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The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books
The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books | Martin Edwards
11 posts | 3 read | 11 to read
This book tells the story of crime fiction published during the first half of the twentieth century. The diversity of this much-loved genre is breathtaking, and so much greater than many critics have suggested. To illustrate this, the leading expert on classic crime discusses one hundred books ranging from The Hound of the Baskervilles to Strangers on a Train which highlight the entertaining plots, the literary achievements, and the social significance of vintage crime fiction. This book serves as a companion to the acclaimed British Library Crime Classics series but it tells a very diverse story. It presents the development of crime fiction-from Sherlock Holmes to the end of the golden age-in an accessible, informative and engaging style. Readers who enjoy classic crime will make fascinating discoveries and learn about forgotten gems as well as bestselling authors. Even the most widely read connoisseurs will find books (and trivia) with which they are unfamiliar-as well as unexpected choices to debate. Classic crime is a richly varied and deeply pleasurable genre that is enjoying a world-wide renaissance as dozens of neglected novels and stories are resurrected for modern readers to enjoy. The overriding aim of this book is to provide a launch point that enables readers to embark on their own voyages of discovery.
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jenniferw88
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Sharing for @Mitch , who is thinking of starting a Golden Age of Crime book club. See her page for details and to sign up!

PS I think I have the tagged book and have read it - if I do, do you want me to send it to you in the new year?

Mitch That‘s so lovely of you to offer - I‘ve already got it though and I‘m about half way through! 🙏 2y
39 likes1 comment
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rabbitprincess
Pickpick

A great resource about the noteworthy books in classic crime. It is mostly UK, but there are chapters on the US and crime in translation. There‘s also a bibliography of other books about crime fiction, making this a rich resource for adventures in crime fiction.

LeahBergen I have this one, too, and love to randomly flip through it. 4y
rabbitprincess @LeahBergen I‘ll have to flip through it some more later! 😊 4y
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shanaqui
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@rabbitprincess Here's my British Library Crime Classics owned/unread stack! There's a couple on Kindle Unlimited I have checked out, too...

rabbitprincess Ooh so much good reading ahead of you! There are a few you have that I've read 😂 I can also get an e-copy of Antidote to Venom. 6y
shanaqui @rabbitprincess My BLCC collection has its own shelf, heh. Shall we start with the 12.30 from Croydon? I have that out on Kindle Unlimited already... 😁 6y
rabbitprincess @shanaqui Yes! I have been in an airplane mood lately, so that would be perfect 😊 6y
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rabbitprincess @shanaqui Want to start on 1 May? It seems appropriate to start a plane-themed book on May Day 😜 6y
shanaqui @rabbitprincess ha! Yep, that works for me! 6y
rretzler Love, love, love the British Library Crime Classics! 6y
shanaqui @rretzler Yesss. They look so good on a shelf together, too! 6y
rretzler That they do! Unfortunately, the majority of my are ebooks, so although I can carry all of mine around with me, I can‘t take nice pictures of them. 🤣😂 6y
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rabbitprincess
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@shanaqui Here are the British Library Crime Classics I own and haven't read yet, listed in order of acquisition. Let me know if you have any of these TBR as well.

And now I'm on the British Library website coveting even MORE of them...😁😏

shanaqui I've got the Freeman Wilks Crofts ones, and could get the Arsenal one -- the others I've read, I think! Hang on, I'll do a post with my unreads, too... 6y
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batsy
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Great piece on the allure of crime fiction & mysteries: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.ft.com/content/2aa5138e-466c-11e9-b83b-0c525dad...

Nancy Drew, Three Investigators, Sherlock Holmes, Trixie Belden, & Agatha Christie were all available when I was growing up so these became my comfort reads from a young age when I needed to escape from life. (Not forgetting Murder, She Wrote!) When life gets me down nothing but mysteries will do 🕵🏾‍♀️🖤

Cathythoughts 🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♀️🕵️‍♀️ thank god for the mystery.... ♥️👍🏻 6y
TrishB My comfort read too. 6y
EadieB Thanks for your article! I enjoyed it! 6y
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erzascarletbookgasm 🙌 Yes to all you mentioned ☝️! My comfort read too! ❤️ Mystery books..my first love 6y
Susannah I love Murder, She Wrote. I don‘t read mysteries for comfort, but I sure find comfort in that show. 😊 6y
Ncostell Thanks for sharing! I grew up on Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and Agatha Christie too and still can‘t resist a good mystery today. 6y
AlaMich I loved all of those, except I‘ve never heard of Three Investigators. That‘s a new one on me. And I wasn‘t a huge Trixie fan, can‘t remember why though. 6y
Suet624 I don‘t read many mysteries but I enjoy them when I do. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. 6y
Leftcoastzen Love this article! Yes , I read arty, literary,postmodern,la la la Lit,but mysteries are like my snuggly security blanket!Thanks for posting it! 6y
batsy @Cathythoughts @TrishB @erzascarletbookgasm I love the point she makes about mystery writers being so prolific, as well. We'll never run out ❤️ 6y
batsy @EadieB @Leftcoastzen My pleasure! Yes, snuggly security blanket... Might sound odd to others but it's so true 😁 6y
batsy @Susannah It's so good! All is right in the world when Jessica Fletcher is around (well, and murders start to accumulate, but you know what I mean! 😆) 6y
batsy @Ncostell You're welcome! Those are still my go-to comfort reads. 6y
batsy @Suet624 ❤️❤️ 6y
batsy @AlaMich The Three Investigators series was good fun but sadly the books are so hard to find now. 6y
mklong 👋🏼 I‘m so glad we connected on Goodreads! I seem to be spending more time there these days. 6y
batsy @mklong Hello! I'm glad we connected over there, too 😁 6y
Centique That‘s awesome! And I totally agree about mysteries. I can‘t quite go to the headier levels of thriller/crime, I take my peril at half strength with two sugars and a dash of cream thank you 😂😂 6y
batsy @Centique Ahahaha! Love that 😂 6y
rubyslippersreads I don't know why, but murder is so comforting. 😄 (Or at least solving it.) (edited) 6y
91 likes20 comments
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LeahBergen
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Thank you SO much, @Sarah83 ! I absolutely LOVE my Christmas parcel! 😍😍

