Bodies from the Library 5: Forgotten Stories of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection

Published by HarperCollins Publishers

Narrated by Philip Bretherton

Classic crime fiction's 'Indiana Jones' Tony Medawar unearths more unpublished and uncollected stories from the Golden Age of suspense.

‘Five books in, and the selection here might well be the strongest yet. This series continues to delight with the high standard of forgotten gems that Medawar uncovers, and there’s sufficient range to ensure that all fans of the genre will find something to enjoy. Book 6 can’t come soon enough.’
Jim Noy, author of The Red Death Murders

The end of the First World War saw the rise of an insatiable public appetite for clever and thrilling mystery fiction and a new kind of hero – the modern crime writer. As the genre soared in popularity, so did the inventiveness of its best authors, ushering in a “Golden Age” of detective fiction – two decades of exemplary mystery writing: the era of the whodunit, the impossible crime and the locked-room mystery, with stories that have thrilled and baffled generations of readers.

The Golden Age still casts a long shadow, with many of the authors who were published at that time still hugely popular today. Aside from novels, they all wrote short fiction – stories, serials and plays – and although many have been republished in books over the last 100 years, Bodies from the Library collects the ones that are impossible to find: stories that appeared in a newspaper, magazine or an anthology that has long been out of print; ephemeral works such as plays not aired, staged or screened for decades; and unpublished stories that were absorbed into an author’s archive when they died . . .

Complete with fascinating biographies by Tony Medawar of all the featured authors, this latest volume in the annual Bodies from the Library series once again brings into the daylight the forgotten, the lost and the unknown, and is an indispensable collection for any bookshelf.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Jun 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9780008514785

Reviews for Bodies from the Library 5

[brokentune · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This collection of short stories from various Golden Age mystery writers was a mixed bag. I mean, they all are but this one struck me as more so than others. Maybe this was because there was no overarching theme to this collection.And it somehow felt as if the story by Agatha Christie was only added to carry the rest of the book.Dame Agatha's contribution was interesting, but not a favourite.One thing that I have taken away from this is that Cyril Hare is definitely becoming one of my favourite GA mystery writers. His works tend to have a dark side, but with quite a bit of humor and irony, too.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a fascinating collection of stories and plays by Golden Age authors, including the one that got Arthur Upfield into so much trouble, about the perfect murder, and an Agatha Christie story The Wife of the Kenite published in in an Australian Women's Magazine in 1922. This is the earliest published Christie story that I have read. (See my list here).Most of the stories in the anthology have only been published once, or not previously. Some have worn well, others were more 19th century in their "feel". After each short story is an excellent short biography of the author. The introduction also gave an excellent summary of the Golden Age period. What a productive time it was!The contentsBefore Insulin, J.J. ConningtonThe Inverness Cape, Leo BruceDark Waters, Freeman Wills CroftLincke's Great Case, Georgette HeyerCalling James Braithwaite, Nicholas Blake - a playThe Elusive Bullet, John RhodeThe Euthanasia of Hilary's Aunt, Cyril HareThe Girdle of Dreams, Vincent CornierThe Fool and the Perfect Murder, Arthur UpfieldBread Upon the Waters, A.A. MilneThe Man with the Twisted Thumb, Anthony BerkeleyThe Rum Punch, Christianna BrandBlind Man's Buff, Ernest Bramah - a playVictoria Pumphrey, H.C. BaileyThe Starting-Handle Murder, Roy VickersThe Wife of the Kenite, Agatha Christie