The Detection Club was founded in 1930 by a group of leading detective novelists, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, G K Chesterton and Anthony Berkely. Berkley was the driving force behind its creation. The club had twenty-six members in all, and Chesterton was its first president. It’s the oldest and …
Book Recommendation: Death of an Author – E C R Lorac
Death of an Author was first published in the 1930's. While it has a few characteristics that are typical of the mystery novels published in that era, it is one of the most unusual crime novels that I've ever read. It begins with a missing person report. The missing person is question is a celebrated …
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Review: TV Show: Murder Before Evensong
This is an adaptation of a book that I genuinely loved, so I approached it with all my usual trepidation. There is so much in the book that I didn't think could be translated to the screen - so many long conversations, talk about faith, the complex relationships between the different people in the village, …
Book Recommendation: Murder Before Evensong by Richard Coles
This is is book one of the Canon Clement mystery series. It's set in 1988, in the fictious village of Champton, which is in many ways a fairly typical English village. Canon Daniel Clement is the rector of the parish. He is a kindly, thoughtful man in his forties, he loves books and music and …
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Book Recommendation: Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
Smallbone Deceased is a classic crime novel from the 1950's. It's a remarkable book with an excellent plot, well-written characters, clever dialogue and a baffling mystery at the heart of it. The story begins when a new member joins the staff of the law firm of Horniman, Birley and Craine. We see the members of …
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Book Recommendation: Death at the Chateau by Ian Moore
This is book three in the Follet Valley mystery series written by Ian Moore. This series is set in the fictional town of Saint-Sauver in the Loire region of France. It features Richard Ainsworth, a mild-mannered Englishman, and owner of a B&B as the amateur detective, along with Valerie D’Orsay, formerly of the French Secret …
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Book recommendation: Behold Here’s Poison by Georgette Heyer
A few years ago, I discovered that Georgette Heyer, who I had long associated with regency romance, wrote murder mysteries as well. I came across a few of her books in the crime section of my local bookshop. I picked one up, read it and loved it. She’s an excellent writer. I’ve read a few …
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In Focus: Literary Detectives: Lord Peter Wimsey
As detectives in fiction go, Lord Peter Wimsey is unique. He’s an aristocrat, a gentleman-scholar, and a lover of rare books. He’s a literary expert who can quote at will from Catullus, Shakespeare, Donne, Dickens, Lewis Carroll, and a host of others. He’s a fine musician who plays Bach, Scarlatti, and the Beggar’s Opera, among …
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Book Recommendation: Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers
This is the second book in the Lord Peter Wimsey series and it is one of the best. Lord Peter is off on vacation with his manservant, Bunter when this story begins. They have just left Corsica after a month there, and landed in Paris when they learn that Lord Peter's older brother Gerald, the …
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between the pages 