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Bodies from the Library cover art

Bodies from the Library

By: Tony Medawar,Agatha Christie,Georgette Heyer,A. A. Milne,NIcholas Blake,Christianna Brand,Philip Bretherton
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Summary

This anthology of rare stories of crime and suspense brings together a selection of rare tales by masters of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction for the first time in book form, including a newly discovered Agatha Christie crime story that has not been seen since 1922.

At a time when crime and thriller writing has once again overtaken the sales of general and literary fiction, Bodies from the Library unearths lost stories from the Golden Age, that period between the World Wars when detective fiction captured the public’s imagination and saw the emergence of some of the world’s cleverest and most popular storytellers.

This audio anthology brings together the majority of forgotten tales from the book Bodies from the Library, from the 1920s to the 1950s, by masters of the Golden Age including Cyril Hare, Freeman Wills Crofts and A. A. Milne,

Most anticipated of all are the contributions by women writers: the first detective story by Georgette Heyer, unseen since 1923; an unpublished story by Christianna Brand, creator of Nanny McPhee; and a dark tale by Agatha Christie published only in an Australian journal in 1922 during her ‘Grand Tour’ of the British Empire.

With other stories by Detection Club stalwarts Anthony Berkeley, H. C. Bailey, J. J. Connington and John Rhode, plus Vincent Cornier, Leo Bruce, Roy Vickers and Arthur Upfield, this essential collection harks back to a time before forensic science - when murder was a complex business.

©2018 Half-Eaten © Nikesh Shukla; Thicker Than Blood © Erin Kelly (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"A veritable treasure trove of classic short stories. The star line up includes Agatha Christie, Cyril Hare and Georgette Heyer, but the best of the bunch are the second rank authors." (Daily Mail)

What listeners say about Bodies from the Library

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

excellent

old fashioned mysteries. All similar high society wealthy greedy murder stories. However loved every one.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very well chosen selection

The author bios in between each of the stories are just as interesting and really make this a book worth buying.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Recommended for only those who love 'Golden Age'.

Overall, I found this collection well-narrated by Phillip Bretherton. As a lover of the Golden Age, I found the author biography at the end of each story very interesting and informative.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that of the stories themselves. I'd say the hit rate was 50/50 and by the end I realised why some of these stories were 'lost' or not previously available; they aren't particularly good. They also display their magazine short-story origins when available content rather than quality was probably the order of the day, hence the 3*** review.

However, within this collection there are some excellent stories. Probably ideal for long walks.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

24 Carat Golden Age

WOW! Absolutely blown away by this audiobook. If you love the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, then this is a must. Wonderful stories read by a brilliant narrator. One of my favourite audiobooks!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well read and a good mixture of tales and authors

Well read and some old fashioned gentle tales
Some are better than others, there was a stinker in there but in the main it was a good variety.
The Agatha Christie tale is the last in the book. I saved and looked forward to listening and was slightly disappointed as was in a rather dark and atypical Christie style. In fact it was more like Agatha writing as Mary Westmacott.
There is a warning about poitically incorrect language in one tale and whilst perhaps unnecessary, probably avoids any complaints. On the whole a good purchase for me as a fan of Golden Age Crime.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

Really great idea and book.

Collecting storys from authors of the golden age of mystery, ones that maybe haven't been heard before or only published in one or two places many years ago.

It's a great way to find authors you haven't heard of before and to listen to some of the lesser known works by other more famous authors.

The summary of the authors lives and works is also really interesting as it's given me insight into them and also made me realise just how prolific in different areas a lot of them were.

Highly recommended and will be getting the others in the series, and listening to again and again.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Stories delivered in style

What a find - rare stories and a fabulous performance by Philip Bretherton. He voiced the characters really well- made them come alive and made the whole experience really enjoyable. Thoroughly recommend this audio book. The information about the individual authors was interesting too

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very good short stories

Very entertaining murder mystery short stories. I enjoyed all of them! Made me want to hear more.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely loved it

This is an excellent collection of short stories by prominent writers, well written and thoroughly engaging. Despite my decades long interest in detective fiction of the golden age, I had not read any of these before.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

New and Old

a few old stories I had never read and so were fresh to my ears, So overall very good stories to listen too good cast too

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1 person found this helpful