Bodies from the Library 2
Selected Lost Stories of Mystery and Suspense by Masters of the Golden Age
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Narrated by:
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Philip Bretherton
About this listen
This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together 13 tales from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Gervase Fen novella by Edmund Crispin that has never previously been published.
With the Golden Age of detective fiction shining ever more brightly thanks to the recent reappearance of many forgotten crime novels, Bodies from the Library offers a rare opportunity to read lost stories from the first half of the twentieth century by some of the genre’s most accomplished writers.
This second volume is a showcase for popular figures of the Golden Age, in stories that even their most ardent fans will not be aware of. It includes uncollected and unpublished stories by acclaimed queens and kings of crime fiction, from Helen Simpson, Ethel Lina White, E.C.R. Lorac, Christianna Brand, Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers, to S.S. Van Dine, Jonathan Latimer, Clayton Rawson, Cyril Alington and Antony and Peter Shaffer (writing as Peter Antony).
This audiobook also features two full-length novellas – one from a rare magazine by Q Patrick, the other an unpublished Gervase Fen mystery by Edmund Crispin, written at the height of his career. It concludes with another remarkable discovery: ‘The Locked Room’ by Dorothy L. Sayers, a never-before-published case for Lord Peter Wimsey!
Selected and introduced by Tony Medawar, who also provides fascinating pen portraits of each author, Bodies from the Library 2 is an indispensable collection for any crime fan.
©2019 Tony Medawar (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
‘Ingenious, unique and perfectly curated’ Dorset Book Detective
‘This is one of the best mixed anthologies I’ve come across … If you’re already a vintage crime fan, then this is one to grab; and if you’re new to the genre, then you’ll find this a very enjoyable way to introduce yourself to some of the greats. Highly recommended!’ FictionFanBlog
‘Rather like a box of chocolates … The sheer variety of tales means there will be something for everyone.’ Cross Examining Crime
‘The prize gems of this entertaining and informative anthology must be a previously unpublished Dorothy L. Sayers (featuring Lord Peter Wimsey) and Edmund Crispin (featuring Gervase Fen). If for those alone, it is worth stepping over the bodies in the library to grab this volume off the shelf.’ Mike Ripley
‘I think I've learned more from [Tony Medawar’s] researches than from the research of any other Golden Age fan’ Martin Edwards, doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.co.uk
‘A stunning array of lost stories’ Puzzle Doctor, classicmystery.wordpress.com
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Story
The reverend Dodd, vicar of the quiet Cornish village of Boscawen, spends his evenings reading detective stories by the fireside - but heaven forbid that the shadow of any real crime should ever fall across his seaside parish. But the vicar's peace is shattered one stormy night when Julius Tregarthan, an ill-tempered magistrate, is found at his house in Boscawen with a bullet through his head. The local police inspector is baffled by the lack of clues.
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A Good Old Fashioned Who Done It
- By C. Rosser on 05-12-16
By: John Bude
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Death Makes a Prophet
- By: John Bude
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Welworth Garden City in the 1940s is a forward-thinking town where free spirits find a home - vegetarians, socialists, and an array of exotic religious groups. Chief among these are the Children of Osiris, led by the eccentric High Prophet, Eustace K. Mildmann. The cult is a seething hotbed of petty resentment, jealousy and dark secrets - which eventually lead to murder. The stage is set for one of Inspector Meredith's most bizarre and exacting cases.
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Stereotypes
- By Katherine on 05-11-19
By: John Bude
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Lord Peter Wimsey: Novels 1-3
- By: Dorothy L. Sayers
- Narrated by: Graham Scott
- Length: 26 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The first three mysteries for Dorothy L. Sayers' aristocratic sleuth: first, a body is discovered in a Battersea bathroom, wearing nothing but a pair of pince-nez, on the same night that financier Sir Reuben Levy disappears from his Park Lane home. Then, Wimsey returns to England when his brother, the Duke of Denver, is accused of murdering the fiance of their sister, Lady Mary, and a trial in the House of Lords looms; and finally, an overheard conversation in a restaurant begins an investigation of the strangely premature death of wealthy and terminally ill old lady Miss Agatha Dawson.
