Note: I accessed digital review copies of this book through Edelweiss and NetGalley. ( )

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. ( )

An interesting selection of short stories from the golden age, differing from many in having a police protagonist rather than the talented amateur more common to the era. Generally entertaining if a bit old-fashioned.

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. ( )

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. ( )