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    The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories
    Unavailable
    The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories
    Unavailable
    The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories
    Ebook252 pages3 hours

    The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories

    By Sourcebooks

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder

    "Tired of newspaper headlines that accuse cops of malfeasance or worse? Veteran editor Edwards has the perfect antidote: 15 reprints of stories from 1908 to 1966 showing English police officers at (generally) their most sterling." —Kirkus Reviews

    In classic British crime fiction, dazzling detective work is often the province of a brilliant amateur—whereas the humble police detective cuts a hapless figure. The twelve stories collected here strike a blow for the professionals, with teasing mysteries to challenge a hard-working police officer's persistence and scrupulous attention to detail. As in his previous anthologies for the British Library Crime Classics series, Martin Edwards introduces readers to fascinating neglected gems of British crime writing as well as uncovering lesser-known stories by the great novelists of the golden age. Each of these stories combines realism with entertainment, skilfully blending the conduct of a criminal investigation with a compelling murder-mystery plot.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSourcebooks
    Release dateJan 2, 2018
    ISBN9781464209079
    Unavailable
    The Long Arm of the Law: Classic Police Stories

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    Reviews for The Long Arm of the Law

    3.5/5

    20 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book to review.I liked this mixed bag collection of short stories by Golden Age crime fiction writers. The common element in each story is that the mystery is solved by a policeman, rather than a private detective. In many Golden Age stories a private detective is the problem solver and the police are either relegated to the background, or are completely absent. The stories in this anthology show that policeman can match, or better, their private rivals.It's a bonus that Martin Edwards is the editor selecting the stories and writing introductions to the individual stories. His introductions are a highlight for me in the British Library Classic Crime books. He provides background to both an author's work in general as well as the particular story. The depth of his knowledge is amazing. For me these introductions are the source of further reading suggestions, especially for some of the lesser known writers introduced in this anthology.There are 15 stories in this collection, each of which is entertaining and some have surprise or amusing endings. Not all of the criminals are brought to justice even though they are identified as the one "whodunit". Some of the authors will be familiar to readers of Golden Age crime fiction, e.g. Freeman Wills Croft and Christianna Brand. John Creasey is known for writing under the pseudonym of J.J. Marric. Many of the others, despite being prolific writers, are relatively unknown. All the stories are worth reading. "The Man Who Married Too Often" by Roy Vickers and "The Cleverest Clue" by Laurence Meynell are two particularly interesting and amusing stories that I can commend to readers of this anthology.
    • 4/5
      I tagged this "police procedural" but many of these stories, though involving the police, do not rely on the realistic description of police teamwork that typify the "procedural." However, all these stores where chosen because the detection is done by professional policemen, not amateurs or private detectives. Some of these stories are in fact credible descriptions of the police methods of their time; others like the "Mystery of Chenolt" or "The Man Who Married Too Often" are not. The latter is an inverted story (in which we know the criminal and see the crime from the start) a genre I generally dislike. Overall, though, I liked most of them.
    • 3/5
      The book was sent to me by Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley. Thank you.Long Arm of the Law is an addition to the British Library Crime Classics series. Martin Edwards chooses sixteen short stories published from 1908 to 1966 to illustrate the evolution of the policeman in mysteries. It is not until nearly the end of the volume, with Michael Gilbert’s Old Mister Martin published in 1960, does the familiar police procedural appear. Even though the main character in these stories is a police officer, the stories are really puzzles. The detective resembles Poirot or Wimsey much more than Gideon or Petrella. For example, one story is solved when a character spots three split infinitives in a letter and he and the policeman deduce that the writer was kidnapped rather than on vacation. All are interesting if only for their period charm, but except for Gilbert’s story where Petrella has to solve two crimes related only by location, I found none memorable.
    • 4/5
      An interesting collection of short stories but mystery writers of the Golden Age. The stories are good, easy to read and entertaining. Surely we are not on the level of a Christie or a Sayers but each of them has a well devised plot. A good and entertaining book.
      Many thanks to Netgalley and Poison Pen Press.