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Love Lord Peter
- By Mav's mom on 10-16-24
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The Case of the Demented Spiv
- The Inspector Littlejohn Mysteries, Book 2
- By: George Bellairs
- Narrated by: Antony Ferguson
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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It's a rainy, uneventful evening in the Oddfellows' Arms until a man bursts into the pub, clearly unstable, and ranting about a body in Fennings' Mill. The police investigate and stumble upon a body-the face smeared with theatrical make-up and a false mustache pasted neatly over the lip. Once the national news descends, Inspector Faddiman calls in Inspector Littlejohn to help him uncover the dark, hidden secrets in this quiet, provincial town. Soon it becomes clear that a lot of people can't, and won't tell the truth.
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Delightful
- By Ms Peach on 06-02-19
By: George Bellairs
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The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Hugh Fraser, Christopher Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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A murder trial takes a diabolical turn when the wife of the accused takes the stand.... A woman's sixth sense - and a loaded revolver - signal premonitions of doom.... A stranded motorist seeks refuge in a remote mansion and is greeted with a dire warning.... Detective Hercule Poirot faces his greatest challenge when his services are enlisted - by the victim - in a bizarre locked-room murder.
From the stunning title story (which inspired the classic film thriller) to the rarest gems in detective fiction, these eleven tales of baffling crime and brilliant deduction showcase Agatha Christie at her dazzling best.
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Did not enjoy listening to Christopher Lee.
- By ButterflyRose on 06-05-19
By: Agatha Christie
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The Barrakee Mystery
- By: Arthur W. Upfield
- Narrated by: Peter Hosking
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Why was the redoubtable King Henry, an aborigine from Western Australia, killed during a thunderstorm in New South Wales? What was the feud that led to murder after nineteen long years had passed? And who was the woman who saw the murder and kept silent? This first story of Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte, the half-aborigine detective, takes him to a sheep station in the Darling River bush country where he encounters those problems he understands so well... mixed blood and divided loyalties.
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Story from another time....
- By VtAdrienne on 06-15-15
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Bulldog Drummond
- By: Sapper
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Demobilised officer, finding peace incredibly tedious, would welcome diversion. Legitimate if possible; excitement essential. When Captain Hugh Drummond, DSO, MC placed that advertisement, he was looking for adventure. What he finds is an international plot headed by the greatest criminal mastermind in the world.
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Fantastic Narration
- By nooch85 on 07-21-18
By: Sapper
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The Lodger
- A Tale of the London Fog
- By: Marie Belloc Lowndes
- Narrated by: Lorna Raver
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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An elderly couple living in Victorian London struggle against despair as their small resources dwindle. When an eccentric and mysterious gentleman answers their advertisement for a lodger, they celebrate. But as women begin dying at the hands of "The Avenger", they start to suspect something too horrific for words.
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enjoyable
- By Pamela on 06-10-04
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Love of Life, and Other Stories
- By: Jack London
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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John Griffith "Jack" London was an American author, journalist, and social activist. He was a pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction and was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone. This collection includes "Love of Life", "A Day's Lodging", "The White Man's Way", "The Story of Keesh", "The Unexpected", "Brown Wolf", "The Sun-Dog Trail", and "Negore, the Coward".
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Review of Love of Life and Other Stories
- By Pre Paid Gift Card on 05-25-16
By: Jack London
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The Santa Klaus Murder
- By: Mavis Doriel Hay
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin, Anne Dover
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Aunt Mildred declared that no good could come of the Melbury family Christmas gatherings. So when Sir Osmond Melbury, the family patriarch, is discovered - by a guest dressed as Santa Klaus - with a bullet in his head on Christmas Day, the festivities are plunged into chaos. Nearly everybody stands to reap some sort of benefit from his death excepting Santa Klaus, the one person who seems to have had every opportunity to fire the shot.
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Golden Age Holiday Mystery
- By Jerri C on 12-06-15
By: Mavis Doriel Hay
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The Eighth Detective
- A Novel
- By: Alex Pavesi
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Grant McAllister, a professor of mathematics, once sat down and worked all the rules out – and wrote seven perfect detective stories to demonstrate. But that was 30 years ago. Now Grant lives in seclusion on a remote Mediterranean island, counting the rest of his days. Until Julia Hart, a brilliant, ambitious editor knocks on his door. Julia wishes to republish his book, and together they must revisit those old stories: An author hiding from his past and an editor keen to understand it.
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GOING IN MY TOP 10!!
