Fannish Fifty: British Library Crime Classics

[smallhobbit]

For someone like me who's a great fan of the Golden Age of Detective stories (basically between the two world wars, but creeping on a bit longer) the books issued by the British Library Crime Classics are brilliant.  These are re-issued stories by authors whose work is either not available at all, or very hard to get reasonable priced copies of.  The covers are frequently taken from railway posters or similar advertisements from the era, although may not entirely tie in with the story within.

There's a new book issued every month, with the titles being released twice a year.  I always find it exciting seeing what the new titles are, and placing pre-orders for any which particularly appeal.  There's almost always a short story collection which I will order, and recently there's been a new book every six months by E C R Lorac, which has also instantly gone on my list.  Then, as a fan of Christmas stories, I will add the Christmas book as well, for reading over the Christmas period.

There are currently 115 titles on the list, and I've read 47 of them - I don't own all of them, some I've borrowed from the library.  And today the next one arrived, Crimes of Cymru which is short stories set in Wales or by Welsh authors edited as always by Martin Edwards.  I'm looking forward to reading it.

Comments

[rusty_armour]

I've been trying to read more Golden Age Detective stories myself, so I was happy to read this post. I haven't managed to read any E C R Lorac yet, but I hope to read some of her books in the future. I like the sound of Crimes of Cymru. I'll have to remember that.

[smallhobbit]

I can thoroughly recommend E C R Lorac - her descriptions of places really give the reader the feeling of being there - and I normally skip through those descriptions. I hope you enjoy some of the British Library Crime Classics - some are better than others, and it always depends on personal taste, but they do give an excellent selection to read.