Reading the Detectives discussion

Welcome to the first few members - hopefully more will follow.

Which books in the British Library Crime Classics series have you read?

I've just read my first one, The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude.



Here's my review:

I've been meaning to read some of the British Library Crime Classics series. This 1930s book is the first one I've tried, and it was an enjoyable read, with an atmospheric Cornish setting. The mix of amateur and professional detectives also worked well. I didn't feel the mystery element was quite up there with the best of the genre, because the solution partly depends on information which the reader hasn't been given.

I've read a couple, Judy, including, "Murder in White" and "Thirteen Guests." It's nice to see books back in print and interesting to read them. I also read a couple of spy books from that period, including, "Trouble on the Thames" and "The Traitor" under the British Library Thriller Classics imprint.

Is there a link to see what books are in the British Library Crime Classics?

Leslie wrote: "Is there a link to see what books are in the British Library Crime Classics?"

The British Library online shop has a list of all the ones re-published so far under this series title
http://shop.bl.uk/mall/departmentpage...

I first came across the series through two books I saw on Amazon - Mystery in White and the one Judy has reviewed above The Cornish Coast Murder

Haven't read either yet!

Thanks Ella's Gran. I will peruse the list in more depth when I get a chance but will comment now about the wonderful covers. Beautiful!

I know Leslie. It was the cover that first attracted me so I thought I should have it! And me a librarian who should know better than to "pick by pretty cover" too. :)

Is the group planning to base reads around this series, or is this just a discussion to get us started? Sorry, that was rather jumping ahead as I'm not even sure you are planning group reads.

I'm going to start with the Sussex Downs Murder this week. I'm lucky as my local library has this one. Yea!

Great covers. I apparently picked up The Lake District Murder but don't think I have started it yet.

A few of them pop up on NetGalley, if anyone is a member?

Susan wrote: "A few of them pop up on NetGalley, if anyone is a member?"

Yes I joined recently Susan. I'm still dipping my toes in the water over there as I'm a bit wary of being turned down. What's your experience?

If I can get hold of the book, I would love to do a group read. But I am away almost all November. From December on I am as keen as mustard! :)

I have been a NetGalley member a while now. I would say that I get about 90% approved now, but it took a while to build up my profile. I think that the publisher of the British library books usually approves requests.

Susan wrote: "I have been a NetGalley member a while now. I would say that I get about 90% approved now, but it took a while to build up my profile. I think that the publisher of the British library books usua..."

Thanks Susan. A bit off-topic, but does it have any effect if you are turned down i.e. is it logged somewhere that publishers can see, or is it ok to just keep trying and tweaking at your profile?

I don't think so. At first I only had about half of my requests approved, but gradually it got better. I would say just keep requesting and ignore any rejections. Perhaps take some 'read now' titles to help boost your profile.

Susan wrote: "I don't think so. At first I only had about half of my requests approved, but gradually it got better. I would say just keep requesting and ignore any rejections. Perhaps take some 'read now' ti..."
Thanks Susan.

Before long you will have so many books that you will be half relieved when you are not approved - I know that I am :)

Ella's Gran, thanks for posting the link to the list of British Library Crime Classics - must agree that the covers are lovely enough to tempt even a librarian like you. :)

I've noticed there are a few more titles in the series which aren't in the list at their website but show up at Amazon, for instance The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay - that one has only just been published, though, so that's probably why it isn't on their page yet.

Susan, I think it would be fun to do group reads, but wanted to wait until some people had joined and could give their views.

Would anyone be interested in doing a group read of one of the British Library Crime Classics for starters? I thought they might be quite good to start with because quite a few of them are stand-alone titles rather than being in a series, and there are lots of lovely authors to discover.

If people are interested, shall we do one in November, or would it be better to wait for December to give more time to get hold of the book?

I would love a group read from the British Crime Classics. There are currently 15. I don't know if more are planned.

J wrote: "I would love a group read from the British Crime Classics. There are currently 15. I don't know if more are planned."

My only concern is availability of some of the titles here in the U.S. (especially through my library). Otherwise, sounds good to me.

Judy, I would say December is better than November -- gives us all a chance to figure things out without being rushed.

Agree with December, as I am a little overwhelmed at the moment, reading wise. Still, these books are short, which is always appealing. Perhaps a Christmas themed crime would be nice? That's just a suggestion, I don't mind.

December sounds good to me too.

Leslie, I think a number of them are available on Amazon and Kindle.

I've just found a lovely blog post which lists more of the books in the series as well as those on the British Library's own page - 22 titles are mentioned here, but I think even more might have been added since. There are also big pictures of the covers, plus the original covers for some of the titles:

http://bearalley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/...

Thanks for the feedback on group reads, everyone - sounds as if December will be best. I'll make a separate thread for suggestions.

Judy wrote: "I've just found a lovely blog post which lists more of the books in the series as well as those on the British Library's own page - 22 titles are mentioned here, but I think even more might have be..."

I've come across that blog before Judy. He's very knowledgeable on a wide variety of book and comic related subjects.

I confess I am not a big reader of detective novels - classic or otherwise - but I was tempted by the British Library series and invested in a shelf-full (there are good deals on the series, if you buy a batch of them). Only one I have read so far is A Scream in Soho.

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Nice cover, but hardly appropriate since the novel is set in the black-out. It's more of a pulp thriller than a detective novel and is wonderfully dated. They don't write like that any more. At least, I hope they don't... Review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Welcome, Peter. I enjoyed your witty review, even if you were somewhat underwhelmed by the writing style of John G. Brandon! I'm tempted to read the book and see if I agree. I would never have guessed from the cover that it was set during the black-out!

