I so very much appreciate that these British Library Classics editions are being reissued. They allow the modern reader to enjoy stories set a number of years ago.

These two novellas feature Scotland Yard’s Thomas Littlejohn in stories set during WWII. These are not flashy or deep stories but they are enjoyable. The first takes place during the Christmas holiday when Littlejohn is happy to be spending a bit of time with his wife. He becomes involved in a cost case dating to WWI.

The second story is about the mysterious death of a seventy year old man. The means of his murder is odd. Was his relative the one responsible? Littlejohn gets to work and solves the cases. Will you?

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

This was great.

Both of the stories were set during the Second World War and feature Chief Inspector Littlejohn of Scotland Yard as their protagonist. The first is set at Christmas time in a small village on the Yorkshire Moors where Littlejohn has gone to spend the holidays. The second in another small village, this time in Norfolk where he has been called to consult.

Littlejohn isn’t flashy in the style of Sherlock Holmes, able to dazzles readers with his brilliant deductions. Instead he gathers evidence, sifts through it, looks for patterns, takes a wrong turn or two, before reaching a conclusion that is truly satisfying. Bellairs doesn’t try to make the reader feel inferior, instead he simply crafts really interesting crimes and shows the reader how they were done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I’ll certainly try to read more in the series.

Highly recommended.

***Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher***

"The Dead Shall be Raised and Murder of a Quack" is a collection of two novellas of around 150 pages in length, that were written during world war two is a wonderful piece of escapism where good old fashioned puzzle to be solved where the badies get whats coming to them.

Detective-Inspector Littlejohn is the central figure, who finds himself in any manner of interesting situations that require commitment from the reader to immerse themselves into, with attention to detail give by Bellairs.

Simple plotlines, these are not books for serious armchair detectives who enjoy the challenge of working out the mystery before the end of the novel, but these books are perfect for a lazy day with a cup of tea and a couple of choccie biscuits as a treat.

There must be a note of the occasional racist descriptions contained within this book that could be offensive, however, the reader must keep in mind the period in which the stories were written to comprehend that they were never intended to be racist.

Written with touches of humour, the reader can gain insight into the life of Britain 70 years ago with interesting tidbits about how people lived, the clothes they wore and the language they used.

More classic crime being released to a new audience - and in this instance, I hope, the first of many in this series - there are afterall, 57 books in the Inspector Littlejohn series.

Those who love this genre will appreciate these re-releases all the more.

A twofer...

For some reason, the British Library has given us a double helping in this volume, with two full-size novels both starring Inspector Littlejohn.

The Dead Shall Be Raised 4 stars

This is set during WW2 and tells the story of a murder that happened twenty years earlier, during WW1. Inspector Littlejohn has travelled to Yorkshire to spend Christmas with his wife, who is living there to get away from the bombing of London. But no sooner has he arrived than a corpse is dug up, and is soon identified as Enoch Sykes, a young man who disappeared twenty years ago at the same time as his one-time friend Jerry Trickett was found shot dead. The assumption was that Enoch had killed Jerry in a fight over a girl and then fled. But now it appears the case is more complicated and Inspector Littlejohn is happy to work alongside the local police to investigate. Soon it becomes clear that more than one of the locals had reason to resent Enoch and Littlejohn will have to use all his skills to find the murderer.

The book starts off with Littlejohn travelling to Yorkshire by train, immediately giving a great feeling for the restrictions and difficulties of getting around during the war. Once in the village of Hatterworth, the descriptive writing is equally good and we are taken into village life straight away as the Littlejohns attend the parish carol service. When the investigation gets underway we are introduced to the other characters, and Bellairs makes each of them believable, from the old innkeeper who saw the two victims on the night of the crime, to the retired policeman who carried out the original investigation, to old Mrs Sykes, Enoch’s mother, and at the other end of the social scale, Mrs Myles, once their employer. It is deep midwinter, and Bellairs makes us feel the snow and bitter cold as the detectives trudge around talking to witnesses and suspects.

I did enjoy this, but somehow it didn’t completely catch fire for me. It’s very well written and although the pool of suspects is small, the solution is more complex than it first appears that it might be. I think it was maybe that Littlejohn, though likeable enough and certainly good at his job, is a bit bland. I didn’t get much of a feel for what he was thinking or feeling, or of what kind of man he was. That felt a bit strange since all the secondary characters were so well drawn, so it may be that Bellairs was assuming his readers would already know all about Littlejohn from previous books – this, I believe, was the 4th in the series. A 4-star read, then, but it certainly left me keen enough to want to read the other book...

