Murder by the Book

This excellent reprint anthology from Edwards (Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries) features “an assortment of mysteries linked by a literary theme of one kind or another.” The 16 entries include a superior pastiche by S.C. Roberts, “The Strange Case of the Megatherium Thefts,” in which Sherlock Holmes is consulted about the disappearances of volumes from a lending library. Christianna Brand’s ingenious “Dear Mr. Editor...” is framed as a response to an editor’s request for her to contribute to an anthology. Instead of her own work, Brand offers a document found in the hand of a dead woman intended for the same editor’s consideration. A.A. Milne cleverly plays with genre conventions in “A Savage Game,” in which an author named Coleby asserts that he’s qualified to do police work, because mystery writers routinely invent “a story which accounts for all the facts and suspicions and discrepancies which the case presents.” Coleby goes on to try to solve a real murder at a police officer’s invitation with unexpected consequences. Edwards’s exhaustive research and genre expertise yield another stellar volume for the British Library Crime Classics series. (Sept.)