Friday, May 29, 2015

Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries: A British Library Crime Classic by Martin Edwards

This is a collection of fourteen stories that are done by the usual crime authors and some unusual ones.  I think one or two might have been under a rock.  Some haven't seen the light of day or been published before.  Sound interesting?

Poisoned Pen Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published June 2nd, so you can grab a copy then.

Most the stories were enjoyable reads and kept my interest.  A couple were a bit stodgy and formal, but they read well, too.  I met some new authors.  I even found an Arthur Conan Doyle story I hadn't read before.

What I found amusing was that not all the crimes were solved.  Or, if they were, the murderer was not convicted but an alternate solution was suggested.  One was really a farce.  The "great detective" comes in and solves the case with his reasoning.  Everyone is awed by how he did it.  So what if his answer was wrong?

Another thing that seemed to be prevalent is the fact that they don't care too much for policemen.  Inspectors were slow and bungling.  Many couldn't solve the case so they just wrote it off.  Most current stories don't end that way.  These were written in the '30's, so times were different then.


One thing these stories do tell you:  Inspectors investigate everywhere, even while on a holiday...

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