Table of Contents

The stir outside the Cafe Royal, Clarence Rook; silver blaze, Arthur Conan Doyle; the mysterious visitor, R.Austin Freeman; the case of Laker, absconded, Arthur Morrison; the oracle of the dog, G.K.Chesterton; the genuine tabard, E.C.Bentley; the dead leaves, H.C.Bailey; the mystery of the sleeping car express, Freeman Wills Crofts; the purple line, John Rhode; solved by inspection, Ronald Knox; the henpecked murderer, Roy Vickers; superintendent Wilson's holiday, G.D.H.Cole and M.Cole; the witness for the prosecution, Agatha Christie; the avenging chance, Anthony Berkeley; murder at Pentecost, Dorothy L.Sayers; death on the air, Ngaio Marsh; Miss Burnside's dilemma, Cyril Hare; Daisy Bell, Gladys Mitchell; three is a lucky number, Margery Allingham; the assassins' club, Nicholas Blake; the house in Goblin Wood, Carter Dickson; the furies, Michael Innes; the hornets' nest, Christianna Brand; the murderer, Julian Symons; the killing of Michael Finnegan, Michael Gilbert; murder at St.Oswald's, Michael Underwood; Great Aunt Allie's flypapers, P.D.James; Baker dies, Edmund Crispin and Geoffrey Bush; a dangerous thing, H.R.F.Keating; thornapple, Ruth Rendell; the Oxford way of death, Robert Barnard; bring back the cat, Reginald Hill; how's your mother?, Simon Brett.

About the Author

Freelance critic, reviewer and writer; author of You're a Brick, Angela! and The Lady Investigates (OPB 1986) both with Mary Cadogan

Reviews

'highly entertaining' John Mortimer, Mail on Sunday
'Essential for all armchair detectives, this collection of the cream of crime includes stories by Agatha Christie and P D James.' Publishing News
'According to W.H. Auden, reading detective stories is an addiction like tobacco or alcohol ... and this new collection of 33 stories will satisfy the most desperate of cravings.' Evening Advertiser
'in terms of sheer enjoyment ... a great deal to offer ... excellent introduction' Jeremy Lewis, New Statesman & Society
'Only la creme de la creme of detective fiction here ... a whole autumn's worth of the most enduringly popular stories with brief notes on each author.' Keith Taylor, Bristol Evening Post
'addicts should find plenty in this collection to keep them happy ... enjoyable book' Books
'an eminently representative volume ... a nice balance between Golden Age and Modern Age' Stephen Walsh, Oxford Times
'highly entertaining' John Mortimer, Mail on Sunday
'an anthology to set the pulse racing ' Barry Forshaw, Islington Gazette
'remind the reader of old favourites while introducing unfamiliar stories that may well become favourites of the future' Ion Trewin, Hampstead & Highgate Express
'In Patricia Craig's collection, covering roughly a century, there is something for everyone already addicted to the genre plus a risk of chronic intoxication for those who come new to it.' Matthew Coady, Guardian
'a selection that covers the history, development and best examples of some branch of writing ... There is no better anthology of this kind in existence.' F.E. Pardoe, Birmingham Post
'Thirty-six of the top writers entertain with fascinating and intriguing stories. Ideal to settle down with in a comfortable armchair in front of a roaring fire.' Yorkshire Gazette & Herald
'One can but raise a glass of mulled wine in salutation to the indefatigable Ms Craig for the assiduity and perspicacity of her gleanings and for the tender loving care with which she has presented them ... there are some classics of the genre to be found among these pages.' Michael Painter, Irish Times
'the collection affords an interesting overview of the development of the genre ... All these gems appear in other collections; unique to this one is the charm of finding them bound like a bible in OUP's august covers.' Michael Dibdin, Independent on Sunday
'meaty anthology' Rachel Laurence, Daily Post
'She has done well ... to include more or less every conceivable variation of plot and point of view.' Times Literary Supplement