I can’t remember who recommended this book but I know why I read it – because it’s a collection of short stories from the Golden Age of Mystery! You should know by now that I’m always keen to read more authors from this period of time and I thought a collection of short stories would be another great way to do that.

Bodies from the Library contains 16 short stories, all from different authors. I won’t try to talk about all of them, but these were the stories that, for better or worse, stood out to me:

• Before Insulin by J.J. Connington – This short story about a sickly heir and the suspicious timing of a will was tightly written and a great start to the collection. I’d definitely want to read more from Connington.
• Linckes’ Great Case by Georgette Heyer – This one caught my eye because of the author. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Georgette Heyer so I had high hopes for this story about a detective sent to investigate a leak in classified information. Sadly, despite a fun start, I was very confused by the resolution and ultimately this story was a disappointment for me.
• [SPOILER ALERT] The Euthanasia of Hilary’s Aunt by Cyril Hare – This one reminded me of Before the Fact by Frances Iles, but with a twist. It follows Hilary as he is tempted to kill his aunt for money. I thought this was a very clever story that managed to pack a punch despite its length.
• Bread Upon the Waters by A.A. Milne – Another story that caught my eye because of the author (why didn’t Winnie the Pooh have murder in it?), unlike Linckes’ Great Case, this one was fun and satisfying. It’s the tale of Julian Crayne, who is doing his best to get his hands on his uncle’s money, but without what he calls “the profit motive” to implicate him.
• The Man With the Twisted Thumb by Anthony Berkeley – If I wasn’t already a fan of Berkeley, this would have made me interested in reading his works. It’s a fun and dramatic story with some romance (and I found the romance to be cute, despite not normally liking romance) and a satisfying ending. I actually found this to be quite Christie-like, if this makes sense.
• Blind Man’s Bluff by Ernest Bramah – This was the only story (actually, a play) that I could not finish because it had a Japanese character and the stereotyping of the Japanese character was just so awful and offensive I could not finish his lines.
• The Rum Punch by Christianna Brand – I would honestly like to see a Sergeant Troot series because this was really fun! Sergeant Troot is counting down the days to his family holiday, but unfortunately, his decision to do a side-job and make some extra cash has him involved in a murder. Now, he has to solve the case quickly or his kids’ holiday will be ruined.
• The Wife of the Kenite by Agatha Christie – Oddly enough, the Christie story wasn’t typical Christie, but felt like an experiment (a great one, nonetheless). It follows Herr Schaefer, a paid agitator, as he tries to carry out his job. I can’t really say much but Christie is an expert and building tension in this story.

Overall, this was a fun collection of short stories. I enjoyed most of them, and I think this is a great way to sample authors from the Golden Age of Mystery and figure out who you’d like to read more of.