{"id":22698,"date":"2024-01-14T11:20:45","date_gmt":"2024-01-14T16:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22698"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:11:47","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T20:11:47","slug":"bodies-from-the-library-lost-tales-of-mystery-and-suspense-from-the-golden-age-of-detection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22698","title":{"rendered":"Bodies from the Library: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bodies from the Library: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection<\/em> (2018) <\/p>\n

‘Before Insulin’ by J.J. Connington (1936)
\n\u2018The Inverness Cape\u2019 by Leo Bruce (1952)
\n\u2018Dark Waters\u2019 by Freeman Wills Crofts (1953)
\n\u2018Linckes\u2019 Great Case\u2019 by Georgette Heyer (1923)
\n\u2018Calling James Braithwaite\u2019 by Nicholas Blake (1940)
\n\u2018The Elusive Bullet\u2019 by John Rhode (1936)
\n\u2018The Euthanasia of Hilary\u2019s Aunt\u2019 by Cyril Hare (1950)
\n\u2018The Girdle of Dreams\u2019 by Vincent Cornier (1933)
\n\u2018The Fool and the Perfect Murder\u2019 by Arthur Upfield (1979)
\n\u2018Bread Upon the Waters\u2019 by A. A. Milne (1950)
\n\u2018The Man with the Twisted Thumb\u2019 by Anthony Berkeley (1933)
\n\u2018The Rum Punch\u2019 by Christianna Brand
\n‘Blind Man\u2019s Bluff’ by Ernest Bramah (1918)
\n\u2018Victoria Pumphrey\u2019 by H. C. Bailey (1939)
\n\u2018The Starting Handle Murder\u2019 by Roy Vickers (1934)
\n\u2018The Wife of the Kenite\u2019 by Agatha Christie (1922)<\/p>\n

‘Before Insulin’ by J.J. Connington (1936)<\/p>\n

Three years ago, young Robin took diabetes, a bad case, poor fellow. We did what we could for him, naturally. All the specialists had a turn, without improvement. Then we sent him over to Neuenahr, to some institute run by a German who specialised in diabetes. No good. I went over to see the poor boy, and he was worn to a shadow, simply skin and bone and hardly able to walk with weakness. Obviously it was a mere matter of time.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Inverness Cape\u2019 by Leo Bruce (1952)<\/p>\n

This was one of the ones that felt somewhat ridiculous to me.<\/p>\n

\u2018Dark Waters\u2019 by Freeman Wills Crofts (1953)<\/p>\n

Ah, criminals who think they are smarter than the police.<\/p>\n

\u2018Linckes\u2019 Great Case\u2019 by Georgette Heyer (1923)<\/p>\n

I will tell Winthrop that among other things I am sending him the plan of the new \u2019plane.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“the new \u2019plane”<\/p>\n

I love seeing how language changed–how long was ‘plane used before it became simply plane?<\/p>\n

\u2018Oh, now the beastly pen won\u2019t write! Damn! I hate quills!\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u2018Then why use them?\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u2018Heaven knows! I used to like them awfully.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018Calling James Braithwaite\u2019 by Nicholas Blake (1940)<\/p>\n

(General outrcry and tohu-bohu)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Elusive Bullet\u2019 by John Rhode (1936)<\/p>\n

There was a party from Woolwich, with a new sort of light machine-gun, something like a Lewis. But they wasn\u2019t shooting, only testing.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u2018What is the difference?\u2019 asked the professor. <\/p>\n

\u2018Well, sir, by testing I mean they had the thing held in a clamp, so that it couldn\u2019t move. The idea is to keep it pointing in exactly the same direction, instead of wobbling about as it might if a man was holding it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Euthanasia of Hilary\u2019s Aunt\u2019 by Cyril Hare (1950)<\/p>\n

Very crafty.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Girdle of Dreams\u2019 by Vincent Cornier (1933)<\/p>\n

You would not miss the kau-karo tree, the \u201citchwood tree\u201d as we call it. And you would learn, trust you to do that, about the essences of the tree: so potent that a tiny drop exuded from one oblong leaf can cause intense irritation and, occasionally, blindness. And you would inform yourself all about the sap\u2019s distillation into a drug of the mydriatic genus\u2014a powerful hypnotic causing the mind to conceive and imagine all kinds of erotic nonsenses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Fool and the Perfect Murder\u2019 by Arthur Upfield (1979) <\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s no telephonic communication between the hut and the homestead. Once every month the people at the homestead trucked rations to Reynolds. And once every week, every Monday morning, a stockman from the homestead would meet Reynolds midway between homestead and hut to give Reynolds his mail, and orders, and have a yarn with him over a billy of tea.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So. Much. Racism.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bread Upon the Waters\u2019 by A. A. Milne (1950)<\/p>\n

Rich, elderly bachelors often become bores, and bores prefer to have somebody at hand who cannot escape.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Man with the Twisted Thumb\u2019 by Anthony Berkeley (1933)<\/p>\n

\u2018Are you weakening?\u2019 demanded Geoffrey. <\/p>\n

\u2018Yes,\u2019 Veronica acknowledged. \u2018I don\u2019t like you being shot at.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u2018I don\u2019t mind him being shot at,\u2019 Archie said with equanimity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is a silly comedy.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Rum Punch\u2019 by Christianna Brand<\/p>\n

