I have previously read some books by George Bellairs, and whilst I did enjoy them some were not as good as expected. This collection of two books are absolutely fabulous, and I cant wait to get my hands on more. The story was interesting and developed well. I loved the character development and the mysteries where different. I could not read them fast enough.

George Bellairs is often forgotten, but his career as a mystery writer was long and moderately successful.  Like his lead, Detective Inspector Littlejohn, Bellairs was a man content with his craft with a skill founded on observation of human nature.  Detective Inspector Littlejohn does not have the Herculean intellect of Poirot or the deductive capacity of Holmes.  Rather, he is moderately intelligent, but amiable and persistent - qualities that serve him well in his investigations.  Bellairs has quite a way with words.  His descriptions of the various characters and their foibles are charming and often humorous.  The characters are often colorful, but are entirely believable.

The Dead Shall Be Raised and The Murder of a Quack are included in this edition by Poisoned Pen Press.  The Dead Shall Be Raised concerns the discovery of a skeleton that revives a murder case from two decades previous.  Initially the murderer was thought to have fled.  Now it appears that the main suspect was dead all along.  Detective Inspector Littlejohn, who is visiting the area, volunteers his assistance.  When a potential witness is murdered after announcing his good fortune, it becomes clear that the murderer is still very much alive and determined to preserve his secret.  The second novel The Murder of a Quack is a charming village mystery.  Littlejohn is called in by the local constabulary to discover who murdered Nathaniel Wall, the local bonesetter.  The man was well liked, known for his skill in treating ailments, but despite his lack of enemies, someone was angry enough to strangle him.  Littlejohn quickly finds himself on the trail of a skilled chemist and forger.

It’s easy to guess the malefactor in both novels, but that didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the novels.  Both The Dead Shall be Raised and The Murder of a Quack are solid, well written procedurals from the 1940s.  Both have aged well and make for a pleasant escape from the everyday.

4 / 5

I received a copy of The Dead Shall be Raised and The Murder of a Quack from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

I'm so glad I recently "discovered" George Bellairs. He published over 50 novels, most of which featured Inspector Littlejohn. What I like most about Bellairs is his polished and elegant prose. My favorite mysteries are from the Golden Age and his writing is similar to other authors of this period. You know you're in good hands when you start a Bellairs novel.

Both of these novels are early Littlejohn and each story unfolds as a good police procedural should. LIttlejohn investigates each lead and ably interviews and interrogates each witness or suspect. The truth gradually unfolds and the conclusion is believable, no leaps in credulity or clumsy or rushed endings.

I enjoyed both of these novels and look forward to reading more from George Bellairs.

The Dead Shall Be Raised, (aka Murder Will Speak), opens with two chapters which show all that is good about George Bellairs’ writing, especially in the earlier novels from the 40’s and 50’s. The first describes Inspector Littlejohn’s rail journey from London to Lancashire on Christmas Eve 1940; the second features a performance of The Messiah, (from which the book title is taken), during which news comes of the discovery, on the moors, of a long-buried skeleton

During his investigations into three inter-related murders, Littlejohn finds many skeletons in the closets of the factory owners of the area.

The character sketches are wonderful.The coroners, the widowed Mrs Sykes, the retired policemen, the local notabilities, Mary and Peg, two women involved in the case , and servants , are all vividly brought to life with subtle wit and humour.

The Inspector is as meticulous as always in pursuing leads and questioning witnesses, regardless of social status, and the guilty are identified.

For those who are interested in such things, the book is dedicated to the author’s wife, Gwladys.

Martin Edwards’ Introduction provides plot summaries, brief biographical information and a short assessment of Bellairs’ work which, I think, he under-rates.

The Murder of a Quack is set in Norfolk and deals with the strangulation and hanging of Nathaniel Wall who was what we would now describe as an osteopath and homeopath.

The opening chapter has a marvellous picture of PC William Arthur Mellalieu, contented in his new police house, having a break from his pushy wife. Later there are memorable pen-portraits of the midwife and the cobbler as well as a delicious dig at Bloomsbury intellectuals.

Littlejohn is called in quickly and through interviews and painstaking research, soon unmasks the perpetrators. Sergeant Cromwell assists from afar, and we are treated to an account of him meeting his future wife.

Inspector Littlejohn is not a flashy “character” in the manner of many Golden Age detectives, but he does have personality and wit. He has great insight into the foibles of human nature and great determination; above all, he is likeable and humane.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC of this most enjoyable “double dose” of these George Bellairs novels from 1942 and 1943.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advance copy of these two police procedurals from the 1940s.

The Dead Shall Be Raised

It is 1940 and Inspector Littlejohn has 10 days Christmas leave to spend with his wife in the Pennine town of Hatterworth where she is recuperating from a bomb blast which hit their home in London. Unfortunately for Mrs Littlejohn his arrival coincides with the discovery of Luke Sykes's bones and the establishment of a murder enquiry because Luke Sykes had been the prime suspect in the murder of his friend, Jerry Trickett when he disappeared in 1917.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quite short read. It is very pleasant to step back into the past and read a straightforward detective novel where the reader knows as much as the investigator and lives the investigation with him. I don't think in this case that the perpetrator is much of a mystery to a modern reader but the why and how they get him more than make up for this. It has more than a few surprises.

Inspector Littlejohn, as befits the period, is a bit of a cypher. His role is to manage and propel the investigation forward so the reader doesn't get much insight into his personality other than he is clever and personable. Contrarily the author does a tremendous job of describing the other characters Littlejohn comes into contact with and I felt that I could picture them and understand their personalities. My gold star, however, is reserved for the opening chapter which describes Littlejohn stumbling around in the blackout dark. I don't think I've read a better description of the (im)practicalities of the blackout.

Death of a Quack

When the body of bone setter Nathaniel Wall is found hoisted on his own machinery, obviously murdered in the Cambridgeshire village of Stalden Inspector Littlejohn is called in to investigate. What follows is a straightforward, old fashioned police procedural involving Scotland Yard experts, some smart thinking and lots of interviews.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The reader knows no more than the detective but the puzzle is fiendish in its solution and while I had a vague idea of the perpetrator I had no idea of the why or wherefore. It's great stuff.

Death of a Quack has a wartime setting but apart from the odd mention of wartime conditions you would never know as it does not impinge on the rural idyll of Stalden.

Once again Inspector Littlejohn remains a fairly unknown character used mainly as a plot device with Mr Bellairs concentrating his descriptive powers on the other characters whom can all be pictures and recognised.

These two novels provide a strong contrast, winter, war and cold in the first, summer, no obvious war and warmth in the second. To be written so closely together (1942 & 1943) shows the variety and skill in Mr Bellairs' work.

I have no hesitation in recommending this anthology as a good read.

Excellent! Enthralling a page turner.
Review scheduled for publication date .