- By Shaelyn on 08-07-20
By: Alex Pavesi
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Pietr the Latvian
- Inspector Maigret, Book 1
- By: Georges Simenon, David Bellos - translator
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The first audiobook which appeared in Georges Simenon's famous Maigret series, in a gripping new translation by David Bellos.Inevitably Maigret was a hostile presence in the Majestic. He constituted a kind of foreign body that the hotel's atmosphere could not assimilate. Not that he looked like a cartoon policeman. He didn't have a moustache and he didn't wear heavy boots. His clothes were well cut and made of fairly light worsted. He shaved every day and looked after his hands. But his frame was proletarian. He was a big, bony man.
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Long live Maigret
- By Adeliese Baumann on 11-19-14
By: Georges Simenon, and others
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Quick Curtain
- By: Alan Melville
- Narrated by: Ben Allen
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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When Douglas B. Douglas - leading light of the London theatre - premiers his new musical extravaganza, Blue Music, he is sure the packed house will be dazzled by the performance. What he couldn't predict is the death of his star, Brandon Baker, onstage in the middle of act two. Soon another member of the cast is found dead, and it seems to be a straightforward case of murder followed by suicide.
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Loved it - very funny and very clever!
- By Elizabeth A. Tierney on 05-30-16
By: Alan Melville
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Summertime—as the temperature rises, so does the potential for evil. From Cornwall to the French Riviera, whether against a background of Delphic temples or English country houses, Agatha Christie’s most famous characters solve complicated puzzles as the stakes heat up. Pull up a deckchair and enjoy plot twists and red herrings galore from the bestselling fiction writer of all time.
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Inspector Rudge does not encounter many cases of murder in the sleepy seaside town of Whynmouth. But when an old sailor lands a rowing boat containing a fresh corpse with a stab wound to the chest, the Inspector's investigation immediately comes up against several obstacles. The vicar, whose boat the body was found in, is clearly withholding information, and the victim's niece has disappeared. There is clearly more to this case than meets the eye - even the identity of the victim is called into doubt.
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great concept. great puzzle mystery
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The Best Crime Stories Ever Told
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When acclaimed mystery writer Dorothy L. Sayers first began compiling anthologies of the best crime stories in the 1920s and ’30s, the genre was in the flush of its first golden age. While it is hard to imagine today - after every possible mystery plot has been told, retold, subverted, and played straight again by hundreds of writers over nearly a century - in Sayers’s day there were still twists that had never been seen, and machinations of crime that would shock even jaded Jazz Age fans.
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Lot of duds, some gems
- By Regina on 11-09-13
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Blood Sacrifice
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A short story from the British Library Crime Classic collection Final Acts. Detective novelist Dorothy L. Sayers presents a look at morality and motive as playwright John Scales grows angrier and more resentful towards the actor who reinvented his script, and must decide how far he will allow his hatred to take him.
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Thank You British Library Crime Classics
- By John on 12-09-24
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Poirot Investigates
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Poirot Investigates is a collection of short stories written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK in March 1924. In the 11 stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a myriad of mysteries involving greed, jealousy, and revenge.
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An Entertaining Collection
- By Barbara on 04-09-21
By: Agatha Christie
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Wicked Spirits: Mysteries, Spine Chillers and Lost Tales of the Supernatural
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Summertime—as the temperature rises, so does the potential for evil. From Cornwall to the French Riviera, whether against a background of Delphic temples or English country houses, Agatha Christie’s most famous characters solve complicated puzzles as the stakes heat up. Pull up a deckchair and enjoy plot twists and red herrings galore from the bestselling fiction writer of all time.
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Mystery Maven
- By Mystery Maven on 05-23-23
By: Agatha Christie
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The Floating Admiral
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Inspector Rudge does not encounter many cases of murder in the sleepy seaside town of Whynmouth. But when an old sailor lands a rowing boat containing a fresh corpse with a stab wound to the chest, the Inspector's investigation immediately comes up against several obstacles. The vicar, whose boat the body was found in, is clearly withholding information, and the victim's niece has disappeared. There is clearly more to this case than meets the eye - even the identity of the victim is called into doubt.
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great concept. great puzzle mystery
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Lot of duds, some gems
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Thank You British Library Crime Classics
- By John on 12-09-24
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Poirot Investigates
- A Hercule Poirot Collection (Hercule Poirot Mysteries, Book 3)
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Poirot Investigates is a collection of short stories written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK in March 1924. In the 11 stories, famed eccentric detective Hercule Poirot solves a myriad of mysteries involving greed, jealousy, and revenge.
