How would you like the opportunity to read an early story by Agatha Christie which was only recently rediscovered?
Or a never-before-published novella-length short story by Edmund Crispin, featuring Gervase Fen?
Or how about a previously-unpublished Lord Peter Wimsey "locked room" short story by Dorothy L. Sayers?
And another dozen rarely-if-ever-seen stories and plays by Golden Age authors, mostly British with an American or two thrown into the mix - some written by very well known names indeed, other stories by writers largely (and mostly unjustly) forgotten today?
Congratulations - your wishes can come true very easily, simply by picking up a copy of Bodies From the Library 2, selected and introduced by mystery expert and historian Tony Medawar. It's the subject of my audio review today on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.
This all goes back to another collection from the same source, Bodies from the Library, published last year by the Collins Crime Club and to the annual (at least for the last couple of years) day long gathering at the British Library of the "Bodies From the Library" conference. I reviewed the first of these volumes earlier in 2019, having enjoyed it thoroughly, and I promised at the time to review the second volume once it had been published and made its way across to the U.S.
So let me keep my promise: Bodies From the Library 2 is out, has been out for a few months (sorry!) and is another volume which gets my wholehearted recommendation. In addition to the three stories I mentioned earlier, there's a very respectable list of other writers appearing in this anthology. Among the names are S. S. Van Dine, Clayton Rawson, E. C. R. Lorac, John Rhode, Ethel Lina White and Christianna Brand. It's an impressive list.
I've put some extra information into the podcast this week, so you can learn a little more about the stories by listening to the podcast. You really do want to own this one.
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