Book Review: "Murder by the Book" ed. by Martin Edwards

So far, I have read nearly every single British Library Crime Classic book going. I love to read classic crime novels, they are like my guilty pleasure. I have to admit though when crime is written as a short story, it can normally get a bit repetitive and boring as there are only so many storylines you can do in such a short space. Whereas, if you have a whole novel’s length then there are considerably more storylines you can cover. As I was making my way through the series, I have often encountered short story crime classic anthologies that made me rethink my stance on crime short stories. These have included but are not limited to books like: ‘Blood on the Tracks’ (the book by the British Library - not the Bob Dylan album). Another one has been “Deep Waters” which dealt with mysteries at sea and was considerably better than other short stories of the same genre I had read before. And the final one I enjoyed was called “The Long Arm of the Law” which are police stories - as my mother is a retired police officer, I can honestly say that I love reading about the fictionalised version of events that the police may get up to on the job. But, when I read this one entitled “Murder by the Book” I found that once again, I was wrong about short story crime. It can happen and it can happen well. It can happen very well, actually.

“Murder by the Book” gives itself away in the title. It is a book about murder mysteries that happen when there is something to do with literature or books in the mix. One of the stories deals with a crime writer who releases incredible books, but does not look very incredible upon first glance. He sits down on a train and we examine his appearance. Not before long though, he is murdered by someone who does not even leave the slightest trace in the coach that the murdered man was sitting in. When the officers arrive, there are very clear signs as to what happened, but not very clear signs as to why. They will have to figure this out by looking into the dead man himself to begin with and clear out unknown enemies into the open. It is a strange series of events and I have to admit, sometimes the storyline is repeated slightly differently somewhere else - but it is still very much enjoyable as a crime anthology to read.

I have often considered my interest in crime fiction a bit over the top and I will not lie to you when I say that I had been putting this book off for a few weeks. It had just been sitting there on the shelf with nothing to do. When I did eventually pick it up though, I had to make sure I was not reading any other crime book at the time, normally when I’m reading two at a time I become completely engrossed in one over the other. When it comes to the British Library though, it seems like they hand-pick each story for the reader to become fully engrossed and involved with. Even though I do love their novels as well (by reading each of them as they get released I know I can stay on top of things!) I have got to say that their short story anthologies bring together two great things about the crime genre: the aspect of how basic slip-ups can lead to quick catches by the police and the sense of urgency when solving a crime.