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An Entertaining Collection
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Lord Peter Wimsey: BBC Radio Drama Collection Volume 2
- Four BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisations
- By: Dorothy L. Sayers
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- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
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Ian Carmichael stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in the much-acclaimed radio dramatisations of: Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, Strong Poison, Five Red Herrings and Have His Carcase.
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Fantastic Story & Voice Actors - Horrifying Music
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Heads You Lose
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As war rages in Europe, the citizens of London flee to the country. At Pigeonsford, a group of guests plays cards - but Grace Morland knows the strong emotions that lurk beneath the placid social surface. She's painfully in love with Stephen Pendock, the squire of Pigeonsford, but Pendock's smitten with young beauty Francesca Hart. One afternoon, Fran debuts a new hat, and Grace's jealousy gets the better of her. She exclaims, "I wouldn't be seen dead in a ditch in a thing like that!" She will soon be proven wrong. Grace is found dead with the hat on her head.
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A Murder Mystery As Only The Brits Write
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The Lord Peter Wimsey Collection: Books 1-5
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This audiobook includes unabridged recordings of the first four Lord Peter Wimsey detective novels, read by Audie-award winning narrator Jonathan Keeble. A must-listen for fans of Agatha Christie's Poirot and Margery Allingham's Campion Mysteries, Lord Peter Wimsey is the immortal amateur sleuth created by Dorothy L Sayers.
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Wonderful narrator. A treat to listen.
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Poirot's Finest Cases
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John Moffatt stars as the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The ABC Murders: A chilling letter sets the sleuth on the trail of an enigmatic killer. After the Funeral: A wealthy businessman is dead, and his sister thinks it was murder. Death on the Nile: Poirot is in Egypt when a chilling murder takes place. Peril at End House: Whilst on holiday, the sleuth encounters a young woman, a hat and a bullet. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: Mrs Farrars is found dead, one year after the death of her husband.
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Excellent performances
- By Customer on 01-25-15
By: Agatha Christie
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Miss Marple: The Complete Short Stories
- A Miss Marple Collection
- By: Agatha Christie
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Miss Marple: The Complete Story Collection gathers together in one magnificent volume all of Agatha Christie’s short stories featuring her beloved intrepid investigator, Miss Marple. It’s an unparalleled compendium of murder, mayhem, mystery, and detection that represents some of the finest short form fiction in the crime fiction field, and is an essential omnibus for Christie fans.
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Classic Miss Marple - uneven narration
- By Lyric G. Eads on 11-09-22
By: Agatha Christie
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The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Murder on the Links
- Agatha Christie's First Two Hercule Poirot Novels
- By: Agatha Christie
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- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Agatha Christie's first two Poirot novels, narrated with a general-American accent. The Mysterious Affair at Styles: Someone has poisoned wealthy Emily Inglethorp. But who? And how? Everyone suspects Emily's young husband, Alfred...and Alfred seems to be actually trying to get arrested and charged.... The Murder on the Links: Poirot comes to France in response to a desperate plea for help to find his client already murdered - stabbed in the back and lying in an open grave. Brusque, arrogant Inspector Giraud thinks he knows who did it.
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The reader
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What listeners say about Bodies from the Library 2
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- John
- 07-19-19
After Volume One, Something of a Disappointment
The highest points are the four longer pieces. Christianna Brand’s “NO FACE” is chilling and expertly constructed. “Exit Before Midnight” transfers that staple of the Golden Age—a collection of suspects at a house party—to a New York office building, while the Edmund Crispin tale, “The Hours of Darkness”, gives us a house party served up with his trademark humor. The final story by Dorothy Sayers is a classic house party with a classic problem—a locked room—and a solution most of us have seen before. Nevertheless, Sayers is Sayers; the way the story is constructed, as well as the style with which it is told, are well worth the 50-some-odd minutes of your time.
As that mention of NYC suggests, this collection, though concentrating on the British Golden Age of Detective Fiction, pays homage to the parallel development of the Hardboiled School in America. “A Joke’s a Joke”, by Jonathan Latimer, is a good punch-in-the-gut sample as is, in its English way, “Hotel Evidence”. Both manage to hold you without a body, library or detective in sight. And the same is true of the madcap comedy of errors, “The Adventure of the Dorset Squire”, by C. A. Allington.
