Scan barcode
A review by cmbohn
Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries by Martin Edwards
4.0
I kept seeing this book recommended to me by Goodreads and Amazon, so when I found a copy at the library I snatched it up. This is part of the British Library Crime Classics series, which includes reprints of some forgotten gems by popular writers of the 20th century. This book contains a collection of short stories all centered on the holiday or vacation setting. We've got stories at the seaside, in lonely country cottages, and in Alpine snow chalets. Some of them feature sleuths that readers might recognize from other books, like Dr. Thorndyke, Reggie Fortune, John Dollar, and of course, Sherlock Holmes.
The Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot," was the only story I had read before, and frankly, it's not his best. All of the other stories were new to me. While I had my favorites, there really wasn't a bad story in the whole collection. That is so rare! "The Hazel Ice" by H C Bailey and "Cousin Once Removed" by Michael Gilbert were my favorite. I also found some new authors, The funniest story was by Helen Simpson, "A Posteriori." It's worth hunting this collection down for that story alone! I was surprised not to see Agatha Christie in here, but I'm kind of glad they stuck to unknowns.
The Holmes story, "The Adventure of the Devil's Foot," was the only story I had read before, and frankly, it's not his best. All of the other stories were new to me. While I had my favorites, there really wasn't a bad story in the whole collection. That is so rare! "The Hazel Ice" by H C Bailey and "Cousin Once Removed" by Michael Gilbert were my favorite. I also found some new authors, The funniest story was by Helen Simpson, "A Posteriori." It's worth hunting this collection down for that story alone! I was surprised not to see Agatha Christie in here, but I'm kind of glad they stuck to unknowns.