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roseparis's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
softrosemint's review against another edition
3.75
This collection was off to a bit of a rocky start but turned out to be a very good, versatile anthology. Pun not intended - bound by the theme of literary works, the selection of works pulls together an exciting variety of stories with focus ranging from novels to plays to writing itself.
Favourite entries: "Trent and the Ministering Angel" by E.C. Bentley, "Malice Domestic" by Philip MacDonald, "A Man and His Mother-In-Law" by Roy Vickers, "Grey's Ghost" by Michael Innes, "Murder in Advance" by Marjorie Bremner, and "Book of Honour" by John Creasey (incredibly moving). "Chapter and Verse" by Ngaio Marsh was also entirely charming and strongly reminded me of my childhood summers watching "Midsomer Murders" with my parents
Favourite entries: "Trent and the Ministering Angel" by E.C. Bentley, "Malice Domestic" by Philip MacDonald, "A Man and His Mother-In-Law" by Roy Vickers, "Grey's Ghost" by Michael Innes, "Murder in Advance" by Marjorie Bremner, and "Book of Honour" by John Creasey (incredibly moving). "Chapter and Verse" by Ngaio Marsh was also entirely charming and strongly reminded me of my childhood summers watching "Midsomer Murders" with my parents
teal_reader's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A collection of short stories all written around the time of the Golden Age of detective fiction. Each story is give a short introduction by Martin Edwards (a prolific and award-winning author of crime himself). His introductions provide interesting background biographical information on each author, together with an indication of when the short story was first published.
As with any anthology, some stories were better than others , and they varied quite a bit in length. However, given that there were 16 stories in total, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t find any of them terrible.
As with any anthology, some stories were better than others , and they varied quite a bit in length. However, given that there were 16 stories in total, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t find any of them terrible.
hopef's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
3.25
Like most anthologies, some storie are better than the others. There were no real standouts in either direction.
backpackfullofbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
fictionfan's review
5.0
Beware writers!
Whenever one of these British Library anthologies, be it crime, science fiction or horror, pops through my door, I rub my hands in glee, knowing that at least some of the stories will be great and I’ll be treated to a raft of authors, both old favourites and new acquaintances. This one contains sixteen stories, all connected in some way to books, book collectors or authors. I came to the conclusion, in fact, that being a writer is a very dangerous thing – so many of them seem to become either murderers or murder victims! Plenty of big names here – Ngaio Marsh, Julian Symons, Christianna Brand, etc. - and a few less well known ones, though through reading so many of these anthologies I’m beginning to recognise and look forward to some of the names which turn up regularly even if I’ve not yet read any of their novels.
The overall quality of the stories is unusually high. The lowest rating I gave was three stars (meaning OK), but by far the majority were either good or excellent. Eight out of the sixteen earned the full five stars. The variation in styles is also wide, from traditional “closed circle” and “impossible crime” mysteries, to humorous and self-mocking takes on the life of the poor downtrodden mystery writer, all the way to full-on thriller-style stories.
With such a cornucopia of goodies, it’s extremely hard to pick just a few to highlight, but here goes – three picked fairly randomly from my favourites to give a flavour of the variety…
A Question of Character by Victor Canning – Geoffrey Gilroy is a moderately successful thriller writer, but his wife, who had never written before their marriage, has now become a publishing sensation. When he finds himself being referred to as “Martha Gilroy’s husband”, he decides she’s got to go – a nice little murder will salve his vanity, plus it will allow him to marry his mistress, a woman who happily shows no inclination to write books of any kind. He plans the murder meticulously, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans! This is great – it becomes a fast-paced thriller half-way through and builds up some real page-turning tension.
Book of Honour by John Creasey – Malcolm Graham, our narrator, is a book distributor in colonial-era India. One day he gives a little money to a poor man, Baburao, who is trying to sell cheap postcards to eke out a living. Baburao uses the money to set up a rickety shelf from which he sells books. He approaches Malcolm, who again helps him, this time by allowing him to select some of his company’s books to sell, on credit. Baburao uses this favour wisely again, until eventually he has set up a thriving business as a bookseller, with his own shops. But Baburao never forgets his poor origins, and spends his time and money helping those in the famine camps. There is a crime in this one, and it’s rather a heart-breaker, but the overall story is of these two good men, Malcolm and Baburao, and their mutual respect and growing friendship. I thought it was excellent, full of humanity and warmth.
