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Ask a Policeman

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Ask a Policeman
Authors and Contributors      By (author) The Detection Club
By (author) Agatha Christie
By (author) Dorothy L. Sayers
By (author) Anthony Berkeley
By (author) Gladys Mitchell
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:336
Dimensions(mm): Height 178,Width 111
Category/GenreClassic crime
ISBN/Barcode 9780007468638
ClassificationsDewey:823.912
Audience
General

Publishing Details

Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Publication Date 1 August 2013
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

This classic crime novel by six different authors is introduced by 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 approach to writing and 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 house poses 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... 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.

Author Biography

"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

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