Miraculous Mysteries and Continental Crimes

I'm delighted to have received my author copies of Miraculous Mysteries, my latest anthology in the British Library's Crime Classics series. The book is due out in a few weeks' time, but I thought I'd whet the appetite of locked room fans by telling you something about it now. And the first thing to say is that I've dedicated it to the memory of the late Bob Adey, from whose superb and truly unique book Locked Room Murders I have derived a vast amount of information and pleasure.

Bob collaborated on the production of one or two locked room mystery anthologies himself, and I hope and believe that he would have approved of this collection of stories dealing with a wide variety of impossible crimes. I've included the work of several major authors, and although this particular book does not include anything by the American maestro John Dickson Carr, it's not impossible (so to speak) that future BL anthologies will feature his work.

As usual with these anthologies, I've aimed to include some stories that are likely to be unfamiliar even to those well versed in the genre. Thus there are contributions from E.Charles Vivian, Grenville Robbins, and Marten Cumberland (best remembered as the creator of Saturnin Dax). I really enjoyed putting this one together, and I'm optimistic that it will encourage even those who aren't Golden Age fans or enthused about locked rooms to sample the delights of this very enjoyable form of the crime story.

In the early summer, there will be another Classic Crime anthology. This time it's Continental Crimes.- stories set in Europe long before the EU, let alone Brexit. I'm delighted to say that an Agatha Christie story - not an especially well-known one - is included, as well as stories by authors as diverse as Ian Hay, E. Phillips Oppenheim, J. Jefferson Farjeon, H.C. Bailey,, and Michael Gilbert.

Finally, a bit of news. I've just reached an agreement to compile two more Classic Crime anthologies - and that will take the total of story collections in the series to twelve. The BL and I are delighted by the way the book-buying public has responded to the short stories as well as to the novels (Crimson Snow,for instance, has done wonderfully well, with very good sales and equally gratifying reviews). And I can promise that there are some real treats in the books that are yet to come.