Decades Later, These 10 Forgotten Mystery Books Have Aged Like Fine Wine
A Vanishing Oxford Toyshop
In Edmund Crispin’s The Moving Toyshop, poet Richard Cadogan travels to Oxford and finds an elderly woman’s body inside a toyshop. When he returns with police, the shop has disappeared, leaving officers doubtful of his account.
Cadogan turns to Gervase Fen, an eccentric Oxford professor and amateur detective. The story blends an impossible crime with farcical comedy, though some jokes have aged; later crime writers P.D. James and Val McDermid have praised the book.
A Bishop’s Mysterious Death
The Case of the Famished Parson follows Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Littlejohn investigating the death of Dr. James Macintosh, Bishop of Greyle. His badly injured body is found at the bottom of a cliff near Cape Marvin, but severe malnutrition suggests he may have died of starvation within days.
The bishop’s condition raises questions that call for Littlejohn’s investigative skill. He is portrayed as intelligent, observant and polite, with an understated wit. The final act loses some momentum, but the novel offers suspense and vivid characterization.
A Murder Plot Turns Around
In Nicholas Blake’s The Beast Must Die, crime novelist Frank Cairnes writes in his diary that he plans to kill the driver he believes responsible for his young son’s hit-and-run death. Cairnes tracks the man and seeks a chance to murder him without detection.
Before he can act, his target is killed by someone else. The story then shifts to a third-person perspective, bringing in sleuth Nigel Strangeways to uncover what happened and try to save Cairnes from the gallows. This structural turn heightens the tension.
A Lawyer Against The Rules
H.C. Bailey’s The Sullen Sky Mystery centers on Joshua Clunk, a London lawyer described as sanctimonious and unctuous. He represents Isaac Terr, who is accused of several mysterious murders.
Clunk pursues his own approach rather than cooperating with police or following standard procedures. His investigation leads into municipal intrigue, real-estate fraud and police corruption tied to a housing development. The plot is convoluted, with bluffs and double bluffs that may appeal to readers who enjoy complex mysteries.
Key points
- The Moving Toyshop pairs a vanishing crime scene with light comedy.
- Inspector Thomas Littlejohn investigates a bishop found dead beneath a cliff.
- The Beast Must Die shifts perspective after Frank Cairnes’s intended target is murdered.
- The Sullen Sky Mystery involves housing intrigue, fraud and police corruption.