Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Goodreads Synopsis:

At first there seemed to be no doubt who killed Cosmo Ducrow, the recluse millionaire, with a croquet mallet, but the police are reluctant to arrest the obvious suspect. To force their hand, Sergeant Beef and his tireless chronicler, Townsend are called in to solve the crime. Then Beef’s unorthodox methods almost lead to a second murder.

Goodreads synopsis:

When Sir Richard Fallofield is found dead it appears he has died of natural causes. But when traces of a subtle, but deadly poison, is found in his body all the evidence points to Fallofield’s estranged cousin and heir, Victor Lysons.
He has both motive and opportunity – the case against Lysons seems watertight.

A date with the hangman seems certain. Lysons’ friend, Noel Pinson, a barrister and amateur detective is not so sure. He is in fact certain his friend is innocent of the crime and intent on proving this by finding the real murderer. Aided by retired detective Joe Grainger and private secretary Lucy Manners, Pinson, works to save his friend before its too late.

Goodreads Synopsis:

He flung open a drawer and took from it a heavy dagger in a sheath with blood-stains upon it. On the blade were engraved the words, “Blut und Ehre!” Frank Everett was a rising young press attaché at the British Embassy in Paris – until he was found dead in his Rue St. Georges apartment, a knife wound to the throat. Was it a political assassination, a crime passionnel, or possibly even suicide?The foreign office call in the redoubtable Detective Inspector Richardson, who travels to Paris and must work with the French police in solving the case. He soon discovers that a mysterious coded number is one of the primary clues – if only he can decipher its meaning and unmask Everett’s assassin.The Case of the Dead Diplomat was originally published in 1935. This new edition, the first in many decades, features an introduction by crime novelist Martin Edwards, author of acclaimed genre history The Golden Age of Murder.”Good entertainment as well as a perfectly sound detective story.” 

Goodreads synopsis:

When a man drops dead in his garden during the early days of WWII it seems to be a simple case of heart failure, even though he was in fine physical shape. But once Inspector Macdonald of Scotland Yard is brought in, British mystery readers know they’re in for a wild ride. Now American readers can join in the fun.

Goodreads Synopsis:

AMONG THE hills of the Welsh borders a little group of farmsteads is isolated by snow and ice, then floods. Late one afternoon there is a terrible car smash on a cross-roads in these hills. Old Dr. Robinson is found dead in his big saloon, which, thrown off the road by the violent impact, has crashed down on to the steep hillside, now sodden with flood-waters. That was no surprise—the old man should long before have been prevented from driving, he was a menace on the roads. But why was there a second body in the back of Dr. Robinson’s car ?

Goodreads Synopsis:

n atmospheric holiday novel from one of the most consistently popular authors in the series, Carol Carnac (also known as E.C.R. Lorac).

‘Crossed skis means danger ahead…’

In London’s Bloomsbury, Inspector Julian Rivers of Scotland Yard looks down at a dismal scene. Here is the victim, burnt to a crisp. Here are the clues – clues which point to a good climber and expert skier, and which lead Rivers to the piercing sunshine and sparkling snow of the Austrian Alps.

Here there is something sinister beneath the heady joys of the slopes, and Rivers is soon confronted by a merry group of suspects, and a long list of reasons not to trust each of them. For the mountains can be a dangerous, changeable place, and it can be lonely out between the pines of the slopes…

As with each of the novels published under E C R Lorac in the Crime Classics series, the author’s sense of place is beautifully realised in all its breathtaking freshness, and she does not miss opportunities; there may be at least one high-stakes ski-chase before this chilling mystery can be put to rest.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Back from his tour of duty in Germany—and desperately missing his Momma—Elvis Aron Presley just isn’t turned on by the music the way he used to be. Between his Machiavellian manager, the hangers-on and childhood pals crowding his Graceland mansion, and his own propensity for gobbling down fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches, the King tries desperately to get his heart back into Rock and Roll.

But how can the King sing when young girls—the presidents of his fan clubs—are dying all over Tennessee? Elvis suspects foul play; to prove it, and to find the killer, he’ll need to navigate the resentment, squareness, and bigotry that hound-dog him at every turn. Only by allying himself with a self-taught doctor in a small black community, his alluring—and forbidden—nurse, and a mysterious early Elvis impersonator, can Presely hope to Take Care of Business in time to save the next victim?