He was a great believer in insurance, he taught my mother to be too: and a jolly good thing because she made my step-father take out a big insurance in her favour in case he died before her; and now that\u2019s all we shall have. All the rest\u2019s gone.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Everything came out of left field on this one.<\/p>\n

‘Blind Man\u2019s Bluff’ by Ernest Bramah (1918)<\/p>\n

The mantelpiece (touching it) Petworth marble with its characteristic fossil shell markings. The wallpaper (brushing his hand over it) arrangements of pansies on a criss-cross background (touching his tongue with one finger)\u2014colour scheme largely green and gold\u2014<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(eye roll)<\/p>\n

\u2018Victoria Pumphrey\u2019 by H. C. Bailey (1939)<\/p>\n

Thus, Miss Pumphrey is wont to say, was she launched on her present pro?table career of crime. But she considers that she always had a bent for it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Career of crime being an investigator, not a criminal.<\/p>\n

\u2018The Starting Handle Murder\u2019 by Roy Vickers (1934)<\/p>\n

Motor-cars were coming into general use, though they were still frowned upon in the mess, because it was commonly believed that they would put an end to hunting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the key to the social relationships of this period has been trampled in the mud of the Great War<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2018The Wife of the Kenite\u2019 by Agatha Christie (1922)<\/p>\n

He was a religious man himself, with a thorough belief in the German God, the God of the Old Testament, a God of blood and battles, of thunder and lightning, of material rewards and dire material vengeance, swift to anger and terrible in wrath.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is an early story but has the hallmarks of her skills.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Collins Crime Club<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bodies from the Library: Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection (2018) ‘Before Insulin’ by J.J. Connington (1936) \u2018The Inverness Cape\u2019 by Leo Bruce (1952) \u2018Dark Waters\u2019 by Freeman Wills Crofts (1953) \u2018Linckes\u2019 Great Case\u2019 by Georgette Heyer (1923) \u2018Calling James Braithwaite\u2019 by Nicholas Blake (1940) \u2018The Elusive Bullet\u2019 by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,30,292,33,8],"tags":[733,546,45,898],"class_list":["post-22698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anthology","category-british","category-ebook","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-1950s","tag-interwar-period","tag-wwi","tag-ww-ii"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5U6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19758,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19758","url_meta":{"origin":22698,"position":0},"title":"Parker Pyne Investigates: A Short Story Collection","author":"Michelle","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Parker Pyne Investigates: A Short Story Collection (1934) Agatha Christie \u201cThe Case of the Middle-Aged Wife\u201d was first published as \u201cThe Woman Concerned\u201d in Woman\u2019s Pictorial, 8 October 1932. \u201cThe Case of the Discontented Soldier\u201d was first published in the USA as \u201cThe Soldier Who Wanted Danger\u201d in Cosmopolitan, August\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anthology"","block_context":{"text":"Anthology","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/anthology"},"img":{"alt_text":"Parker Pyne Investigates","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Parker-Pyne-Investigates.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4902,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4902","url_meta":{"origin":22698,"position":1},"title":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"October 24, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (2013) Agatha Christie From The Thirteen Problems (1953) The Tuesday Night Club The Idol House of Astarte Ingots of Gold The Bloodstained Pavement Motive v. Opportunity The Thumbmark of St. Peter The Blue Geranium The Companion The Four Suspects A Christmas Tragedy The Herb\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3454,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3454","url_meta":{"origin":22698,"position":2},"title":"The Body in the Library","author":"Michelle","date":"January 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Body in the Library (1942) Agatha Christie Colonel and Mrs. Bantry are quite shocked to discover a body in their library--a very young blonde body. The Colonel calls the police, but Mrs. Bantry knows better, and calls Miss Marple. Again, like Murder at the Vicarage, I noticed that much\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Body in the Library","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/body-in-the-library.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24633,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24633","url_meta":{"origin":22698,"position":3},"title":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie The Thirteen Problems (1932) 1. The Tuesday Night Club (1927) 2. The Idol House of Astarte (1928) 3. Ingots of Gold (1928) 4. The Bloodstained Pavement (1928) 5. Motive v. Opportunity (1928) 6. The Thumbmark of St. Peter (1928) 7. The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Miss Marple The Complete Short Stories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12868,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12868","url_meta":{"origin":22698,"position":4},"title":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories","author":"Michelle","date":"May 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories (1985) Agatha Christie (Miss Marple) These stories were published between 1927 and 1957. \"(S)o many people seem to me not to be either bad or good, but simply, you know, very silly.\u201d The Thirteen Problems (previously published as The Tuesday Club Murders) (1932) The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Miss Marple The Complete Short Stories","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Miss-Marple-The-Complete-Short-Stories.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13771,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13771","url_meta":{"origin":22698,"position":5},"title":"Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford","author":"Michelle","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford (2015) Charles Todd This collection is four short stories with Bess Crawford and Ian Rutledge. \"The Kidnapping\" \"The Girl on the Beach\" \"Cold Comfort\" \"The Maharani's Pearls\" \"The Kidnapping\" - Ian Rutledge, London 1920 I actually have a copy of this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tales Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Tales-Short-Stories-Featuring-Ian-Rutledge-and-Bess-Crawford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22698\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}