Susan wrote: "I have been a NetGalley member a while now. I would say that I get about 90% approved now, but it took a while to build up my profile. I think that the publisher of the British library books usuall..."

Susan,
I have been getting some from Net Galley fom the Poisened Pen Press and some have bee quite delightful. You have an excellent chance of getting approved as they are new at this.

Judy wrote: "Ella's Gran, thanks for posting the link to the list of British Library Crime Classics - must agree that the covers are lovely enough to tempt even a librarian like you. :)

I've noticed there are ..."

Judy wrote: "Ella's Gran, thanks for posting the link to the list of British Library Crime Classics - must agree that the covers are lovely enough to tempt even a librarian like you. :)

I've noticed there are ..."

I just read this one from Net Galley and really enjoyed it.

Hi Susan _ how nice that you joined! Yes, I am lucky to have been approved by Poisoned Pen so far. I even had an invite from them yesterday:)

I really like their selection. I think i found them from one of your reviews.

Oh, that's nice. I really miss the old crime group we used to belong to, although I have no doubts that Judy will be a MUCH more effective moderator ;)

Susan, glad to hear you are enjoying British Library Crime Classics/Poisoned Pen too... which one of their books did you just read from Net Galley?

And to the other Susan, very kind of you to say so!

With a discussion between Susan and Susan, it's handy to have the little pictures to remember which is which :)

I couldn't resist picking up another British Library Crime Classic at the library yesterday and have actually started reading it already, even though I'm still in the middle of another mystery!

This one is very different, though - it's Antidote to Venom by Freeman Wills Crofts, and it is constructed so that you are seeing the build-up to a murder and wondering when it will happen. It's well-written and easy to read, and set around a zoo in the 1930s.

Oh, that sounds good, Judy. I liked the way so many mysteries in that era are set in closed communities, like zoos, so you learn something too. Murder with Malice is set in an early British holiday camp (the author muses whether the excitement of ping pong and the luxury of hot and cold running water in the chalet sink will make people discontent on their return home!) and Death in High Heels in an upmarket dress shop, where I discovered that many shops actually cooked a hot meal for their workers at lunch time, among many other things.

Inspector French's Greatest Case is the first in the series you are reading, Judy, and is available on kindle. Let me know what you think and maybe I will give it a try?

Will do, Susan. I'm not sure how much Inspector French will come into this one - apparently Wills Crofts wrote this as an experiment, although he did bring in his series detective.

There is an intriguing note at the start saying: "This book is a two-fold experiment: first, it is an attempt to combine the direct and inverted types of detective story, and second, an effort to tell the story of crime positively."

Martin Edwards talks about the book's experimental nature in his introduction - but I think I'll need to go back to that again after finishing my read.

Sounds very intriguing, Judy...

Susan, yes, it's interesting to learn about the zoo in this - at the start, the author thanks a director of London Zoo for helping with his researches.

Those other titles you mention sound fascinating and will need to be "added to the list" - I love to learn things about the era from the settings of novels.

On the holiday camp theme, you remind me that I recently saw a good British film from just after WWII, Holiday Camp, which does involve a murder too - it's one of those 'portmanteau' style films with a lot of different stories going on. Here's a link to my review at one of my two film blogs, in case anyone is interested - I should just warn there are spoilers in the review, with a warning, and also in the comments:

https://britishfilmclassics.wordpress...

Thanks, Judy, I will take a look. I think P D James did the 'closed community' mystery very well. So many books that I want to read, or re-read. I need more time!

There is a collection of 'Huggetts' films on DVD. I suppose I must have seen one of them - I have a vague recollection of "Holiday Camp" from childhood. The Great British Dream Factory: The Strange History of Our National Imagination had quite a lot about early British cinema, which might interest you.

Susan wrote: "Oh, that's nice. I really miss the old crime group we used to belong to, although I have no doubts that Judy will be a MUCH more effective moderator ;)"

Is the other group dissolved? All I know is he kicked me out after I made some suggestions on how to improve the group. Sigh. I liked the people in that group.

He kicked you out?! I'm astonished, but perhaps I shouldn't be. There was a recent kerfuffle in a NetGalley group I dip in and out of too. I just know that I looked in to the old group to find there had been no group read for ages, so it seems virtually defunct.

Thanks for the book suggestion, Susan - I'm very interested in early British cinema, so will give it a look.

Can I just ask, if you two Susans want to discuss the problems in another group in any detail, please can you do it in private - to avoid any risk of the arguments spilling over into this one, if friends of the other person concerned join, etc! I'm possibly being a bit over-cautious, but exactly this happened in a previous book group I belonged to!

Good point, Judy. Actually, I never participated in any arguments anyway and never saw the other Susan do so either. It was just that the moderator imposed his will rather often, which is why I dropped out of that group. However, it is not relevant to this group and I shall refrain from mentioning it again.

Sorry, Susan - I should have said 'problems' rather than arguments from the other group! Thank you. :)

Poisoned Pen have two of the British Library books on .99 promotion:

Murder in Piccadilly
Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries: A British Library Crime Classic

I've now finished the British Crime Classics book I was reading, Antidote to Venom by Freeman Wills Crofts.



I did quite enjoy it in the end - it got a lot better later on, when Inspector French finally came in about 2/3 of the way through, but I suspect his other books are probably more enjoyable overall. Anyway, here is my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...