I always enjoy the British Library Crime Classics. As in any collection of short stories, some are better than others but, taken as a whole, this was very enjoyable. As the title indicate, this volume concentrates on detective work done by policemen. I was familiar with some of the authors but some were new to me. I like the brief introduction given to each author. It helps to put the author and story in context. I am sure I will be reading many more of the Crime Classics since they rarely disappoint.

'Allo! 'Allo! 'Allo! Wot's going on 'ere, then? 3 stars

Another of the British Library's collection of vintage detective stories, this one takes us away from the amateur detective beloved of Golden Age authors and gives the downtrodden policeman* his place in the spotlight.

(*Yup, no female police officers, of course, in these older stories, so I'm not going to attempt to be pointlessly politically correct with lots of he/she-ing, etc.)

The book is informatively introduced by Martin Edwards as usual, plus he gives a little introduction to each story telling the reader a little about the author. He points out that although policemen were somewhat overshadowed by their amateur rivals, they were still there throughout the period, and not always as the simple stooge or sidekick.

The stories in these collections always tend to be variable in quality, and that's the case in this one too, with several of the fifteen stories getting an individual rating of three stars (OK) or below from me. However, I also gave three stories four stars (liked it) while another four achieved the full five stars (loved it). Overall, that makes this one of the weaker collections for me, and I found I was having to plough through quite a lot of mediocre stuff to find the gems. Perhaps I've just read too many of these collections too close together, but my enthusiasm certainly wore a little thin halfway through this one.

There are fewer of the usual suspects among the authors, presumably because most of the well known ones who've shown up in previous collections concentrated on their gifted amateur 'tecs. But Edgar Wallace is there, along with Freeman Wills Croft, Nicholas Blake and Christianna Brand, among others. There are several I haven't come across before and one or two who I felt didn't succeed quite as well in short form as in their novels (always bearing in mind I'm no expert and am comparing tiny sample sizes – often one story versus one novel) – ECR Lorac, for example, or Gil North.

Still plenty here to interest vintage crime enthusiasts even if it wouldn't be the first of these collections I would recommend to newcomers. (Capital Crimes, since you ask, or Miraculous Mysteries.)

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

A solid "B" collection of short mysteries focusing on the police rather than the amateur detective - perhaps one or two more misses than hits here, especially "After the Event" by Christianna Brand (always irritating to me, even though I want to enjoy her work) and, surprisingly, "Sometimes the Blind..." by Nicholas Blake. This is a worthy series, for sure, so perhaps my nitpicking is based on the high standard previous collections have set. Recommended but with a sort of half-shrug.

The Long Arm of the Law is a collection of Golden Age short stories edited by Martin Edwards and published by Poisoned Pen Press in conjunction with the British Library. I received a copy from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

As the title suggests, this anthology collects stories about police detectives. In many Golden Age mysteries, the policeman is portrayed as bumbling and dim-witted, outshined by the amateur detective. However, Martin has assembled 15 stories featuring police detectives. Included are stories by more well-known authors Edgar Wallace, Freeman Wills Croft, Christiana Brand, and Nicholas Blake (Cecil Day-Lewis), as well as lesser-known authors as Gil Martin, Alice and Clyde Askew, and Laurence W. Meynell. As with most anthologies, some stories shine, and some are not as good, but in the main, The Long Arm of the Law is a good representation of Golden Age police detection. What makes this book just as valuable to me is the introduction of the overall anthology by Martin Edwards as well as an introduction of the author before each of the stories.

Anyone who enjoys Golden Age mysteries should enjoy these stories.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book to review.

I liked this mixed bag collection of short stories by Golden Age crime fiction writers. The common element in each story is that the mystery is solved by a policeman, rather than a private detective. In many Golden Age stories a private detective is the problem solver and the police are either relegated to the background, or are completely absent. The stories in this anthology show that policeman can match, or better, their private rivals.

It's a bonus that Martin Edwards is the editor selecting the stories and writing introductions to the individual stories. His introductions are a highlight for me in the British Library Classic Crime books. He provides background to both an author's work in general as well as the particular story. The depth of his knowledge is amazing. For me these introductions are the source of further reading suggestions, especially for some of the lesser known writers introduced in this anthology.

