Seventeen scenarios of skulduggery, stealing, and slaughter in the British Library Crime Classics range, all centred on London, the finest city on god’s green Earth, and selected by the ne plus ultra of classic crime appreciation, Martin Edwards. It must have been a monster of a job assembling this, and Edwards is to be commended … Continue reading #1363: “I have a dozen fresh people call on me every month with queer stories…” – Capital Crimes: London Mysteries [ss] (2015) ed. Mar...| The Invisible Event
Historically, I always like to feature some classic crime on the Ramblings for the first day of our Club Reading Weeks – and more often than not, it turns out to be Agatha Christie! The 1920s were certainly a Golden Age for crime fiction, but 1925’s Christie title was “The Secret of Chimneys” and somehow […]| Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings
The Langtail Press, 2010. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 323 KB. Print Length: 224 pages. ASIN: B004GXA5SY. ISBN: 979-1-78002-020-4. Fist published in 1925 by Herbert Jenkins in London. Overview: In a typical English country house, a murder is committed. The wealthy Victor Stanworth, who’d been playing host to a party of friends, is found … Continue reading "The Layton Court Mystery (Roger Sheringham Cases #1), 1925 by Anthony Berkeley"| A Crime is Afoot
The real fun with my Book Club occurs when we toss aside the traditional “Read-of-the-Month” format and talk about books in general. When we read something together, we make quick work of our discu…| Ah Sweet Mystery!
The BBC has been making quality radio adaptations of vintage crime novels for decades. Unfortunately though, with the exceptions of Christie and Sayers, these adaptations haven’t been easy to…| Mysteries Ahoy!
I first read Not to be Taken, a.k.a. A Puzzle in Poison (1938), my debut experience of the work of Anthony Berkeley, after happening across a Black Dagger Crime edition in about 2005. And I bloody …| The Invisible Event
British Library Publishing, 2025. Book Format: Kindle Edition. File Size: 2,6 MB. Print Lenght: 257 pages. ASIN: B0F2SJXKJ8. eISBN: 978-0-7123-6878-0. Originally serialised in John o’ London’s Weekly from November 1937 to March 1938 as Poison – Not to Be Taken. with a prize offered to readers who could solve the mystery before its final chapter, … Continue reading "Not to Be Taken aka A Puzzle in Poison, 1938 by Anthony Berkely"| A Crime is Afoot
The Piccadilly Murder is a novel with an impossible crime, the second masterpiece of 1929, when the first, I remember, was the very famous The Poisoned Chocolates Case. And with the latter, The Piccadilly Murder, it shares characters and methods of committing the crime, and therefore it can be considered that the two novels form an inseparable pair. The characters are: Ambrose Chitterwick, one of the six members of the Crime Club, an imaginary club, but not so much, that seems to echo The Det...| Death Can Read
The Langtail Press Ltd, 2010. Format: 236 pages Paperback Edition. ISBN: 978-1-78002-019-8. Originally published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, it was published in the US by Doubl…| A Crime is Afoot
I picked my ten favourite crime and detective novels published in the 1930s a little while ago for my online book club, but I only do a Ten Favourite… list every four months or so and thus am…| The Invisible Event
I’ve had a bit of a rest for a couple of months, during which my blog traffic has gone through the roof, which fact should probably teach me something about leaving well alone, but hasn’t. Here I am back with, … Continue reading →| Past Offences: Classic crime, thrillers and mystery book reviews