You’re Busy Writing by Edmund Crispin – Ted Bradley is a thriller writer who longs for peace to write. He sets himself a target of 2,000 words a day, but between the telephone, his cleaning lady and her laundry worries and random visitors at his cottage, he finds he’s constantly losing his flow just at the point when he’s come up with a killer metaphor or thrilling clue! On this day he’s already been interrupted countless times when a couple he barely knows turn up at his door, invite themselves in and make it clear they intend to spend the whole day and evening there, drinking his booze and keeping him from his work, until it’s dark enough for them to elope together, deserting their respective spouses. Let’s just say Ted finds a drastic way to solve his problem. Very funny, laugh out loud at some points, and one can’t help feeling it’s written from Crispin’s own experience, although hopefully he found other ways to rid himself of unwanted interruptions!
One final thought – the last four stories in the book are four of the very best. I’ve said it before, but anthologists should always aim to start with a great story or two to get the busy reader’s attention and goodwill, and then keep the rest of the best to end with, and that way the reader will promptly forget if any of the ones in the middle were a bit disappointing. This anthology starts with the weakest story of all in my opinion, but, dear reader, it’s worth rushing past that one because goodies await you in abundance! Highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Whenever one of these British Library anthologies, be it crime, science fiction or horror, pops through my door, I rub my hands in glee, knowing that at least some of the stories will be great and I’ll be treated to a raft of authors, both old favourites and new acquaintances. This one contains sixteen stories, all connected in some way to books, book collectors or authors. I came to the conclusion, in fact, that being a writer is a very dangerous thing – so many of them seem to become either murderers or murder victims! Plenty of big names here – Ngaio Marsh, Julian Symons, Christianna Brand, etc. - and a few less well known ones, though through reading so many of these anthologies I’m beginning to recognise and look forward to some of the names which turn up regularly even if I’ve not yet read any of their novels.
The overall quality of the stories is unusually high. The lowest rating I gave was three stars (meaning OK), but by far the majority were either good or excellent. Eight out of the sixteen earned the full five stars. The variation in styles is also wide, from traditional “closed circle” and “impossible crime” mysteries, to humorous and self-mocking takes on the life of the poor downtrodden mystery writer, all the way to full-on thriller-style stories.
With such a cornucopia of goodies, it’s extremely hard to pick just a few to highlight, but here goes – three picked fairly randomly from my favourites to give a flavour of the variety…
A Question of Character by Victor Canning – Geoffrey Gilroy is a moderately successful thriller writer, but his wife, who had never written before their marriage, has now become a publishing sensation. When he finds himself being referred to as “Martha Gilroy’s husband”, he decides she’s got to go – a nice little murder will salve his vanity, plus it will allow him to marry his mistress, a woman who happily shows no inclination to write books of any kind. He plans the murder meticulously, but you know what they say about the best-laid plans! This is great – it becomes a fast-paced thriller half-way through and builds up some real page-turning tension.
Book of Honour by John Creasey – Malcolm Graham, our narrator, is a book distributor in colonial-era India. One day he gives a little money to a poor man, Baburao, who is trying to sell cheap postcards to eke out a living. Baburao uses the money to set up a rickety shelf from which he sells books. He approaches Malcolm, who again helps him, this time by allowing him to select some of his company’s books to sell, on credit. Baburao uses this favour wisely again, until eventually he has set up a thriving business as a bookseller, with his own shops. But Baburao never forgets his poor origins, and spends his time and money helping those in the famine camps. There is a crime in this one, and it’s rather a heart-breaker, but the overall story is of these two good men, Malcolm and Baburao, and their mutual respect and growing friendship. I thought it was excellent, full of humanity and warmth.