There are 15 stories in this collection, each of which is entertaining and some have surprise or amusing endings. Not all of the criminals are brought to justice even though they are identified as the one "whodunit". Some of the authors will be familiar to readers of Golden Age crime fiction, e.g. Freeman Wills Croft and Christianna Brand. John Creasey is known for writing under the pseudonym of J.J. Marric. Many of the others, despite being prolific writers, are relatively unknown.

All the stories are worth reading. "The Man Who Married Too Often" by Roy Vickers and "The Cleverest Clue" by Laurence Meynell are two particularly interesting and amusing stories that I can commend to readers of this anthology.

A delightful collection of short stories in this wonderful series. This volume focuses on crimes solved by the police. While most of the authors and detectives are not well known, you will find some familiar names here.

You'll also find a lovely variety of tales from the memories of a retired detective or two two to an intriguing "reverse mystery" where we know the criminal and the crime from the beginning.

It's my favorite of the short story collections so far.

Long Arm of the Law is an addition to the British Library Crime Classics series. Martin Edwards chooses sixteen short stories published from 1908 to 1966 to illustrate the evolution of the policeman in mysteries. It is not until nearly the end of the volume, with Michael Gilbert’s Old Mister Martin published in 1960, does the familiar police procedural appear. Even though the main character in these stories is a police officer, the stories are really puzzles. The detective resembles Poirot or Wimsey much more than Gideon or Petrella. For example, one story is solved when a character spots three split infinitives in a letter and he and the policeman deduce that the writer was kidnapped rather than on vacation.

All are interesting if only for their period charm, but except for Gilbert’s story where Petrella has to solve two crimes related only by location, I found none memorable. (

Thanks to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dame Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham and a few others, readers usually think of amateur sleuths when they think of mysteries. In editor Martin Edwards’ latest anthology, he gives the professionals a chance to shine.

Any anthology like this will be hit and miss. Edwards, an English solicitor and a mystery writer in his own right, included some authors who are deservedly forgotten; however, quite a few encouraged me to seek out other of their works. Before TV’s Colombo popularized the inverted mystery (where you discover the villain right away and the pleasure comes in how the detective solves the mystery), Roy Vickers’ 1936 gem “The Man Who Married Too Often” uses the same plot structure. Other excellent short stories include Laurence W. Meynell’s “The Cleverest Clue,” Nicholas Blake’s “Sometimes the Blind…,” Christianna Brand’s “After the Event,” E.C.R. Lorac’s “Remember to Ring Twice,” Michael Gilbert’s “Old Mr. Martin” (what a twist ending!) and Leo Grex’s “The Case of Jacob Heylyn.”

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

The Long Arm of the Law is an well-chosen collection of short story mysteries collected and introduced by Martin Edwards who has a way of writing a short story introduction that makes me want to read more by the authors. I like short stories, I like mysteries, and so I love mystery anthologies like this.

The focus of The Long Arm of the Law is on police investigations. These are short stories from the archives of the golden era of detection when the forms of the genre were being defined. From these early writers come the traditions and tropes of the police procedural that continue to entertain in books and in TV series.

This is an excellent anthology with a variety of stories even when constrained by the police procedural theme. These are mostly genteel mysteries, solved by sound observation and flashes of intuition. These are not the noir mysteries with corrupt cops, police brutality, and flouting legalities in the pursuit of justice. These detectives think their way to success. Instead of bullying and brutalizing the answers from suspects, they lay verbal traps and do the hard work of investigating. This is policing the way we want it to be.

The Long Arm of the Law will be released Jan 2nd. I received an e-galley for review from the publisher through NetGalley.

Before I started my vintage crime book per month project this year, the only Golden Age Crime Classics I had read were Sherlock Holmes books. I remember thinking back when I was reading them how utterly helpless Inspector Lestrade would have been without the help of Holmes he received from time to time in solving crimes. Inspector Lestrade lacked imagination, although he was a famous detective of Scotland Yard and I dreaded to imagine competence of the rest of the detectives at Scotland Yard.

But there was a time in crime fiction when stories didn’t revolve around eccentric amateur sleuths, with police officers there to provide comic relief. As Martin Edwards, the series consultant for British Library Crime Classics puts “many notable detectives of yesteryear sprang from the ranks of the official police.” So The Long Arm of the Law is a collection of classic stories that celebrates these unsung heroes.

