This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 15 tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Gervase Fen novella by Edmund Crispin that has never previously been published.

 With the Golden Age of detective fiction shining ever more brightly thanks to the recent reappearance of many forgotten crime novels, Bodies from the Library offers a rare opportunity to read lost stories from the first half of the twentieth century by some of the genre's most accomplished writers.

 This second volume is a showcase for popular figures of the Golden Age, in stories that even their most ardent fans will not be aware of. It includes uncollected and unpublished stories by acclaimed queens and kings of crime fiction, from Helen Simpson, Ethel Lina White, E. C. R. Lorac, Christianna Brand, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, to S. S. Van Dine, Jonathan Latimer, Clayton Rawson, Cyril Alington and Antony and Peter Shaffer (writing as Peter Antony).

 This book also features two highly readable radio scripts by Margery Allingham (involving Jack the Ripper) and John Rhode, plus two full-length novellas - one from a rare magazine by Q Patrick, the other an unpublished Gervase Fen mystery by Edmund Crispin, written at the height of his career. It concludes with another remarkable discovery: 'The Locked Room' by Dorothy L. Sayers, a never-before-published case for Lord Peter Wimsey!

 Selected and introduced by Tony Medawar, who also provides fascinating pen portraits of each author, Bodies from the Library 2 is an indispensable collection for any bookshelf.

Bodies from the Library 2 - Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection

Volume 3 of Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen novels, collected together for the first time.

 FREQUENT HEARSESWhen young actress Gloria Scott throws herself from Waterloo Bridge, the news sends shockwaves through her film studio. Luckily Gervase Fen is in London to investigate. But when someone acts fast to cover up any evidence - removing all signs of Ms Scott's identity from her apartment and poisoning a suspicious cameraman - the truth is hard to find.

 THE LONG DIVORCELong inhabited by a collection of profoundly offbeat locals, there has been a recent influx of the newly rich and well to do arriving in the village of Cotten Abbas . and not everyone is happy about it. New arrivals are receiving anonymous letters that know a little too much about dark secrets and dirty laundry.

 Gervase Fen is summoned to the scene, but soon finds more than he bargained for. A suicide on Friday, a murder by Sunday, and some villagers that seem hell bent on keeping this mystery unsolved.

 GLIMPSES OF THE MOONWhen a decapitated head is seen floating down the river in the Devon village of Aller, the rural calm is shattered. Soon the corpses are multiplying, and the entire community is involved in the hunt for the murderer.

 Whilst many chase false trails, it is left to Gervase Fen, Oxford don and amateur criminologist, to uncover the sordid truth.

THE COMPLETE GERVASE FEN VOLUME 3 - Frequent Hearses, The Long Divorce, The Glimpses of the Moon

THE COMPLETE GERVASE FEN VOLUME 2 - Swan Song, Love Lies Bleeding, Buried for Pleasure

As inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P. G. Wodehouse - discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin. Crime fiction at its quirkiest and best.

 In the sleepy English village of Sanford Angelorum, professor and amateur detective Gervase Fen is taking a break from his books to run for Parliament. At first glance, the village he's come to canvass appears perfectly peaceful, but Fen soon discovers that appearances can be deceptive: someone in the village has discovered a dark secret and is using it for blackmail. Anyone who comes close to uncovering the blackmailer's identity is swiftly dispatched.

 As the joys of politics wear off, Fen sets his mind to the mystery but finds himself caught up in a tangled tale of eccentric psychiatrists, escaped lunatics, beautiful women and lost heirs.

 Erudite, eccentric and entirely delightful - Before Morse, Oxford's murders were solved by Gervase Fen, the most unpredictable detective in classic crime fiction.

Buried for Pleasure

Volume 1 of Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen novels, collected together for the first time.

 THE CASE OF THE GILDED FLYA pretty but spiteful young actress with a talent for destroying men's lives is found dead in a college room just yards from the office of the unconventional Oxford don Gervase Fen. Anyone who knew the girl would gladly have shot her, but can Fen discover who did shoot her, and why?

 HOLY DISORDERSHoly Disorders takes Oxford don and part time detective Gervase Fen to the town of Tolnbridge, where he is happily bounding around with a butterfly net until the cathedral organist is murdered, giving Fen the chance to play sleuth. The man didn't have an enemy in the world, and even his music was inoffensive: could he have fallen foul of a nest of German spies or of the local coven of witches, ominously rumoured to have been practising since the 17th century?

 THE MOVING TOYSHOPRichard Cadogan, poet and would-be bon vivant, arrives for what he thinks will be a relaxing holiday in the city of dreaming spires. Late one night, however, he discovers the dead body of an elderly woman lying in a toyshop and is coshed on the head. When he comes to, he finds that the toyshop has disappeared and been replaced with a grocery store. The police are understandably skeptical of this tale but Richard's former schoolmate, Gervase Fen, knows that truth is stranger than fiction (in fiction, at least). Soon the intrepid duo are careening around town in hot pursuit of clues but just when they think they understand what has happened, the disappearing-toyshop mystery takes a sharp turn.

THE COMPLETE GERVASE FEN VOLUME 1 - The Case of the Gilded Fly, Holy Disorders, The Moving Toyshop

As inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P. G. Wodehouse - discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin. Crime fiction at its quirkiest and best.

 Richard Cadogan, poet and would-be bon vivant, arrives for what he thinks will be a relaxing holiday in the city of dreaming spires. Late one night, however, he discovers the dead body of an elderly woman lying in a toyshop and is coshed on the head. When he comes to, he finds that the toyshop has disappeared and been replaced with a grocery store. The police are understandably skeptical of this tale but Richard's former schoolmate, Gervase Fen (Oxford professor and amateur detective), knows that truth is stranger than fiction (in fiction, at least). Soon the intrepid duo are careening around town in hot pursuit of clues but just when they think they understand what has happened, the disappearing-toyshop mystery takes a sharp turn.

 Erudite, eccentric and entirely delightful - Before Morse, Oxford's murders were solved by Gervase Fen, the most unpredictable detective in classic crime fiction.

The Moving Toyshop

This annual anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a short novel by Christianna Brand.

 Mystery stories have been around for centuries-there are whodunits, whydunits and howdunits, including locked-room puzzles, detective stories without detectives, and crimes with a limited choice of suspects.

 Countless volumes of such stories have been published, but some are still 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 .

Bodies from the Library 4 - Lost Tales of Mystery and Suspense from the Golden Age of Detection

The complete collection of published short stories of Edmund Crispin, together in one volume for the first time.

 Forty-six detective stories by the great Edmund Crispin - a splendid hoard! Most of them feature his Oxford don, Gervase Fen, and Inspector Humbleby of Scotland Yard, and the cases turn upon a fine assortment of clues - dandelions and hearing aids, a bloodstained cat and a Leonardo drawing, a corpse with an alibi and a truly poisonous letter .

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