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    Mystery Publishers

    • Academy Chicago Publishers
      An imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.
    • Crippen & Landru
      Crippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.
    • Dean Street Press
      This small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.
    • Felony & Mayhem
      This publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.
    • Locked Room International
      A small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.
    • Merion Press
      The Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.
    • MysteriousPress.com
      The brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.
    • Oconee Spirit Press
      A small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.
    • Oleander Press
      This small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.
    • Ostara Publishing
      "Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."
    • Poisoned Pen Press
      Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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    « "Invisible Green": Locked Rooms, Impossible Crimes, and a Murder Club | Main | "The Mystery at Number 31, New Inn" »

    May 03, 2009

    Arthur Upfield and the Perfect Murder

    Sometimes an author can be too successful in coming up with an ingenious murder plot. Apparently, that happened to Arthur W. Upfield, the author of a series of fine classic mysteries set in Australia and featuring half-caste Detective-Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, or "Bony" to his friends.

    Upfield spent a fair amount of time wrestling with a plot idea for one of his early novels, "The Sands of Windee," which was published in 1931. He was looking for a plot which would allow Bony to tackle what he would call "the perfect murder" - a murder in which there was no body - and, so, no proof a crime had been committed.

    While working on the plot in the late 1920s, he had a number of conversations with authors and other friends and acquaintances about his ideas. Unfortunately, one of the people he spoke with, an itinerant stockman named Sonny Rowles, apparently decided to put that perfect murder plot into operation.

    Rowles apparently carried out three murders in 1929 and 1930, known as the "Murchison murders," but they were imperfect enough for him to be caught, tried and executed. Upfield had to testify at the trial about his conversations with Rowles, showing that Rowles had known about the perfect murder plot and how it worked. Wikipedia has a fascinating article with full details on the crimes and the Upfield connection.

    As for "The Sands of Windee," it's an excellent book, though out of print; Amazon's second-hand affiliates may be your best bet for finding it.

    Posted at 05:12 PM in General Suggestions |

    Tags: Classic mysteries, detective fiction, murchison murders, perfect murder, true crime

    Comments

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    Bella Pooley

    I think it was 'Snowy' Rowles not Sonny. It looks like someones made a film on Upfield & Snowy, I found a behind the scenes video on Youtube ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z92BbllZUQ

    Posted by: Bella Pooley | May 13, 2009 at 05:13 AM

    Les Blatt

    Whoops! You're right. It is Snowy, not Sonny. I need new reading glasses. Sigh. Thanks for the catch!

    Posted by: Les Blatt | May 13, 2009 at 06:20 AM

    The comments to this entry are closed.

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      That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else...thank you.

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