Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as speculative fiction and other genre fiction in the mid-nineteenth century and has remained extremely popular, particularly in novels. Some of the most famous heroes of detective fiction include C. Auguste Dupin, Sherlock Holmes, Kogoro Akechi, and Hercule Poirot. Juvenile stories featuring The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and The Boxcar Children have also remained in print for several decades.
Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was an English Catholic priest, theologian, author, and radio broadcaster. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford, where he earned a high reputation as a classicist, Knox was ordained as a priest of the Church of England in 1912. He was a fellow and chaplain of Trinity College, Oxford until he resigned from those positions following his conversion to Catholicism in 1917. Knox became a Catholic priest in 1918, continuing in that capacity his scholarly and literary work.
An insurance investigator examines insurance claims that are suspicious or otherwise in doubt. Investigators in this field have differing specialties and backgrounds. Some insurance companies have their own in-house investigation teams while other companies sub-contract the work to private investigators or private investigation firms. Although such investigations are usually conducted to combat fraud, very often investigators will be working simply to establish the circumstances of a particular claim.
The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s. The Golden Age proper is in practice usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was predominant in the 1920s and 1930s but had been written since at least 1911 and is still being written today.
Sudden Death is a 1932 detective novel by the Irish writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the eighth in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a prominent figure of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Death Before Dinner is a 1948 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the thirtieth in her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard, one of the detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction who relies on standard police procedure to solve his cases. It was published in the United States by Doubleday under the alternative title of A Screen for Murder.
Murder by Matchlight is a 1945 detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It was the twenty sixth novel of her long-running series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2018 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
The Worsted Viper is a 1943 detective novel by the British writer Gladys Mitchell. It is the fifteenth in her long-running series featuring the psychoanalyst and amateur detective Mrs Bradley. Bradley was one of a number of investigators active during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. Much of the novel takes place on the Norfolk Broads.
The Cheyne Mystery is a 1926 mystery thriller novel by Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the second in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a prominent figure of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It followed on from his debut in Inspector French's Greatest Case, in which Crofts introduced a character who was more methodical and less flamboyant than many of the other great detectives who followed in the wake of Sherlock Holmes.
Golden Ashes is a 1940 detective novel by the Irish writer Freeman Wills Crofts. It is the twentieth in his series of novels featuring Inspector French, a prominent investigator of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Murder in Crown Passage is a 1937 detective novel by the British writer Cecil Street, writing under the pen name of Miles Burton. It is the sixteenth in a series of books featuring the amateur detective Desmond Merrion and Inspector Arnold of Scotland Yard. Street was one of the most prolific authors of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in the United States by Doubleday the same year under the alternative title The Man with the Tattooed Face. As often in the series, the setting is in rural England.
Bricklayer's Arms is a 1945 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the forty first in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. It was published in America by Dodd Mead under the alternative title Shadow of a Crime. It was particularly notable for the lesser role played by Priestley, with the case being solved largely by Inspector Waghorn of Scotland Yard alone.
Dead on the Track is a 1943 detective novel by John Rhode, the pen name of the British writer Cecil Street. It is the thirty seventh in his long-running series of novels featuring Lancelot Priestley, a Golden Age armchair detective. Like a number of mystery novels of the era, it has a railway setting. In theme and plot it is very similar to the author's earlier 1931 work Tragedy on the Line. It is the first entry in the series since Hendon's First Case (1935) in which Priestley's old associate Hanslet is the lead investigator. The other recurring police officer in the series Inspector Jimmy Waghorn is now working with military intelligence.
Death Knows No Calendar is a 1942 detective novel by the British writer John Bude. It was a stand-alone novel rather than one featuring his regular detective Superintendent Meredith. In this case the investigation is led by a former army officer Major Boddy. It takes the former of a locked room mystery with a closed circle of suspects, both popular variations of the genre during the period. Originally published by Cassell, in 2020 it was reissued by the British Library Publishing in a single edition with another Bude novel Death in White Pyjamas, as part of a series of republished crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
Death on the Riviera is a 1952 detective novel by the British writer John Bude. It was part of a series featuring Superintendent Meredith of Scotland Yard. While Bude set many of his earlier novels in regional England, after the Second World War they made increasing use of more exotic, Continental settings. In 2016 it was reissued by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of republished crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.
The Theft of the Iron Dogs is a 1946 mystery detective novel by E.C.R. Lorac, the pen name of the British writer Edith Caroline Rivett. It is the twenty eighth in her series featuring Chief Inspector MacDonald of Scotland Yard. Originally published by Collins Crime Club, it was reissued in 2023 by the British Library Publishing as part of a group of crime novels from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It was published in the United States in 1947 under the alternative title Murderer's Mistake. Like the earlier Fell Murder it is set in the rural Lunesdale area of Lancashire.
The Footsteps at the Lock is a 1928 detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. Written during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction it is one of five books featuring his insurance investigator Miles Bredon. The author was very familiar with the area of western Oxfordshire, where much of the novel takes place.
The Body in the Silo is a 1933 detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. It is the third in a series of five novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon, one of the many detectives of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. It is a country house mystery taking place in Herefordshire close to the Welsh border. It was published in the United States by Dutton under the alternative title Settled Out of Court.
The Three Taps is a 1927 detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. Written during the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, it is the first in a series of five novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon. It is has been suggested that Knox's portrayal of Miles Bredon and his wife Angela as a crime-solving couple may have influenced Nick and Nora Charles's creation of The Thin Man. It was published in London by Methuen and in New York by Simon and Schuster. In 1930 the author was one of the founders of the Detection Club.
Double Cross Purposes is a 1937 mystery detective novel by the British author Ronald Knox. It is the fifth and last in his series of novels featuring the insurance investigator Miles Bredon, one of the Golden Age Detectives.
