During the month of August, we've been spending much of our time talking about short stories. As I have said, it seemed to me that the summer is the perfect time fo shorter mysteries - something that can be read in a half-hour or so and then get put aside for other, more relaxing (perhaps) pursuits.
If you enjoy reading fine mystery short stories - and particularly stories by some truly classic authors - you owe it to yourself to check out the Lost Classics series from Crippen & Landru publishers. As their website explains:
"The idea behind 'Lost Classics' is simple — and tremendously exciting. There are many authors of the past who wrote excellent short detective tales. These previously uncollected, and in many cases nearly unknown, stories should be brought to a new generation of readers."
If you follow that link to the Lost Classics page, you will see a list of some of the authors whose (for the most part sadly neglected) stories have been collected in C&L editions - authors such as Craig Rice, Ellis Peters, Erle Stanley Gardner, Gladys Mitchell and Laura Caspary. I've reviewed some of them on past podcasts and I expect that I'll be talking about more of them going forward. Most of the volumes feature lively and informative introductory essays from their editors. I recommend the whole series to you very highly.
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