Goodreads Synopsis:

The finding of a dead body in a little copse on the Downs messes up the peaceful little downland village below. The locals, some eagerly, some suspiciously (having themselves guilty consciences and secrets), assist the local police to discover the criminal into a labyrinthine game of twists and red herrings. The denouement is unexpected and original. An intriguing, fun mystery by Victor L. Whitechurch.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Working undercover for an insurance company, Fergus O’Breen finds himself part of the cast rehearsing the latest production at the Carruthers Little Theater. He’s been asked to keep an eye on playwright Lewis Jordan, who has taken out a joint policy with the director, Rupert Carruthers. If something should happen to one before the play opens, the other is set to collect a fortune.
 
When Carruthers meets an explosive end behind a locked door, O’Breen has his work cut out for him. With a theater full of secrets, it’s clear everyone in this troupe is putting on a show of their own. Now, aided by the struggling writer, O’Breen must determine who’s telling the truth and who’s acting—before someone else meets an untimely end . . .

Goodreads Synopsis:

The English country house known as ‘The Aumbry’ was intensely picturesque. Set amongst woods and with views of the Yorkshire Dales, it had been the family seat of the Gilders family for over two centuries. By 1926 however, it is in the hands of Argentinian widow, Señora Carmen Alvez. Half the mansion is closed-off and running on a skeleton staff. The tall and elegant butler, Julius Hogan, is its linchpin. But the vivacious señora seems on strangely personal terms with her staff. When she invites her new friend, wealthy heiress Miss Peggy Heggins, to her country home, dead bodies begin to pile up and Chief Inspector Hoe of Scotland Yard descends to investigate maleficence most foul.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The first novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, America’s queen of crime

This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous.

So says Rachel Innes, the spinster in question and one of the most remarkable heroines in American crime fiction. With the irresistible encouragement of her niece Gertrude and nephew Halsey, whom she raised after her brother’s death, Rachel ignores her better judgment and rents Sunnyside, a sprawling Elizabethan mansion owned by a bank president, for the summer.

The first night passes peacefully. In the morning, the entire staff quits. Late the third night, a sinister figure lurks outside the patio window and Rachel hears a heavy crash on the circular staircase at the east end of the house. The fourth night brings a dead body.

From there, things only get worse. The dead man turns out to be Arnold Armstrong, ne’er-do-well son of the owner of Sunnyside. Aunt Rachel has never seen him before, but Gertrude and Halsey knew him all too well. When the investigating detective directs his attention to her niece and nephew, Aunt Rachel decides to solve the murder herself—and walks straight into a web of deceit and treachery so intricate she might never find her way out.

This ebook features a new introduction by Otto Penzler and has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

Goodreads synopsis:

ccustomed to both murder and dalliance, Australia’s favourite detective, the inimitable Miss Fisher, returns in a case that will test her tact and judgement to the full.

When the redoubtable Miss Phryne Fisher receives threatening letters at her home, she enlists the unflappable apprentice Tinker to investigate. But as the harassment of Phryne threatens to spin out of control, her lover, Lin Chung is also targeted.

Meanwhile, Dot begins to fear that her fiance, newly promoted Sergeant Hugh Collins, has gone cold on setting a date for their wedding.

Phryne’s clever daughters, Ruth and Jane, begin their own investigation into suspiciously dwindling funds when they are sent to help at the Blind Institute.

None of this is quite enough to prevent Phryne from accepting an invitation to a magnificent party at the house of the mysterious Hong. When the party is interrupted by shocking tragedy, Phryne gathers all of her unerring brilliance to track down the miscreants. With some unlikely assistance, Phryne is in a race against time to save a pair of young lovers from disgrace and death.

Goodreads synopsis:

At the time of his death, Erle Stanley Gardner was the best-selling American author of the 20th century, and world famous as the creator of crusading attorney Perry Mason. Gardner also created the hardboiled detective team of Cool and Lam, stars of 29 novels published between 1939 and 1970—and one that’s never been published until now.

