Monday 13 June 2016

Bodies from the Library

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I'm back home - briefly -after an exhilarating trip to London for the second Bodies from the Library conference at the British Library. This was a highly successful event, one in which I was delighted to take part, and during the afternoon coffee break one of the attendees made things even more memorable by kindly telling me that she'd just heard that The Golden Age of Murder has been shortlisted for the Macavity award from Mystery Readers International. Not so long ago, if you'd told me that a book of mine would win three awards and be listed for three more, I'd have thought you were pulling my leg in a rather cruel way. But yes, it has actually happened...

Less of a surprise were two announcements about personal projects of mine which I'm very excited about. For one day only, copies of the new edition of Anthony Berkeley's The Poisoned Chocolates Case, a title in the British Library's Crime Classics series, were on sale - official publication is in October. And this edition contains not only an intro that I've written, but more importantly, a seventh solution (in addition to the six solutions Berkeley came up with) by Christianna Brand, first published in the US in the 70s. And there is a brand new solution written by me. This is a project that was, for me, enormous fun, and a large number of copies of the book were sold on the day. More about this one in October...

During my conversation with Rob Davies of the British Library, we also announced that next year will see the publication of my new non-fiction book The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books. This book has occupied a good deal of my time over the past 18 months, and I recently finished work on the manuscript. It's very different from The Golden Age of Murder, even though there is an element of overlap in terms of the period covered, and I hope that crime fans will find it full of interesting - and often unexpected - material.

The first session of the day featured another book with which I'm very happy to be associated. This is The Sinking Admiral, by the Detection Club. Simon Brett, who masterminded the book, discussed it with me, and two other contributors, Janet Laurence and Stella Duffy. It was also announced that Stella has been awarded an OBE, and that she has been engaged to write a completion of an unfinished Ngaio Marsh novel: something to look forward to. As for The Sinking Admiral, it sold out by mid-morning.

Tony Medawar talked about Anthony Berkeley, while Len Tyler and Susan Moody championed Philip MacDonald and Georgette Heyer, and Barry Pike discussed the work of H.C. Bailey. Dolores Gordon-Smith focused on G.K. Chesterton, while Jennifer Henderson, biographer of Josephiine Tey, talked about Tey as a Scottish writer. John Curran discussed the Collins Crime Club - and his book on the subject is another that will be eagerly anticipated. Finally there was a group panel in which we picked favourite screen adaptations of Golden Age novels.

Dinners on the Friday and Saturday evenings provided plenty of opportunities for socialising, and I was delighted to meet Taku Ashibe, from the Honkaku Mystery Writers' Club of Japan, (modelled on the Detection Club) who presented me with several books, including one of his own. Saturday itself was extremely hectic, and although I had the chance to chat to a number of attendees, there simply wasn't time for as many conversations as I'd have liked. But you can't have everything, and overall this was a wonderful day, full of good things, and pleasant people. What more could you want?

The photo at the top of this post appears on an account of the day on Puzzle Doctor's splendid blog, In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel. Further perspectives on the day may be found on the similaly enjoyable Past Offences blog and Cross Examining Crime.
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11 comments:

Fiona said...

It was a truly wonderful day, Martin. Being one of the exalted you may not realise what a happy, friendly atmosphere there is among the audience of 'unknowns' - I have no idea who my neighbours were but conversation flourished with a common general interest even though we might have disagreed on specifics. I greatly enjoyed reading half of The Drowning Admiral on the slow train home and finished it yesterday, then promptly devoured The Poisoned Chocolates (fortunately without harm). Each time I have seen the book mentioned there has been a distant memory stirring: when I read that it had also been published as a short story I finally placed it in an omnibus collection of 'Detection, Mystery and Horror' edited by Dorothy L Sayers which I bought nearly 50 years ago and haven't read for years. I loved your final solution. Next up is the Tey biography.

Martin Edwards said...

It was great to see you, Fiona, and I'm delighted you enjoyed the event, and the atmosphere. I'm so glad you like my solution to the Poisoned Chocs! I've been wondering how people will react, though I did test it out in draft form on John Curran, who was extremely positive.

Fiona said...

Oops - silly me!!! Not Drowning, but Sinking... Please edit for me!

Martin Edwards said...

I don't think Blogger lets me edit comments, Fiona, but as a master of the typo, no worries! I'm sure you figured out which chapter I wrote and I hope you enjoyed the story as a whole.

J said...

Sounds like a wonderful event, and the news of coming books is very exciting!

Sergio (Tipping My Fedora) said...

Really sorry to have missed it (again - 2 years running!) Hope it happens again in 2017 ...

Martin Edwards said...

Thanks, J. Sergio, it's looking likely that Bodies will indeed return next year, and I'm sure you'd enjoy it.

Fiona said...

(Sorry, Martin, it's me again! The second and third links at the end don't work

Martin Edwards said...

Master of the dodgy link as well as of the typo! Thanks - now fixed (I hope...)

J F Norris said...

"...we also announced that next year will see the publication of my new non-fiction book The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books."

That sounds like another winner. Be prepared for more accolades and award nominations. Eager to read that one as well as the new Berkeley edition with the two new solutions. Oh, the waiting...

Martin Edwards said...

Thanks, John. The BL book is one I'm very happy with, but we'll see how readers more impartial than me react! I really loved writing the new solution to that choc puzzle.