crime and spy fiction from Poe up to 1950

Some recent vintage crime reviews from my book blog:

J.J. Connington’s The Brandon Case (AKA The Ha-Ha Case), a very good Sir Clinton Driffield mystery from 1934.

William Ard's You’ll Get Yours, an excellent 1952 hardboiled/noir tale.

End of the Line by Dolores and Bert Hitchens, a terrific police procedural/railway mystery from 1957.

Charles Forsyte's Murder with Minarets, a very good 1968 murder mystery set in the British Embassy in Ankara. It makes fine use of its exotic setting.

Elspeth Huxley's Murder on Safari, a very entertaining detective thriller set in Africa.

Gideon’s Day the first of John Creasey's twenty-one Commander George Gideon crime novels published under the pseudonym J.J. Marric. The series is widely regarded as being his greatest achievement and Gideon’s Day (published in 1955) is certain intriguing.

Here's the link to my review.

Published in 1935 About the Murder of a Startled Lady is one of the handful of extremely interesting mysteries penned by Anthony Abbot. Very much worth a look. Here's the link to my review.

The Sweepstake Murders is one of the best of J.J. Cannington's marvellous Sir Clinton Driffield mysteries. Here's the link to my review.

Black Orchids is one of Rex Stout's early Nero Wolfe novellas, and it's absolutely splendid entertainment. Here's the link to my review.

The Black Camel may be the best of all the Charlie Chan novels. Here's the link to my review.

Mr Jelly's Business (also published as Murder Down Under) was a fairly early entry in Arthur W. Upfield’s cycle of mysteries featuring the half-Aboriginal Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte (universally known as Bony). This book came out in 1937.

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Here's the link to my review of H.C. Bailey’s delightful detective short story collection Mr Fortune Speaking.

Stuart Palmer’s The Puzzle of the Blue Banderilla hasn't quite turned me into a devoted fan of Hildegarde Withers but it's still an enjoyable mystery. Here's the link to my review.

Christopher Bush is a once almost forgotten golden age detective story writer who has been rediscovered in a fairly big way recently. The Case of the Three Strange Faces is one of his strongest books. Here's the link to my review.