You’re Busy Writing by Edmund Crispin – Ted Bradley is a thriller writer who longs for peace to write. He sets himself a target of 2,000 words a day, but between the telephone, his cleaning lady and her laundry worries and random visitors at his cottage, he finds he’s constantly losing his flow just at the point when he’s come up with a killer metaphor or thrilling clue! On this day he’s already been interrupted countless times when a couple he barely knows turn up at his door, invite themselves in and make it clear they intend to spend the whole day and evening there, drinking his booze and keeping him from his work, until it’s dark enough for them to elope together, deserting their respective spouses. Let’s just say Ted finds a drastic way to solve his problem. Very funny, laugh out loud at some points, and one can’t help feeling it’s written from Crispin’s own experience, although hopefully he found other ways to rid himself of unwanted interruptions!
One final thought – the last four stories in the book are four of the very best. I’ve said it before, but anthologists should always aim to start with a great story or two to get the busy reader’s attention and goodwill, and then keep the rest of the best to end with, and that way the reader will promptly forget if any of the ones in the middle were a bit disappointing. This anthology starts with the weakest story of all in my opinion, but, dear reader, it’s worth rushing past that one because goodies await you in abundance! Highly recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
annarella's review against another edition
5.0
A fabolous collection of short stories related by books, All the stories are excellent, some are even better like "Malice Domestic" (a great story with an exceptional surprising twist) and "A Man and His Mother-in-law" (I found it funny but with a chilling and darker undertone).
Martin Edwards did an excellent job in choosing the stories and can't wait to read the next anthology.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
Martin Edwards did an excellent job in choosing the stories and can't wait to read the next anthology.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
lizabethstucker's review
3.0
3 out of 5.
Subtitled "Mysteries for Bibliophiles", this is a collection of sixteen short stories published between the 1930s and early 1970s. The basic theme is mysteries from the world of books, victims or perpetrators who are authors or booksellers or others with a literary connection.
I was expecting to adore this book as older mysteries are usually my favorites. Plus there are some rather big names of mystery fiction from that period represented here. Don't get me wrong, these weren't bad, they were just meh. It was rather boring a read. None of the stories rated high enough to be a favorite or low enough to hate.
Contents:
"A Lesson in Crime" by G. D. H. & M. Cole (aka George Douglas Howard & Margaret Cole, husband & wife)
"Trent and the Ministering Angel" by E. C. Bentley
"A Slice of Bad Luck" by Nicholas Blake
"The Strange Case of the Megotherium Thefts" by S. C. Roberts
"Malice Domestic" by Philip MacDonald
"A Savage Game" by A. A. Milne
"The Clue in the Book" by Julian Symons
"The Manuscript" by Gladys Mitchell
"A Man and His Mother-in-Law" by Roy Vickers
"Grey's Ghost" by Michael Innes
"Dear Mr. Editor..." by Christianna Brand
"Murder in Advance" by Marjorie Bremner
"A Question of Character" by Victor Canning
"The Book of Honour" by John Creasey
"We Know You're Busy Writing..." by Edmund Crispin
"Chapter and Verse" by Ngaio Marsh
Subtitled "Mysteries for Bibliophiles", this is a collection of sixteen short stories published between the 1930s and early 1970s. The basic theme is mysteries from the world of books, victims or perpetrators who are authors or booksellers or others with a literary connection.
I was expecting to adore this book as older mysteries are usually my favorites. Plus there are some rather big names of mystery fiction from that period represented here. Don't get me wrong, these weren't bad, they were just meh. It was rather boring a read. None of the stories rated high enough to be a favorite or low enough to hate.
Contents:
"A Lesson in Crime" by G. D. H. & M. Cole (aka George Douglas Howard & Margaret Cole, husband & wife)
"Trent and the Ministering Angel" by E. C. Bentley
"A Slice of Bad Luck" by Nicholas Blake
"The Strange Case of the Megotherium Thefts" by S. C. Roberts
"Malice Domestic" by Philip MacDonald
"A Savage Game" by A. A. Milne
"The Clue in the Book" by Julian Symons
"The Manuscript" by Gladys Mitchell
"A Man and His Mother-in-Law" by Roy Vickers
"Grey's Ghost" by Michael Innes
"Dear Mr. Editor..." by Christianna Brand
"Murder in Advance" by Marjorie Bremner
"A Question of Character" by Victor Canning
"The Book of Honour" by John Creasey
"We Know You're Busy Writing..." by Edmund Crispin
"Chapter and Verse" by Ngaio Marsh
ranjkrish88's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75