(read between 11/15 Aug 2018)

The Murder of a Quack 4 stars

Since I’m never keen about reading books in the same series immediately after each other, I left a gap of a few months before reading this second one, and found I fell back into the author’s world very happily and was pleased to meet up with Inspector Littlejohn again, so clearly he’d left a better long-term impression than I initially thought he would.

Nathaniel Wall, an elderly, well-regarded bonesetter, is found murdered in his surgery. He has been strangled, then hanged in an attempt to make it look like suicide. The local police promptly call in Inspector Littlejohn of the Yard. This gets off to a great start again, as Bellairs describes the local policeman enjoying a rare moment of peace and then being called out to investigate when Wall’s housekeeper returns from an overnight visit to her sister to find the surgery door locked. Bellairs is really good at creating an atmosphere from the beginning, which immediately leaves the reader wanting to know what happened.

The idea of the bonesetter intrigued me too – something I haven’t come across before. This is again set during WW2 (though the war has no relevance to the plot), before the creation of the National Health Service and before medicine became so strictly regulated. Today we’d think of Wall as an osteopath primarily, though he also dips into other fields of medicine including the more “alternative” one of homeopathy. His family have been bonesetters for generations, though his nephew has succumbed to modernity by qualifying as a doctor. While this nephew is a dedicated professional, the local qualified doctor is a drunken incompetent, who strongly resents that so many locals prefer to visit the “quack” Walls rather than him. It’s an interesting comparison of the skilled but unqualified practitioner and the feckless professional, with all the sympathy going to the former.

The plotting and characterisation are both done well again, as in the first book, but it’s definitely the setting and atmosphere of both that appeals to me, and in this one, I felt I got to know Inspector Littlejohn a little more fully. Well written, above-average police procedurals, and I’ll happily look out for more from Bellairs.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press.

"Two classic cases featuring Detective Inspector Littlejohn.

In the winter of 1940, the Home Guard unearth a skeleton on the moor above the busy town of Hatterworth. Twenty-three years earlier, the body of a young textile worker was found in the same spot, and the prime suspect was never found - but the second body is now identified as his. Soon it becomes clear that the true murderer is still at large...

* * *

Nathaniel Wall, the local quack doctor, is found hanging in his consulting room in the Norfolk village of Stalden - but this was not a suicide. Against the backdrop of a close-knit country village, an intriguing story of ambition, blackmail, fraud, false alibis and botanical trickery unravels."

TWO classic detection stories for the price of one!

have read several of the Chief Inspector Littlejohn book and enjoyed them all. In The Dead Shall be Raised a body is discovered by the Home Guard and Littlejohn has to solve a murder that occurred years before. Murder of a Quack finds Littlejohn investigating the murder of an unqualified doctor. I probably preferred The Dead Shall be Raised. Bellairs did a good job of writing atmospherically about Littlejohn's train journey at Christmas, the characters in the village, production of the Messiah in the village church. In neither of the stories is the solution difficult to guess or particularly surprising but I don't read these books to be stumped by the mystery. I read them to sink back into the writing of another time and that is exactly what this book accomplished.

More glorious classic but criminally forgotten work from the masters of yesteryear. A winner for all fans of golden age crime or police procedurals.

From http://www.bookbarmy.com

Is it possible to have a crush on a publisher?

My heart beats faster, my fingers fondle their book covers, and my wallet giddily opens its arms -- all for The British Library Crime Series by Poisoned Pen Press.

Just look at these beauties, I mean really, what mystery reader could resist?
I first became aware of this series with my first purchase of THIS long lost favorite mystery. Since then I have cultivated a insatiable craving finely-tuned taste for this Poisoned Pen Press imprint.

In 1997, husband and wife founders, Robert Rosenwald and Barbara Peters, who are also the owners of the legendary Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona, saw an opportunity to re-publish the wonderful British mysteries novels of the 1930's and 1940's. They tapped into every bibliophile's secret desire --out of print titles, long lost authors, and beautiful covers to lovingly add to a bookcase:

“We knew that mystery readers wanted complete collections, so we thought we could make a business out of that.”
I've read several of these and, while some are better than others, all are well-plotted mysteries graced with some classic crime writing and completely interesting settings - in short they are pure fun escape reading.

