Continental Crimes (British Library Crime Classics)

Love a good mystery? These are great short mysteries.

There in is a modest decline in story quality over the course ot the book.

Martin Edwards does it again with an excellent selection of short stories. Even one by Conan Doyle I had not known existed. The book arrived timely and in beautiful condition. Great print. Thank you Poison Pen Press and thanks to the seller.

I'm a big fan of the British Library Crime Classics reissues but this one was a bit meh for me (2.75 stars). The stories were fine but none of them was the sort I'll keep in mind much longer than it takes me to read my next book. The gem and other heists in particular had a sameness that surprised me. They can't all be stunners but YMMV. Still, the Introduction and Forwards to each story that Martin Edwards gives were all great (I wasn't surprised). The Christie was one I hadn't come across before so that was nice.Overall, I think if this one is skipped, you'll still have lived a full life reading through the collection. I will of course continue reading these as there are far more wonderful than middling.

Did not particularly like these stories but generally like most books by Martin Edwards.

This is another in the British Library's series of anthologies of vintage crime stories edited by Martin Edwards. This time, the focus is on Continental Europe as the authors take us to casinos in Monte Carlo, catacombs in Rome, castles on the Rhine, in search of the usual murder, mystery and mayhem. To be clear, this is British authors visiting the Continent – I believe there's a new anthology coming along soon containing stories by non-Brits translated into English, some for the first time, which should be fun.I found this collection quite variable in quality. Although there were certainly enough 4 and 5 star stories to keep me entertained, there were also several stories that didn't quite cut it as far as I'm concerned. Partly this is to do with the settings – I freely admit I prefer the traditional English manor house or village, or the foggy streets of London, as the setting for my vintage crime fix. But also it's because sometimes I felt the setting wasn't really brought to life terribly well, or there was a touch too much of that British condescension towards all foreigners.Oddly there were also a couple of stories where the attitude towards (lower-class) women goes well over the out-dated line towards outright misogyny – not a thing I'm normally aware of in vintage crime. Something about going abroad seems to bring out the worst in Brits, I think! I hasten to add that one of these stories was written by a woman, Josephine Bell, who clearly felt that her young female murder victim had brought her fate on herself by her unladylike behaviour in pursuing a man - it actually contains the line “She was asking for it!” The other one was by Michael Gilbert who rounds his story off with the equally astonishing line: “Many a successful marriage has been founded on a good beating.” Well, Mr Gilbert, should you ever propose to me, I'll be sure to give you a sound thrashing before I reply...There's also plenty of good stuff, though. There's the usual mix of well known and more obscure names among the authors, and a nice mix of crimes, from 'impossible' mysteries to revenge murders, blackmail, theft, greed and even the occasional haunting. Here's a little selection of some of the ones I enjoyed most...The New Catacomb by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – I know I nearly always select the Conan Doyle story, but that's because he's such a great storyteller. This one is a lovely little revenge tale which climaxes in a catacomb in Rome. An interesting story well told, and with some effective touches of horror – make sure you don't read it if there's any danger of a power outage...A Bracelet at Bruges by Arnold Bennett – While Kitty is showing her her new expensive bracelet to another woman, it somehow gets dropped into a canal in Bruges and is lost. Or is it? This is more of a howdunit with a neat solution and has a rather charming little romance thrown in. But the reason I enjoyed it so much is that it reminded me of the sheer quality of Arnold Bennett's writing – an author I loved when I was young, though for his fiction rather than crime, and had more or less completely forgotten. Must revisit him!The Room in the Tower by J Jefferson Farjeon – our narrator, a writer, goes to stay in a castle on the Rhine looking for inspiration and atmosphere for his book. Perhaps he gets more atmosphere than he anticipated though when he gets lost in the gloomy corridors and ends up in the haunted tower. The story in this one is a bit weird but Farjeon builds up the tension well and there are some genuinely spooky moments.So even though this isn't my favourite of these anthologies, there's still plenty to enjoy. And I haven't even mentioned the Agatha Christie story...3½ stars for me, so rounded up.NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

