhat different to mine.
And, let's not forget that some authors are better at writing short stories than others. The authors selected for this collection seem to represent some of the big names of mystery writing, but not necessarily the ones who were ...more
A good collection of winter/Christmas mysteries and that's just my sort of read at this time of year. There were quite a few jewel heists and thefts. My favourites follow:
Parlour Tricks by Ralph Plummer - A satisfying mystery and the best part is in watching the thief tell on themself.
A Happy Solution by Raymond Allen - The chess solution here is very nicely done. The guilty party was clever to have thought out their timing, the moves and odds in his theft but alas, he's not the only clever one ...more
Parlour Tricks by Ralph Plummer - A satisfying mystery and the best part is in watching the thief tell on themself.
A Happy Solution by Raymond Allen - The chess solution here is very nicely done. The guilty party was clever to have thought out their timing, the moves and odds in his theft but alas, he's not the only clever one ...more
Nov 16, 2015
Ruth
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
golden-age-and-vintage
This is a wonderful collection of Golden Age detective stories all set around the festive Christmas season. Martin Edward's Introduction whets the appetite for what's to come and each story is introduced with a useful couple of paragraphs which put the stories in context and give some basic information about each author.
Because it's an anthology of different authors you never know what's coming next and the styles are so varied. I really appreciated the opportunity to sample a range of different ...more
Because it's an anthology of different authors you never know what's coming next and the styles are so varied. I really appreciated the opportunity to sample a range of different ...more
This volume in the British Library Crime Classics series is really very, very good.
Fifteen 20-ish crimes at Christmas, by a range of top-rate golden-age writers. authors who could write, as well as plot.
From Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton, Edgar Wallace, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Marjorie Bowen (one of Britain's greatest 20thC authors), Nicholas Blake, and Edmund Crispin. ...more
Fifteen 20-ish crimes at Christmas, by a range of top-rate golden-age writers. authors who could write, as well as plot.
From Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton, Edgar Wallace, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, Marjorie Bowen (one of Britain's greatest 20thC authors), Nicholas Blake, and Edmund Crispin. ...more
This is a varied collection of crime stories from the Golden Age of British Crime fiction writing. There are well known names such as Nicholas Blake, Dorothy L Sayers and Margery Allingham but there are also lesser known names such as Marjorie Bowen and H C Bailey. All the stories have Christmas as their theme and this has always been a popular time of year from crime writers with its opportunities for confusing footprints with blizzard conditions and being able to collect large groups of ill-as
...more
This is my final Christmas read for the year, a collection of short stories that is part of the British Library Crime classics Collection. I read Crimson Snow, another collection edited by Martin Edwards, earlier this Christmas season as part of the Kindle English Mystery Club and while I enjoyed that book, I really liked selections in this one. There were stories from Margery Allingham, Edmund Crispin, Arthur Conan Doyle, among others. One of my favorites in this collection was probably Waxwork
...more
This is a collection of short stories written by some of the top mystery writers of the Golden Age.
Most of the mysteries seem to involve some sort of puzzle, and country house settings are found in quite a few. Many of the authors are no longer well known, but others-- like G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers-- are included here. On the whole I enjoyed Silent Nights more, although the quality of the stories is still a bit uneven. My favorites include Edgar Wallace's "Stuffing," J. Jefferson F ...more
Most of the mysteries seem to involve some sort of puzzle, and country house settings are found in quite a few. Many of the authors are no longer well known, but others-- like G.K. Chesterton and Dorothy L. Sayers-- are included here. On the whole I enjoyed Silent Nights more, although the quality of the stories is still a bit uneven. My favorites include Edgar Wallace's "Stuffing," J. Jefferson F ...more
As usual with short stories, some are better than others. Some of these I had read before at some time, but others were new to me. I prefer not to read Edwards descriptions before the stories as in the past he has given plots away. I can't say they made me feel Christmassy, but were easy reading.
...more
This is a great collection of fifteen Golden Age short stories. The first seven were so-so but from the eighth onwards I found them all very enjoyable.
My favourites were Cambric Tea by Marjorie Bowen and The Chinese Apple by Joseph Shearing (a pen-name of Marjorie Bowen).
I loved the The Name on the Window by Edmund Crispin which led me to buy the first four books in his Fen series.
A Problem in White by Nicholas Blake was very good and the beginning reminded me of J Jefferson Farjeon's A Mystery ...more
My favourites were Cambric Tea by Marjorie Bowen and The Chinese Apple by Joseph Shearing (a pen-name of Marjorie Bowen).
I loved the The Name on the Window by Edmund Crispin which led me to buy the first four books in his Fen series.
A Problem in White by Nicholas Blake was very good and the beginning reminded me of J Jefferson Farjeon's A Mystery ...more
Note: I received a digital review copy of this book through NetGalley.
Nov 29, 2015
John
marked it as to-read
Mar 10, 2017
Zsa Zsa
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Oct 03, 2017
swatreads
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Nov 29, 2017
Agnesh
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Dec 11, 2017
Gary Vassallo
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Apr 17, 2021
Calum Fisher
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Apr 04, 2022
Jennifer
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