Finally, there’s “The Almost Perfect Murder Case”, by American S. S. Van Dine. Whether Hardboiled or Golden, it’s so good that I looked him up on Audible immediately, only to discover that the three recordings available are in what sounds like, to my untutored ear…Chinese.
However, some of the other shorter pieces just don’t deliver. The Agatha Christie is disappointing—I’m guessing it’s simply too short, making the dénouement seem rushed. And the same is true of E. C. R. Lorac’s “Chance is a Great Thing”. All I can say about “Before and After”, by Peter Antony, is that it didn’t hit me right—maybe your experience will be different. Clayton Rawson’s “The Mental Broadcast” features an older magician explaining a card trick to his younger assistant and… well, that’s it. Finally, besides being more than a little silly, Ethel Lina White’s “White Cap” features Bretherton’s awful attempt at a Canadian accent. Yet that last pan comes with a caveat: two of White’s novels became classic Hitchcock films—and both are available through Audible—so I’ll probably give her another hearing.
The final score: eight good or even great stories and five duds. Not a bad average, but something of a disappointment after the first “Bodies” collection, which was a treasure trove: Christianna Brand, Georgette Heyer, John Rhode, Cyril Hare, Freeman Wills Crofts, Nicholas Blake (aka poet C. Day Lewis) and A. A. Milne (yes, that A. A. Milne) and others—all names available through Audible. This effort is more uneven. Still, except in the case of S. S. Van Dine it will serve as a good guide to further listening. And Philip Bretherton, aside from that Canadian accent, is his usual superb self at the mic, even delivering creditable American voices.
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- Kay S.
- 11-17-19
Okay but not the best.
After Agatha Christie, most of these pale in comparison. Okay to pass the time but not spellbinding.
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- J-me
- 08-10-19
Wish I could make this a 10 star.
Can’t speak highly enough of this annotated collection of great but mostly uncelebrated short stories edited by Tony Medawar.
At the end of each story Mr Medawar tell the listener some history about author and background on the story.
I have sought out a number of works by the authors presented and my listening pleasure has leaped 10 fold.
I recommend this book heartily. But when you are listening keep a pen and paper handy to catch the authors ananym and research more books.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Anna Teague
- 01-30-21
Love these old short stories...
It’s too bad that the short story has somewhat fallen out of favor... especially the mystery genre which is well served by the format where character development isn’t as necessary and where contrivance only highlights the cleverness of the thing... Since some of these stories are rare they aren’t the stories best weathered by time but I like listening to them and getting to know a few of the more obscure authors. Glad that Mr Medaware dug these up and I will continue to purchase the “Bodies” series for as long as the publishers crank them out!
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- Evonne
- 07-12-19
Good
worth the wait... puts us firmly in the golden age of detective stories.. more please!
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4 people found this helpful
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- Marie
- 12-04-19
Not as good as Volume I but enjoyable
A mix of storied by Golden Age of detective fiction writers that often accent what we know about their characters. such as Edmund Crispin's Gervase Fen. There were one or two stories I skipped over, but that is a matter of taste. You might love them. So I won't say which ones. Philip Bretherton is a wonderful narrator. I will have to look for more by him. The author introductions by Tony Medawar are a highlight of the collection.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Customer
- 11-19-19
Disappointment
Bodies from the Library 2 was a disappointment. A number of the stories are not from the Golden Age, and unlike the first collection, a number are mediocre.
If a third volume is planned, I sincerely hope Mr. Medawar’s choices align more closely to the first volume.
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- Gateor
- 06-06-21
just not that good
Bodies in the Library 1 is very good. Book 2 not so good. Kept falling asleep.
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- vwaratin
- 05-29-21
a past to be forgotten
after listening to bftl 1. i expected good things from 2. not so. selected stories generally unsatisfying. 3 top drawer; rest best forgotten
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- Ms Judith Nolan
- 10-14-20
A collection of rubbish stories. Don’t waste your time. I have already done that for you!
I have the distinct impression that this is a desperate attempt to generate a sale. The stories are for the most part, very poorly written. I forced myself to finish the collection in the hope that it would get better. Nope. The narrator did his best. But even that was not enough to salvage the collection.
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