I love that you went for a “theme” of classic crime for the books. I don‘t have these #FolioSociety editions and I can‘t wait to read them. The other two look fantastic as well.

The tote, the tea, and the Boekendrops just round off an already wonderful gift. Thank you and Merry Christmas! 😘😘😘

CarolynM My husband has read all the David Roberts books. He loves them. I'll try them one day...🙂 6y
Sarah83 So happy you love everything 😍 6y
Kalalalatja How lovely! 6y
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batsy So lovely! 6y
rabbitprincess Nice Folio editions! I have the Stories of Classic Crime book; will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Or maybe we can do a very long buddy read 😉 6y
LeahBergen @CarolynM I‘m excited to try this first one! 6y
LeahBergen @Sarah83 I love it all! You always do the best book parcels! 😘😘😘 6y
LeahBergen @rabbitprincess I‘m a bit afraid of the “book-buying rabbit holes” I‘ll fall into while reading this book. 😆😆 Has it made you track down any books yet? 6y
Sarah83 Thank you 😍 6y
rabbitprincess @LeahBergen I haven't opened it yet, possibly for that reason 😂 6y
Reviewsbylola 😍😍😍 6y
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rubyslippersreads
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Plenty of #crime in this great anthology I received as a swap gift from @ferskner and no doubt #adrenaline for both murderers and victims. 😮 #maylovesclassics #litsyclassicshost #getmovin

Sarah83 I own the same book 😍 maybe another buddyread at some time. 😉🤗 7y
rubyslippersreads @Sarah83 Sounds great! 😊 7y
Sarah83 Still need to read E. F. Benson. 😉 7y
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rubyslippersreads @Sarah83 I haven't forgotten. 😸 7y
Sarah83 Still need to plan a date 😉 7y
ladym30 Love the owl!! 7y
eanderson May have to check this out! 7y
rubyslippersreads @Sarah83 Would you like to start Queen Lucia on June 1? 😊 7y
Sarah83 Sounds great 😍 7y
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Sarah83
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The tagged book isn't a #folio, but I wanted to have it, so I ordered it. 😉 Got my first 'free mystery book's and another not pictured book, but as it is a birthday present for someone else, I don't show it. 😉 Of course I don't spoil the mystery book in case any other Litten wants to order it. 😉 #foliofreaks

rubyslippersreads I was lucky enough to get the tagged book from @ferskner in a swap. (I need to move it up my TBR list. 😊) #somanybookssolittletime 7y
ferskner @rubyslippersreads I bought one for myself too! I need to get to it soon 7y
Sarah83 @rubyslippersreads I always have to remember to remove the books I bought from my tbr. 😉 7y
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LeahBergen I want to know what the mystery book is! Tell me in the comments here with a spoiler tag. 😆 7y
Sarah83 @LeahBergen ok if you want to know, it is this one. First I was a bit sad, because I read another book written by her and didn't like it, but as I saw, that this one is set in Germany, I had to smile. Do you know, if everyone, how orders, gets the same book? 7y
LeahBergen I‘m not sure? I saw that people got a couple of different ones last year. 7y
Sarah83 @LeahBergen sounds great. 😉 Will you order aswell? 7y
LeahBergen I don‘t think so. I‘ve been finding such great Folios at used bookshops! 7y
Sarah83 @LeahBergen you are really lucky. I can only order online. Besides the bookshop in the Netherlands you don't get them in German secondhand bookshops. 🤷 7y
rubyslippersreads @Sarah83 @LeahBergen In browsing the LibraryThing Folio site, it looks as though most people get that book (and most of them had already bought it. 😕) 7y
Sarah83 @rubyslippersreads really? 😥 7y
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jenniferw88
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💞 As I ship #Johnlock it's no surprise that I ship #Artule too! 💞

#createyourownhashtag @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

(Arthur Hastings & Hercule Poirot)

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jenniferw88
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#bookhaul from my parents plus £20 national book token! Merry Christmas Littens!

Andrew65 A great haul which will keep you busy. 😊👏 7y
eanderson Merry Christmas!!!🎄🎁 7y
sprainedbrain Nice haul! Merry Christmas. ❤️ 7y
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JessClark78 Merry Christmas! 7y
Reviewsbylola Great haul! Merry Christmas! 7y
Bookzombie Merry Christmas! 🎄 7y
youneverarrived Merry Christmas 🎄 7y
Dragon Merry Christmas 🎄 7y
139 likes8 comments
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BookishSteph
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Book haul from the Bodies From the Library Conference at the British Library.

MrBook Welcome to @Litsy ! We hope you enjoy your stay with us 😊👍🏻. We're the most positive, tight-knit, passionate bibliophile community you'll meet. Careful: this'll take over your life. 😂👏🏻🙌🏻
7y
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