CLASSIC CRIME
THE STRANGE CASE OF HARRIET HALL by Moray Dalton
(Dean Street Press £9.99, 224 pp) MORAY DALtON was at the height of her crime creativity in the 1930s when all the certainties of the old social order were under threat.
the story opens with a young woman, jobless and homeless, being rescued by an aunt she has never met who gives her money and offers her a home in the country. But expectation dies when she turns up at a remote address to find no one there.
Mystery turns to horror when her aunt’s body is found in the garden well. the identity of the killer links to other mysteries, not least the hold that the dead woman had over a neighbouring family. With a chief constable desperate to avoid scandal, the case goes to inspector Collier of Scotland Yard, a dedicated policeman whose investigation is obstructed by local ignorance and prejudice. tight plotting and vivid characterisation make for a novel to savour.
BODIES FROM THE LIBRARY Selected by Tony Medawar (Collins Crime Club £12.99, 336 pp)
CRiMe writers from the golden age are famed for their full length novels. But still to be revealed is a veritable treasure trove of classic short stories. Bodies From the Library brings together over a dozen gems — with a few tarnished specimens.
the star line up includes Agatha Christie, Cyril Hare and Georgette Heyer. But the best of the bunch are the second rank authors, who try harder.
A snappy opener about a disputed will sets the standard. A close match is H C Bailey’s lively account of how the indomitable Miss Victoria Pumphrey, with her ancestry dating back to the Conquest, discovered her talent for detection.
the outstanding oddity, outstanding for its ghastliness, is a radio drama from 1940 by the usually reliable Nicholas Blake. this is one that could well have remained undiscovered.
THE TEA HOUSE DETECTIVE: THE CASE OF MISS ELLIOTT by Baroness Orczy
(Pushkin Vertigo £8.99, 288pp) MORe short stories, but this time with only one author. Linked forever to the Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Orczy was also an accomplished crime writer. Her formula was simple but effective.
A young female news reporter (a novelty in the early 1900s) takes herself off to a café where she reflects on a sensational murder which has Scotland Yard baffled.
Sitting nearby is an unprepossessing character who irritates with his habit of knotting and unknotting a length of string. But it turns out that he has a cool, analytical mind that can detect answers to what might appear to be insoluble problems. Moreover, he is only too happy to share his deductions with his dining companion.
While the dozen brain teasers here are cleverly contrived, the repetitive setting can get wearisome. the book works best as a lucky dip for the occasional delight.