There are locked room mysteries (Miraculous Mysteries), murders in Europe (Continental Crimes), small village settings (Death of a Busybody), and dead bodies in crumbling manors (Seven Dead).
In short, there's a British mystery for you in The British Library Crime Series. You got to love any publisher/bookseller who states this as their mission statement:

We are a community Bound By Mystery.

and who gathers praise such as this:

Hurrah to British Library Crime Classics for rediscovering some of the forgotten gems of the Golden Age of British crime writing.(Globe and Mail)

Might I suggest you support this fine enterprise by buying the books direct from their website ~ just click this logo.

This compilation of two detective stories has the definite feel of a classic read. The information unfolds in a methodical pace that isn't deathly slow, but isn't going to overlook anything by hurrying along either.

The first book takes place over the central character Detective Littlejohn's Christmas holiday, taking leave and visiting his wife in wartime Yorkshire. During this time a skeleton is unearthed, and the local authority asks for Littlejohn's assistance in unraveling the town's twenty-year old mystery.

The second tale centers around the murder of a "quack" (an old-time chiropractor and practitioner of old methods of healing) that Littlejohn is called on to solve. The process turns up more than a few skeletons including secretive treatments, another murder, and a forgery ring.

Littlejohn is a master of unraveling people's characters from their dress and surroundings (not quite as masterful as other famous Brit detectives), but goes through the process in methodical steps which allows the reader to be privy to as well.

Overall, I enjoyed the stories. The main downfall of the pair was the both subtle and outright use of racist and sexist remarks by the main character. Littlejohn may be written as an honorable gentleman of 1940s London, but modern-day readers like myself will have a hard time reconciling the use of an n-word in a flippant remark to a colleague, or the introspective thoughts that a woman is feeble minded or shrewish when there has been very little interaction to indicate either.

If it weren't for the aforementioned, I would have thoroughly enjoyed the stories--especially the second--but as it is, I can't justify giving it a five-star rating. Book 1 is a 3-star read, and book 2 is 4-stars, averaging 3.5 stars together.

A delightful two-fer from Mr. Bellairs and Inspector Littlejohn in which, in my opinion, The Murder of a Quack is the far stronger piece - it's lively, with a sly sense of humor, and a mystery that, while a bit too convenient here and there, is genuinely surprising and certainly well-plotted. The Dead Shall be Raised, by contrast, tends to malinger around and get muddy in both the crime and its resolution. It's definitely a recommend, however, as even a just okay Bellairs mystery is a cut above the average.

"The Dead Shall be Raised and Murder of a Quack" is a collection of two novellas written by Bellairs published in the early 1940s that are recently re-issued by Poisoned Pen Press. The collection is my second attempt at getting acquainted to the author's neglected works and the compilation proves to be another winner.

Bellairs' writing is often quite slow to get into. His elaborate descriptions on scenery, characters or even trivial tidbits prohibit immediate dives into the plots. Once the investigations start going, though, nothing would hold back the joy of the riding the rides with Inspector Littlejohn from the Yard, the recurring sleuth created by the writer, until the cases are solved.

Overall a highly enjoyable read. Bellairs writes neither ingenious or mediocre mystery works but palatable leisure detective novels. Plots indeed are not composed spectacularly but there are always unexpected surprises ready for his readers. Another wonderful title re-issued by Poisoned Pen Press.

These two novellas, each about 150 pages, were written during the height of WWII and provided a means for mystery fans to escape to a place where evil is punished and the rule of law prevails. They can be classified as cozy mysteries with minimum gore and a good puzzle to solve.

The first selection The Dead Shall Be Raised finds Detective-Inspector Littlejohn on a Christmas holiday to visit his wife who has been staying in the Pennines to avoid the London blitz. She has become friends with the wife of Superintendent Haworth and it is only natural that the husbands would like each other. When the body of a presumed murderer is discovered by the Home Guard, a twenty year old murder investigation is reopened. If the murderer did not kill the victim, who did? And who killed him? The two policemen have to chase down witnesses still alive and depend on the interviews and notes of the retired policemen, When an important witness is himself murdered it is obvious that someone does not want the truth to be discovered.

In The Dead Shall Be Raised a popular bonesetter (chiropractor?) is murdered and Littlejohn has to find out why anyone would harm the popular old man. Was it his nephew who stood to inherit his uncle’s money. Or was it someone else who became worried because the victim seemed to be too interested in some past crimes. Does someone in the village have a criminal past to hide?

These are both very readable stories. A bonus is the look at how folks coped during WWII. However, there are some descriptions that took me out of the story. It was jarring to see the phrase “n….. in the woodpile” and to read a description of a pompous magistrate as having “Negroid features and bulging eyes.” But casual racism was a fact of life in the 1940’s. It shows how far we have come and that is a very good thing.

