Bøger i British Library Crime Classics serien

Detective stories from the golden age and beyond have used European settings - cosmopolitan cities, rural idylls and crumbling chateaux - to explore timeless themes of revenge, deception and haunting.

"Ahoy, my lad!" he bellowed back."I didn't expect you so early. Come for a dip! The water's fine. Everything is--"Then it happened.Mystery and murder run amok amidst ominous peaks and icy lakes. In hushed valleys, venom flows through villages harboring grievances that span generations. The landscapes and locales of Wales ("Cymru," in the Welsh language) have fired the imagination of some of the greatest writers in the field of crime and mystery fiction.Presenting fourteen short stories first published in 1909 through the 1980s, this new anthology celebrates a selection of beloved Welsh authors Cardiff's Roald Dahl and Abergavenny's Ethel Lina White, as well as lesser-known yet highly skilled writers including Cledwyn Hughes and Jack Griffith. Alongside these home-grown tales, this collection also includes a handful of gems inspired by, or set in, the cities and wilds of Wales by treasured authors with an affinity for the country, such as Christianna Brand, Ianthe Jerrold, and Michael Gilbert.

We are thrilled to welcome John Dickson Carr into the Crime Classics series with his first novel, a brooding locked room mystery in the gathering dusk of the French capital featuring Inspector Bencolin. Also includes the short story 'The Shadow of the Goat'.

Both train buffs and crime fans will delight in this selection of fifteen railway-themed mysteries, featuring some of the most popular authors of their day alongside less familiar names. This is a collection to beguile even the most wearisome commuter.

Martin Edwards has selected gems of classic crime from Denmark to Japan and many points in between. Fascinating stories give an insight into the cosmopolitan cultures (and crime-writing traditions) of diverse places including Mexico, France, Russia, Germany and the Netherlands.

While hunting for silverware to steal, amateur thief Ted Lyte stumbles upon a locked room containing seven dead bodies.Seven Dead is an atmospheric crime novel first published in 1939.

Two mysteries of the kind John Bude does best, with well-drawn and authentic period settings and a satisfying whodunit structure, following the traditional rules and style of the Golden Age of the genre.

Entreated by the Belgian financier D'Aunay to investigate the gruesome and grimly theatrical death of actor Myron Alison, the Inspector Bencolin and his accomplice Jeff Marle find themselves at the imposing hilltop fortress Schloss Schadel, in which a killer lurks amongst a small group of suspects.

This British Library anthology uncovers the best mysteries set below the surface and atop the waves, including stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, William Hope Hodgson and R. Austin Freeman.

With neglected stories by John Bude and E. C. R. Lorac, as well as tales by little-known writers of crime fiction, Martin Edwards blends the cosy atmosphere of the fireside story with a chill to match the temperature outside. This is a gripping seasonal collection sure to delight mystery fans.

Originally published in 1932, this was the only mystery novel to be written by Ellen Wilkinson, one of the first women to be elected to Parliament. Wilkinson offers a unique insider's perspective of political scandal, replete with sharp satire.

A darkly humorous depiction of fraught family ties, The Murder of My Aunt was first published in 1934.

Excellent Intentions is a classic crime novel laced with irreverent wit, first published in 1939.

The Second World War is drawing to a close. Nicholas Vaughan, released from the army after an accident, takes refuge in Little Thatch - a thatched cottage in the Devon countryside. When Little Thatch is destroyed in a blaze, all Vaughan's work goes up in smoke - and Inspector Macdonald is drafted in to uncover a motive for murder.

Hardback edition with an additional essay by President of the Detection Club, Martin Edwards. Adrian Gray was born in May 1862 and met his death through violence, at the hands of one of his own children, at Christmas, 1931. This fascinating and unusual novel tells the story of what happened that dark Christmas night; and what the murderer did next.

'The death was an odd one, it was true; but there was after all no very clear reason to assume it was anything but natural.' First published in 1943, Raymond Postgate's wartime murder mystery combines thrilling detection with rich characters and a fascinating depiction of life on the home front.

Together these stories demonstrate the range and high accomplishment of the classic British impossible crime story over more than half a century.

This unorthodox novel from 1934 is by a gifted crime writer who, wrote Dorothy L. Sayers, 'handles his characters like a "real" novelist and the English language like a "real" writer - merits which are still, unhappily, rarer than they should be in the ranks of the murder specialists.'

This new collection gathers together stories written over a span of about 65 years, during which British society, and life in country houses, was transformed out of all recognition. It includes fascinating and unfamiliar twists on the classic 'closed circle' plot.

This classic crime novel from 1952 evokes all the sunlit glamour of life on the Riviera, and combines deft plotting with a dash of humour

Duchlan Castle is a gloomy, forbidding place in the Scottish Highlands. Late one night the body of Mary Gregor, is found in the castle, stabbed to death in her bedroom - but the room is locked from within and the windows are barred. The only clue to the culprit is a silver fish's scale, left on the floor next to Mary's body.

When the show opens at the Grosvenor Theatre to a packed house, Brandon Baker is killed by a real bullet. When another member of the company is found dead, initial appearances suggest a straightforward case of murder followed by suicide. But there is, of course, more to it than that!

Dr James Earle and his wife live in comfortable seclusion near the Hog's Back, a ridge in the North Downs in the beautiful Surrey countryside. When Dr Earle disappears from his cottage, Inspector French is called in to investigate. At first he suspects a simple domestic intrigue - and begins to uncover a web of romantic entanglements

A collection of 14 vintage mysteries from the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton, Anthony Berkeley, Phyllis Bentley among others.

For Miss Cordell, principal of Persephone College, there are two great evils to be feared: unladylike behaviour among her students, and bad publicity for the college. So her prim and cosy world is turned upside down when the drowned body of the college bursar is found floating in her canoe.

When a body is found at an isolated garage, Inspector Meredith is drawn into a complex investigation where every clue leads to another puzzle: was this a suicide, or something more sinister? A classic mystery novel set amidst the stunning scenery of a small village in the Lake District.

The Reverend Dodd, vicar of the quiet Cornish village of Boscawen, spends his evenings reading detective stories by the fireside - but the peace is shattered one stormy night when Julius Tregarthan, a secretive and ill-tempered magistrate, is found with a bullet through his head!

An eclectic mix of crime stories written over half a century. From a tale of poison-pen letters tearing apart a village community to a macabre mystery by Arthur Conan Doyle, the stories collected here reveal the dark truths hidden in an assortment of rural paradises.

In the peaceful seaside town of Broadgate, an impossible crime occurs. The operator of the cliff railway locks the empty carriage one evening; when he returns to work, a dead body is locked inside - a man has been stabbed. Jimmy London, a newspaper reporter, is first on the scene and is quick on the trail for clues.

This richly characterised and elegantly written crime novel from 1933 is a true forgotten classic.