I received an e-ARC of this collection of short mystery stories through NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. This book is part of the British Library Crime Classics series. Thank you for the opportunity to read this collection.3.5 starsOne of the interesting aspects of this collection of short stories featuring crime scenes taking place in locations other than “standard” British areas was how many of the authors I was not familiar with. If you enjoy trying out the writings of new authors, these short stories might give you new avenues of exploration. I enjoyed most of the stories so would give the collection a 3.5 star rating; it was too good for just three neutral stars, but not quite enough to round up to four so I was stuck in star rating limbo-land.There are fourteen stories. Here they are listed in the order in which they appear in the book with title and author plus any additional information I found most interesting to me.The New Catacomb by Arthur Conan Doyle – written during the time when Holmes had “died” so this does not feature the famous pairA Bracelet at Bruges by Arnold BennettThe Secret Garden by G. K. Chesterton – a Father Brown "impossible" storyThe Secret of the Magnifique by E. Phillip OppenheimPetit-Jean by Ian HayThe Lover of St. Lys by F. Tennyson Jesse – first appeared in a magazine in 1919Popeau Intervenes by Marie Belloc Lowndes – created her Belgian ex-policeman, ex-spy Hercules Popeau before Agatha Christie began writing about her own extremely similar character. Quite interesting don’t you think?The Perfect Murder by Stacy Aumonier – a favorite author for me, Christopher Fowler, states Aumonier’s stories should be considered classics. Story first appeared in The Strand magazine in 1926.The Room in the Tower by J. Jefferson FarjeonThe Ten-Franc Counter by H. de Vere Stacpoole – first appeared in a magazine in 1926Have You Got Everything You Want? By Agatha Christie – main character is Parker Pyne with the initial appearance in 1933The Long Dinner by H. C. Bailey – a Reggie Fortune story in a collection from 1935The Packet-Boat Murder by Josephine BellVilla Almirante by Michael GilbertThere is definitely something here for most readers who have a decided fondness for the Classic Age of mystery novels. Once again Martin Edwards has put together a themed collection, this time to delight lovers of both short stories and continental European locations as well.

This is the lowest score I have given to any of the short story anthologies in this series. I found several authors to be so much weaker when dealing with their crimes on the continent . Even Conan Doyle failed me this time as did Josephine Bell / Arnold Bennett and Belloc -Lowndes . As for the rest ,I did enjoy the atmospheric WW1 story by Ian Hay and once again Jefferson Farjeon managed some real thrills in his Gothic Castle. For me the best stories were by Michael Gilbert and H C Bailey and E Philips Oppenheim.I do know that many readers find the mannerisms displayed by Bailey's Reggie Fortune to be really irritating --somewhat similar to Lord Peter in many respects ...however the chilling nature of this story outweighed any bother on this front ...I hope there will be some more reissues of this author's better works.I think the main reason for my disappointment was that so many of these writers relied on British settings --whether in the police structure or the atmosphere of a more well known setting or even in how to transcribe the dialogue . As ever the introductions by Martin Edwards were helpful .There have been many comments that readers find the absence of a list in the synopsis to be a nuisance ...there have been some very helpful reviews that have listed all the stories but potential new readers can use the " look inside for free" tab which is on the corner of the dust cover .

It's hard to overestimate the joy the classic mysteries published as part of the British Library Crime Classics series edited by Martin Edwards give the readers. This time the theme is foreign setting of mystery tales written by the British authors of the Golden Age of Crime. It perfectly ties in with an anthology I read previously, with stories by foreign authors. Again, I don't have clear favourites - each story is a little gem (although some of them are not that very short, in fact, and the book has almost 400 pages overall, so there is a lot to read) - but the grand masters, Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, certainly did not disappoint. A huge fat 5 stars, and no mistake!

This is another in the British Library Crime Classics Anthologies edited by Martin Edwards. The stories cover about half a century but are all set on locations throughout Continental Europe.As always with these beautifully curated anthologies the stories vary considerably in length but are all interesting. Some are by well known authors such as the opening tale by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others by much less well known writers.The Conan Doyle story does not feature Sherlock Holmes and as such, is probably less well known. Although reasonably predictable it is atmospheric and opens the collection nicely.A standout story for me was by Marie Belloc Lowndes which features French detective Hercules Popeau. This character was created before the similarly named and much more famous Belgian Hercule Poirot. According to the introduction to the story Marie Belloc Lowndes was unimpressed by the similarity between her detective and Agatha Christie's later creation. Although 'The Lodger' is arguably the most famous work by Lowndes I intend to try and track down further tales featuring M. Popeau as I enjoyed the story offered here very much.Not all of the tales here are straight detective stories, for example, the story by J. Jefferson Farjeon is more akin to a ghost story than a crime mystery but it fits nicely into the collection and adds some variety.As always there are some stories which will appeal more than others to individual readers but that is to be expected in an anthology of this kind. It is likely to introduce new authors which can be investigated further if the reader so desires which is always a good way of finding new books to track down.Martin Edwards always writes an informative introduction to anthologies as a whole and to each individual story giving them a context which adds a great deal to their enjoyment. I read this collection whilst on holiday though it would be just as enjoyable in any environment and I would recommend it to anyone interested in some unusual stories from a bygone era.

Book in excellent condition received in good order

Good read book