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Ask a Policeman The Detection Club

Ask a Policeman By The Detection Club

Ask a Policeman by The Detection Club


$28.49
Condition - Very Good
Only 2 left

Summary

This new edition, which is reproduced from a first printing of the book, is introduced by the author Martin Edwards, archivist of the Detection Club, and includes a never-before-published Preface by Agatha Christie, 'Detective Writers in England', in which she discusses her fellow writers in the Detection Club.

Ask a Policeman Summary

Ask a Policeman by The Detection Club

This new edition, which is reproduced from a first printing of the book, is introduced by the author Martin Edwards, archivist of the Detection Club, and includes a never-before-published Preface by Agatha Christie, 'Detective Writers in England', in which she discusses her fellow writers in the Detection Club.

Lord Comstock is a barbarous newspaper tycoon with enemies in high places. His murder in the study of his country houseposes a dilemma for the Home Secretary. In the hours before his death, Lord Comstock's visitors included the government Chief Whip, an Archbishop, and the Assistant Commissioner for Scotland Yard. Suspicion falls upon them all and threatens the impartiality of any police investigation. Abandoning protocol, the Home Secretary invites four famous detectives to solve the case: Mrs Adela Bradley, Sir John Saumarez, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Mr Roger Sheringham. All are different, all are plausible, all are on their own - and none of them can ask a policeman...

This classic whodunit adopted a completely new approach: Milward Kennedy proposed the title, John Rhode plotted the murder and provided the suspects, and four of their contemporaries were asked to lend their well-known detectives to the task of providing solutions to the crime. But there was to be another twist: the authors would swap detectives and use the characters in their sections of the book. Thus Gladys Mitchell and Helen Simpson swapped Mrs Bradley and Sir John Saumarez, and Dorothy Sayers and Anthony Berkeley swapped Lord Peter Wimsey and Roger Sheringham, enabling the authors to indulge in skilful and sly parodies of each other.

The contributors to ASK A POLICEMAN are: John Rhode, Helen Simpson, Gladys Mitchell, Anthony Berkeley, Dorothy L. Sayers, Milward Kennedy with Agatha Christie and Martin Edwards.

Ask a Policeman Reviews

'One of the most original - and entertaining - mysteries I have ever read... A brilliant tour de force that the most jaded fans will relish.' R. A. J. Walters

'A reminder of the genial heyday of the genre when the KGB other ingredients of the esurient modern thriller were barely a gleam in Stalin's eye.' Christopher Wordsworth, The Observer

'A must for all connoisseurs of detective fiction.' James Harris, Literary Review

'This year's most welcome reissue.' Francis Goff, Sunday Telegraph

'A book of irresistible charm for students of the detective story.' Ruth Dudley Edwards, Times Literary Supplement

About The Detection Club

The Detection Club is a private association of writers of detective fiction in Great Britain, existing chiefly for the purpose of eating dinners together at suitable intervals and of talking illimitable shop ... Its membership is confined to those who have written genuine detective stories (not adventure tales or 'thrillers') and election is secured by a vote of the club on recommendation by two or more members, and involves the undertaking of an oath. Dorothy L. Sayers

Additional information

GOR004234197
9780007468621
0007468628
Ask a Policeman by The Detection Club
Used - Very Good
Hardback
HarperCollins Publishers
20120830
336
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Ask a Policeman