I thoroughly enjoyed Death of a Busybody by George Bellairs. While it was my first Bellairs book, it was the third in a series spanning four decades featuring Scotland Yard detective Thomas Littlejohn. Now, thanks to Netgalley and Poison Pen Press, I have the chance to savor No. 2 and No. 6 in the series, reissued together in one volume.

In The Dead Shall Be Raised, Littleton is in Hatterworth, a small Pennine town in northern England for the Christmas holiday, reunited with his beloved wife Letty, who had fled the London blitz. While there, a decades-old body is disinterred, which reopens an old cold case dating to 1917 and the Great War. Littlejohn and the local copper, Superintendent Haworth, make a great team in running the villain to ground. Bellairs (née Harold Blundell) lays out the novel with plenty of twists and surprises. I never saw the end coming.

The Murder of a Quack was even better! Indeed, my favorite of the three Bellairs novels I’ve read so far. In 1943, when The Murder of a Quack was first released, anyone could set up a shingle and practice “medicine” as long as they didn’t prescribe or operate. So the village of Stalden has Nathaniel Wall, a septuagenarian who’s the third generation of his family set up as a “bonesetter.” Local folks were as apt to flock to him as a qualified doctor! The beloved Mr. Wall’s fame in curing not just broken bones, but twisted limbs, broken noses and lots more was so great that football heroes, bishops and even celebrities found their way to his door — and the accounts made their way into the press. So when he turns up dead, who would have killed such a kindly healer?

About halfway through, I’d guessed who the villain was, but the motive was much different than I’d thought and watching Littlejohn working with the local policemen was a treat. Here’s to hoping that there will be more reissues soon.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I received this book free from NetGalley, Poison Pen Press, and British Library Publishing in return for an honest review.

Two fascinating pieces involving Littlejohn. Both well crafted and highly recommended.

These were fairly typical mid-20th-century English mysteries, which happens to be a genre I love. I had never read Bellairs before and am very happy to see them back in print. Though not as good as Christie or Sayers, Bellairs' Detective Littlejohn is a likable and astute detective worth revisiting; an easy task given that Bellairs was quite prolific.

Two classic cases featuring Detective-Inspector Littlejohn.

The Dead Shall be Raised
In the winter of 1940, the Home Guard unearths a skeleton on the moor above the busy town of Hatterworth. Twenty-three years earlier, the body of a young textile worker was found in the same spot, and the prime suspect was never found but the second body is now identified as his. Inspector Littlejohn is in the area for Christmas and takes on the investigation of the newly reopened case. Soon it becomes clear that the murderer is still at large However, Inspector Littlejohn is quite keen to get involved in this twenty odd year old double murder. The culprit and the motive is quite apparent from an early stage so the story is more focused on the process of gathering witness evidence in the absence of forensic evidence, that Inspector Littlejohn so skilled at doing. The characters are well developed & the plot is very well paced. Another enjoyable Littlejohn read

Murder of a Quack
Nathaniel Wall, the local quack doctor, is found hanging in his consulting room in the Norfolk village of Stalden - but this was not a suicide. Wall may not have been a qualified doctor, but his skill as a bonesetter and his commitment to village life were highly valued. Scotland Yard is drafted in to assist. Quickly settling into his accommodation at the village pub, Littlejohn begins to examine the evidence.
I found this book had some similarities to Death of a Busybody which I’d read just prior to reading this book. Apart from the characters & the plot there’s the added bonus because as during the course of investigation Cromwell meets MrsCromwell.

Both books are well written & take you back to life in the UK seventy years ago. I hope more of the series are re released

Thanks everyone for letting me review this book. I had already read a book by this author and gave it 4 stars but this is a 5 star book. I love books like this. Reminds me of Heartbeat

"The Dead Shall be Raised" and "The Murder of a Quack" are two mysteries that were originally published in the early 1940s. The first was set in 1940 at Christmas time and set in England. The second was set in 1942 in England.

The characters were described with a humorous touch, and the villagers and village life was described with more detail than most mysteries from this time period. The focus almost seemed more on the interesting characters than on creating a difficult mystery. The mysteries were clue-based and were interesting, but they weren't difficult for a reader to solve. In both cases, one person seemed a strong suspect from the start with a second character as a possibility. Inspector Littlejohn and the local police followed up on obvious leads and questioned people until he uncovered what happened.

There was no sex. There was some bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable mystery.

Do not expect a thriller, but this is a really good, old-time British mystery. Wordy, and slow-moving, but interesting! I liked it after I adjusted myself to the speed of the read!!