The Long Arm of the Law has fifteen short stories in it. Even though a couple of stories didn’t hit the mark, the collection had three stories that I absolutely loved! The Undoing of Mr. Dawnes by Gerald Verner involves Holmes-like imagination deployed by detective Mr. Budd. It was delightful to read how Mr. Budd, aka “Rosebud,” wove a web of lies for Mr. Dawnes to walk right into. According to Martin Edward’s insightful introduction at the beginning of The Chief Witness by John Creasey, Roger West; the police officer involved in the story is considered one of the most handsome detectives in classic crimes. However, in this domestic murder case, it is the story’s chief witness who stole my heart! Old Mr. Martin by Michael Gilbert, which looks into the hit and run of a lovely sweet seller is the story that surprised me the most with its devious twist!

Other than these favorites, there are few praiseworthy stories here. In the anthology’s opening story; The Mystery of Chenholt by Alice and Claude Askew, the butler to the Darrells suspects his master of slowly poisoning his wife and Reggie, the constable in-charge of the local police station sends his fiancee, who is also a police detective to do some undercover work at Darrell’s house. In The Mystery of a Midsummer Night by George R. Sims, the youngest son of West Country’s Squire goes missing, and detective Chance comes upon the clue which would help them close the case while chatting about at the village alehouse, but tying it to the suspect brings some unforeseen difficulties.

The Long Arm of the Law is a fine collection any vintage crime fiction lover would enjoy. British Library Crime Classics series has already published books by some of the authors who appear in this anthology, so now I want to read all of them, and check out the rest of anthologies! 😀

Not a fan of short stories myself but I did enjoy "The Long Arm of the Law" for majority of the time. There are just a few stale stories but the rest are pretty interesting. One cannot expect anything spectacular given the stories are only few pages long to no more than twenty-something. The motives, culprits, methods usually are quite obvious right at the beginnings for each story, and, somewhat disappointingly, lack of guessing work throughout. The whole purpose of "The Long Arm of the Law" is about the joy of "hearing" some of the anecdotes of the policemen/inspectors. Editor Martin Edwards, once again, compiles a decent collection of peculiar cases composed by some of the classic crime authors from the golden age detective fiction era, making "The Long Arm of the Law" one of the best complications in the mystery/crime genre.

The cover art is just so pretty to look at, too. Another must-have addition to my British Library Crime Classic series.

Thanks Poisoned Pen Press via Netgallery for providing me an advanced reading copy for review.

An interesting collection of short stories but mystery writers of the Golden Age. The stories are good, easy to read and entertaining. Surely we are not on the level of a Christie or a Sayers but each of them has a well devised plot. A good and entertaining book.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Poison Pen Press.

Short stories are a difficult format in which to do detective stories well, and accordingly "The Long Arm of the Law" is a hit-and-miss collection from Martin Edwards of entries from that genre. But the hits in this British Library Crime Classics volume outnumber the misses, and for British mystery buffs their delight in seeing some obscure pieces by their favorite authors finally published in book form will undoubtedly make up for the latter.

Let me note that I am not normally a fan of short stories or story collections. In this volume, however, I found the variety of authors and writing styles to be more intriguing and entertaining than I expected. The stories themselves range from just OK to quite good, as in any collection. In them you can see the precursors of today's police procedural genre, including the introduction of the "gentleman" police officer who shows up in many modern mysteries. I recommend you read the editor's comments on the transition from amateur sleuth to professional police detectives as they provided good background for the book. Also, prefacing each story is background particular to it and well worth reading.

I found the way they were written also to provide insights into the times in which they were published. The one that most comes to mind is The Man Who Married Too Often, but others also touch on social class issues.

With a couple of exceptions, I had not heard of these authors before, and I don't know that I would pursue many of them further, but this was an enjoyable trip into vintage British mysteries.

I would like to thank NetGallery, the publishers and editor for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review of the book.

I really enjoyed these short mysteries--some with a surprising, or unexpected twist. Each story is a quick read. Background information is included about each of these much-awarded (and, it turns out, prolific and once-popular) authors-- that made me want to read more by most of them. Really a collection of lost gems--and a great introduction to some almost-forgotten, great British mystery writers.
I'm sure any lover of classic and/or British mysteries would enjoy discovering these authors and this collection.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the digital galley of this book.

