Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries - Edited by Martin Edwards

Resorting to Murder: Holiday Mysteries

Edited by Martin Edwards

Poisoned Pen, Jun 2 2015, $12.95

ISBN 9781464203756

“The Adventure of the Devil’s Foot” by Arthur Conan Doyle.  In 1899 Holmes is on vacation when the vicar asks him to investigate a death.

“A Schoolmaster Abroad” by E. W. Horning.  In Switzerland Dr. Dollar tries to prove his mentor did not prescribe the deadly strychnine pills.

“Murder!” by Arnold Bennett.  The husband and the wannabe compete for the same woman.

“The Murder on the Golf Links” by M. McDonnell Bodkin.  The final score is murder.

“The Finger of Stone” by G. K. Chesterton.  In France, the tourists find a corpse-less homicide.

“The Vanishing of Mrs. Fraser” by Basil Thomson.  Mother and daughter attend the Paris Exhibition when the older woman becomes ill before disappearing.

“A Mystery of the Sand-Hills” by R. Austin Freeman.  Science tries to uncover what happened to a missing person.

“The Hazel Ice” by H. C. Bailey.  At an Alpine resort, Fortune and Swiss policeman Stein investigate an avalanche death.

“Razor Edge” by Anthony Berkeley.  An accident leaves one dead, but the inquiry questions what happened.

“Holiday Task” by Leo Bruce.  On Normandy vacation, Sergeant Beef joins the inquiry into a body tossed off a cliff.

“A Posteriori” by Helen Simpson.  A holiday in Paris does little good for prim and proper Miss Charters.

“Where is Mr. Manetot?” by Phyllis Bentley.  Economic historian Manetot goes missing from his Yorkshire home.

“The House of Screams” by Gerald Findler.  The ghost wants to be left alone.

“Cousin Once Removed” by Michael Gilbert.  He plans to kill his cousin to inherit the estate.

These are engrossing British holiday mysteries written in the first half of the twentieth century with most entries from the 1920s.  I enjoyed all but especially meeting authors I never heard of.

Harriet Klausner