Tag Archives: British Library Crime Classics
Post After Post-Mortem by E. C. R. Lorac
I’ve been feeling down lately because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and the Sri Lankan economic crisis. I’ve been glued to the news and haven’t read a book for over a month now (!!!), and I couldn’t think of a better way to get myself out of this funk than curling up with a […]
Jumping Jenny by Anthony Berkeley
Jumping Jenny was my first time reading a crime classic by Anthony Berkeley, and I was in for a real treat with it! According to Martin Edwards, Berkeley, one of the founding members of the Detection Club formed in 1930, is known for the unconventional novels he wrote featuring Roger Sheringham, a private detective, and […]
Murder After Christmas by Rupert Latimer
I love reading British Library Crime Classics Christmas mystery offerings around this time of the year, and their latest is one madcap riot! 😆 The story, set during WWII, begins with the arrival of Sir Willoughby Keen-Cotton at the Redpaths just before Christmas. Not that it’s an ideal time for Rhoda and Frank Redpath to […]
Murder by the Book: Mysteries For Bibliophiles edited by Martin Edwards
This anthology is a real treat for the classic crime fans among us, but, I have no doubt, it can also be cherished by all bookworms alike! Edited by Martin Edwards, as usual, Murder by the Book features a mix of tales by familiar authors (thanks to British Library Crime Classic reprints) and a few […]
The Widow of Bath by Margot Bennett
I have mixed feelings about this book! There’s so much going on in the plot – crime classics author Julian Symons had high praise for The Widow of Bath when he wrote, “There are a dozen clever deceptions in this book, twice as many as most writers would have given us.” However, its protagonist Hugh […]
Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries edited by Martin Edwards
This is another solid collection by the British Library Crime Classics series – this time featuring stories with animals! The creatures in these stories are sometimes instrumental to the committing of the crime, and on others, they provide evidence to find out the two-legged guilty parties! The anthology begins with a story by Arthur Conan […]
The Chianti Flask by Marie Belloc Lowndes
The Chianti Flask is a peculiar addition to the British Library Crime Classics series as it is mostly a love story set on top of a mystery. 🙂 The story begins with a trial where Laura Dousland, a young woman in her twenties, is being tried for the murder of her husband Fordish, who was […]
Two-Way Murder by E. C. R. Lorac
Publication of Two-Way Murder marks a momentous moment in the British Library Crime Classics series, as it is the first time the book is getting published after being “lost” for over six decades! This last novel by E. C. R. Lorac, written shortly before her death, had slipped through the cracks upon her passing in […]
Murder’s a Swine by Nap Lombard
Murder’s a Swine is a unique addition to the British Library Crime Classics series as Nap Lombard is actually the pen name of the husband and wife writing duo Neil Stewart and Pamela Johnson. They co-wrote a pair of crime novels during their thirteen years of marriage featuring Agnes and Andrew Kinghof, a young amateur […]
The Corpse in the Waxworks by John Dickson Carr
When I learnt that Edgar Allan Poe was one of John Dickson Carr’s literary influences, I felt quite apprehensive about reading The Corpse in the Waxworks. I’m not a fan of Poe, as his stories are way too sinister for my taste. But I was hooked by this novel’s opening (“Bencolin [Carr’s detective] wasn’t wearing […]
A Surprise for Christmas and Other Seasonal Mysteries Edited by Martin Edwards
British Library Crime Classics publishes a Christmas anthology each year and curling up with it on Christmas Eve has now become a tradition of mine. But alas, like with many other things in 2020, it didn’t go the way I hoped this Christmas, and I didn’t quite manage to pick this up until a few […]
The Progress of a Crime by Julian Symons
If I were to pick the top three vintage crimes writers I discovered thanks to British Library Crime Classics, Julian Symons would undoubtedly make that list. I loved The Color of Murder which I read a while back, which is more of commentary on the justice system than a whodunit. Similarly, The Progress of a Crime which was inspired […]
Checkmate to Murder: A Second World War Mystery by E. C. R. Lorac
Checkmate to Murder is set during the Blitz, and the story begins in Rosanne and Bruce Manton’s dilapidated studio apartment in Hampstead, London. Rosanne and Bruce, two siblings, are a wood engraver and an artist, respectively. With the war, their income streams have dried up, and now they are constantly oscillating between “absolutely broke” and […]
The Man Who Didn’t Fly by Margot Bennett
The Man Who Didn’t Fly, shortlisted for both the Gold Dagger and Edgar awards in 1955, is one of my favorites among the British Library Crime Classics I have so far read. In it, four men had arranged to fly to Dublin on a small plane from an obscure airport in England. But on the […]
Settling Scores: Sporting Mysteries by Martin Edwards
Settling Scores was such a curious read for me because I tend to avoid activities that require physical exertion! Chess has always been my idea of sports (if you’d like a good chess story, I highly recommend The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig and Theory of Shadows by Paolo Maurensig), and the limited knowledge I […]
Red Lips and Bibliomaniacs 