Martin Edwards is the editor of this collection which features short mystery stories from the viewpoint of a professional in law enforcement. The British Library Crime Classics series has rescued many little remembered stories and gathered them together in a themed volume. The stories are almost presented in chronological order and it is very interesting to watch the style and language change through this collection from the early 1900s to the late 1960s. The amateur detective stories of the past have probably been more popular with readers, but it was enjoyable to read this collection which put the spotlight of attention on the professional in crime fighting. Edwards provides an Introduction to the book as well as specific information before each story to provide more background for the author and the short story. I have listed the fifteen authors, story titles, and publication date when it was provided.

Askew, Alice and Claude, "The Mystery of Chenholt", 1908
Wallace, Edgar, "The Silence of PC Hirley", 1909
Sims, George R., "The Mystery of a Midsummer Night"
Meynell, Laurence W. "The Cleverest Clue" (this might be Leonard Meynell)
Verner, Gerald, "The Undoing of Mr. Dawes", 1935
Vickers, Roy, "The Man Who Married Too Often", 1936
Gribble, Leonard R., "The Case of Jacob Heylyn"
Crofts, Freeman Wills, "Fingerprints", 1952
Lorac, E.C.R., "Remember to Ring Twice", 1950
Wade, Henry, "Cotton Wool and Cutlets", 1940
Brand, Christianna, "After the Event", 1958
Blake, Nicholas, "Sometimes the Blind...", 1963
Creasey, John, "The Chief Witness", 1957
Gilbert, Michael, " Old Mr. Martin", 1960
North, Gil, "The Moorlanders", 1966

I hope you find some favorite authors in this collection as well as some you want to find out more about. Some of the stories are quite short, only a few pages long and the Christianna Brand story is by far the longest in the collection.

This is the second I’ve read from the British Library Crime Classics, and I’m increasingly glad to have encountered the series. I've read a bit from the pre-WW2 period of British mysteries, but mainly the "greats," and many of the authors in this collection are new to me.

I revisited the stories after I completed the book, and for me the "good story" ratio was high for an anthology. I’d be interested in reading more from seven of the authors, with specific plans to look up the work of Roy Vickers and Michael Gilbert. Only one story was a real disappointment to me, and I disliked that author’s work prior to this encounter.

The book includes stories from 60-100 years ago, and a range of styles, from the straightforward to Vickers’ inverted mysteries and Laurence W. Meynell’s spot-the-twist tale. Martin Edwards’ introductory essay and his individual capsules for each author add context (and more authors to investigate).

A high four stars for an above-average anthology, and one more for the additional information provided by the editor. I see that he’s put together a number of other anthologies, and I’ll be checking them out.

This is as close to a perfect mystery anthology as I have ever read. Every story is enjoyable. Oh, there aren’t any great surprises. We know going in that they will always get their man (or will they?), but each story still has a surprise or two hidden neatly in plain sight. That’s the best part of this collection. If you watch carefully you might just catch the clues and solve the mystery first.
Edwards made excellent choices for the stories he included. As always, he introduced me to several new authors. Each is unique and entertaining in its own way. I also appreciate how clean they are. In the whole book, there were only two curse words. If you like police procedurals, this is the perfect book for you as it was for me.
Here are notes on a couple of the stories that stood out for me.
After the Event was fun, just because the format was so different. Dueling detectives made for a very fun read.
The Cleverest Clue was probably my favorite just because it was so unique. That clue was so neat I missed it and felt a bit ashamed for having done so. The whole tone of that little mystery is pure fun.
Old Mr. Martin was the spookiest. You won’t pick up on that until the very end, but what a twist happens then!
I received this book as a free ARC through NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Publishers. No favorable review was required, and these are my honest opinions.

This short anthology showcases 'lost' crime authors and in most cases it's easy to see why they disappeared. Almost all the stories are slight and light, with see-through solutions and little in the way of characterisation. Many show their age and class assumptions such as the story which turns on split infinitives! Crime aficionados may enjoy this - I was hoping to find some new authors to look out for but came away with nothing. Fun and easy reading, perfect as a commute book.