Lost for more than 75 years, THE KNIFE SLIPPED was meant to be the second book in the series but got shelved when Gardner’s publisher objected to (among other things) Bertha Cool’s tendency to “talk tough, swear, smoke cigarettes, and try to gyp people.” But this tale of adultery and corruption, of double-crosses and triple identities —however shocking for 1939—shines today as a glorious present from the past, a return to the heyday of private eyes and shady dames, of powerful criminals, crooked cops, blazing dialogue, and delicious plot twists.

Donald Lam has never been cooler—not even when played by Frank Sinatra on the U.S. Steel Hour of Mystery in 1946. Bertha Cool has never been tougher. And Erle Stanley Gardner has never been better.

Goodreads synopsis:

A magician-turned-sleuth in pre-war London solves three impossible crimes.

In 1930s London, celebrity psychiatrist Anselm Rees is discovered dead in his locked study, and there seems to be no way that a killer could have escaped unseen. There are no clues, no witnesses, and no evidence of the murder weapon. Stumped by the confounding scene, the Scotland Yard detective on the case calls on retired stage-magician-turned-part-time-sleuth Joseph Spector. Who better to make sense of the impossible than one who traffics in illusions?

Spector has a knack for explaining the inexplicable, but even he finds that there is more to this mystery than meets the eye. As he and the Inspector interview the colorful cast of suspects among the psychiatrist’s patients and household, they uncover no shortage of dark secrets—or motives for murder. When the investigation dovetails into that of an apparently impossible theft, the detectives consider the possibility that the two transgressions are related. And when a second murder occurs, this time in an impenetrable elevator, they realize that the crime wave will become even deadlier unless they can catch the culprit soon.

Goodreads synopsis:

Harry Dodd needs a ride home from the pub—but it’s not because he’s schnockered. He’s actually been stabbed. Unfortunately, no one realizes it until it’s too late. Who would want to kill such a well-liked fellow? Inspector Littlejohn is called in, and his investigation reveals a recent woeful turn in Dodd’s life, the ambitious family that cast him out, and a cesspit of jealousy, greed, and tawdry secrets. Then another body turns up, and another . . .  

Goodreads synopsis:

Behind every great man is a great woman…? Maybe so, but the women in Sherlock Holmes’s life are tired of toiling in his shadow. Matters come to a head when the Great Man declines to help a desperate young bride, prompting Mrs. Hudson (Holmes’s housekeeper) and Mary Watson (wife to the good Doctor) to set up a sleuthing shop of their own, operating out of the kitchen at 221B Baker Street. Every clue they untangle leads to, yes, the grim slums of Whitechapel, where Jack the Ripper appears still to be busy with his carving knives. The shadow of evil looms much larger than Mary and Mrs. Hudson imagined when they hatched their plans at the kitchen table. But with so many women in terrible danger, it seems only appropriate that it’s women who will set things right.

Goodreads synopsis:

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder ‘The lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside…. Think of the deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser.’ ―Sherlock Holmes Many of the greatest British crime writers have explored the possibilities of crime in the countryside in lively and ingenious short stories. Serpents in Eden celebrates the rural British mystery by bringing together an eclectic mix of crime stories written over half a century. From a tale of poison-pen letters tearing apart a village community to a macabre mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle, the stories collected here reveal the dark truths hidden in an assortment of rural paradises. Among the writers included here are such major figures as G. K. Chesterton and Margery Allingham, along with a host of lesser-known discoveries whose best stories are among the unsung riches of the golden age of British crime fiction between the two world wars.

Goodreads synopsis:

Prince’s College, Cambridge, is a peaceful and scholarly community, enlivened by Prudence Pinsent, the Master’s daughter. Spirited, beautiful, and thoroughly unconventional, Prudence is a remarkable young woman.

One fine morning she sets out for Suffolk to join her cousin Lord Wellende for a few days’ hunting. On the way Prudence encounters Captain Studde of the coastguard – who is pursuing a quarry of his own.

Studde is on the trail of a drug smuggling ring that connects Wellende Hall with the cloistered world of Cambridge. It falls to Prudence to unravel the identity of the smugglers – who may be forced to kill, to protect their secret.

This witty and entertaining crime novel has not been republished since the 1930s.