A splendidly pleasing work of literary detection that sometimes reads as fast as a novel as it unveils the real world behind the pages of mystery fiction. Himself an esteemed practitioner of the English school of crime, Edwards is also the archivist of the famed Detection Club, and pouring through its archives he has reconstructed its history and the lives of all the famous writers who joined it and participated in it for decades (it is still active to this day but if I were to reveal details of its events, I would be committing a crime...). If you thought crime writing was sometimes far-fetched, you should read about the secret lives and personalities rersponsible for some of your favourite novels! Feminists, gay and lesbians, Socialists, Marxists, solicitors and rakes, clerks and adventurers: the social strata behind what is now considered the Golden Age of British Crime proves fascinating and Edwards' detective work is invaluable. It will make you want to read Christie, Chesterton, A.A. Milne and so many others all over again. Which is a good thing in my book. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
| Primary Genre | Biographies & Autobiographies |
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