Death in the Tunnel (Miles Burton)

By Miles Burton First published: UK, Collins, 1947 Published in the US as Dark is the Tunnel, Doubleday 1936 Miles Burton, New Statesman critic Ralph Partridge observed, was a gentleman who knew all about mass production technique. Death in the Tunnel was the first of three books Major Street published under the Burton byline in 1936, …

Mystery at Olympia (John Rhode)

Murderous manna for motor enthusiasts.

Heir to Murder (Miles Burton)

By Miles Burton First published: UK, Collins, 1953 On a wet November night, Dr. Murford drives his car off a pier into Carmouth harbour. A week or so later, Nurse Penruddock is found at the bottom of a cliff. Both had been named principal heir by Lady Violet Vernham of Dragonscourt (a friendly dragon). More outrages …

Invisible Weapons (John Rhode)

By John Rhode First published: UK, Collins, 1938; US, Dodd Mead, 1938 You can now go into bookshops and buy John Rhode detective stories. When I was a teenager, at the turn of the 21st century, that would have seemed incredible. "Crime" in bookshops consisted of dreary tales about middle-aged policemen with domestic problems, hard-nosed …

Proceed with Caution (John Rhode)

By John Rhode First published: UK, Collins, 1937; US, Dodd Mead, 1937, as Body Unidentified Blurb (UK) “Things happen like that,” said Superintendent Hanslet.  “There are times at the Yard when things are as dull as ditch-water.  And then suddenly two really important cases are thrust upon us at once.”  And so it was that …