Martin Edwards--The Golden Age of Murder

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I had a huge treat when I was in London this past February. I was invited to the annual Detection Club dinner by my friend Kate Charles, who is a member.  The dinner was held at the Garrick Club in the West End, a most august institution, and was hosted by the current president of the Detection Club, Simon Brett. It was a "pinch yourself" occasion--so many brilliant writers, such fabulous atmosphere (and food), and such a wonderful slice of London history!

I caught up with a good many old friends that evening, but a special pleasure was visiting with writer Martin Edwards. Martin is from Cheshire (I always imagine that Martin sounds a bit like Duncan--or vice versa), and writes terrific English mysteries, one series set in Liverpool and another in the Lake District. But Martin is also a very accomplished writer of non-fiction, and when he told me about his latest project I knew he had to visit us on Jungle Red.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF MURDER is THE book on Golden Age mysteries. It's getting rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. Here's a snippet from the starred review in Publisher's Weekly: “A comprehensive and well-written narrative that combines biography with literary criticism... Along the way, he dispels numerous myths about Golden Age detective fiction: for example, that it was ‘an essentially British form of escapism... an effete counterpart to the tough and realistic crime fiction produced in the United States’...The trenchant analysis is coupled with revelations about the private lives of these very public authors, offering new information for casual fans and students of the genre alike.” 

Here's Martin to tell us more.


MARTIN EDWARDS:

Detective fiction from the “Golden Age” between the wars is enjoying a renaissance. The British Library’s Crime Classics series, for which I’m Series Consultant, has sold over a quarter of a million copies in paperback alone in rapid time. To everyone’s surprise – including mine, to be honest - Mystery in White, by the long-forgotten J. Jefferson Farjeon, was a surprise number one best-seller last Christmas. It even outsold Gone Girl!

So I’d like to think that the time is ripe for publication of my study of the genre between the wars, The Golden Age of Murder. The sub-title is: “The mystery of the writers who invented the modern detective story.” And they really were a very mysterious lot. Agatha Christie’s eleven-day disappearance is merely the best-known of the various puzzles surrounding her brilliant contemporaries such as Anthony Berkeley and Dorothy L. Sayers.

The narrative hook of The Golden Age of Murder is the story of the founding of the Detection Club in 1930 as the first ever social network of crime writers. It was a select band, with only twenty-six founder members. They prided themselves on the quality of their writing as well as on their facility for creating ingenious and unusual plots. The more I delved into the back stories of these authors, and their complex relationships, the more fascinated I became. Early reaction to The Golden Age of Murder suggests that many other people feel the same way.

The lives of the writers, and discussion about their books, which included many long-forgotten gems, are two of the four elements of The Golden Age of Murder. The third is the remarkable range of real life crimes which inspired so many detective classics. Some of the cases are well-known, but others are not. Among those which fascinated me was the still-unexplained death at sea of Frank Vosper, a famous actor and playwright; the people who were on board with him shortly before he disappeared overboard included a beauty queen, a gay bullfighter, and Ernest Hemingway...

The fourth ingredient of the book is the remarkable period of history during which so many classic mysteries were written. This was an age when people slowly recovered from the devastating consequences of one war, only to find themselves threatened by the prospect of another. The received wisdom is that classic mysteries tell us little or nothing about the times in which they were written. I disagree – in fact, my belief is that, if you read between the lines of the best books, you learn a very great deal about “the age of anxiety” as well as about the writers and their lives.

Above all, people love a good mystery, and there are plenty of Golden Age detective stories that have stood the test of time. Now so many books that were once almost impossible to find are available and affordable, supply is meeting a demand that, I suspect, has long existed. The wheel of fashion has turned in favour of Golden Age mysteries, at long last. And I couldn't be more delighted.

DEBS: This is a gorgeous book, a must-have for anyone who loves detective fiction!! And it's un-put-down-able from page one. Harper Collins is very kindly offering to give a copy to a lucky commenter (too difficult for Martin to ship from the U.K.) so get your name in the hat.

And then share you favorite Golden Age mystery! 

Martin Edwards was born at Knutsford, Cheshire and educated in Northwich and at Balliol College, Oxford University, taking a first class honours degree in law. He trained as a solicitor in Leeds and moved to Liverpool on qualifying. He published his first legal article at the age of 25 and his first book, about legal aspects of buying a business computer at 27, before a career as an equity partner of a law firm, where he is now a consultant. He is married to Helena with two children (Jonathan and Catherine) and lives in Lymm. A member of the Murder Squad (see the Links section) collective of crime writers, Martin is Vice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association. In 2007 he was appointed the Archivist of the Crime Writers Association and in 2011 he was appointed the Archivist of the Detection Club.

Martin is recognised internationally as an expert on Golden Age detective fiction, and is the author of The Golden Age of Murder, a ground-breaking study of classic detective fiction written between the wars, published by Harper Collins in the UK and US.Len Deighton has described it as "illuminating and entertaining" and said it "provides a new way of looking at old favourites." American critic Sarah Weinman called it "this most delightful and necessary book" and British novelist Ann Cleeves described it as "a wonderful non-fcition book". The Times calls it "a richly rewarding study of the genre," while Mark Lawson described it in The Guardian as "an excellent work of detection...superbly compendious and entertaining."

REDS ALERT!!! Here are the winners of copies of Mark Pryor's Hugo Marston books. Instead of choosing three winners, Mark is sending a book to everyone who said they'd like to make Hugo's acquaintance!  So Mary Sutton, Susan b., Gail in Sequin, Deb Romano, Joan Emerson, and Diane Hale, could you send me your mailing addresses at deb at deborahcrombie dot com?  Hooray, Mark! You are so generous, and officially a JRW favorite!!!