Books Update: Queens of crime
*Crime, Spies & Sleaze: The Golden Age Of Detective Fiction was surely between the 1920’s and the 1950’s, and in this period several women dominated the genre. No fewer than six female authors form this significant addition to our crime section – each of them with a claim to the title of Queen of Crime. We felt it would be very dangerous to pick one over the others, given the gruesome fates meted out to victims in their works, so we’ve settled for giving them a crown each. Margery Allingham has several books added, mainly in Penguin Classic Crime editions. Agatha Christie also has several books added, including an adaptation of a stage play, The Unexpected Guest (adapted by Charles Osborne, but listed with Agatha Christie). The other royal contenders are Ngaio Marsh (Artist In Crime, Enter A Murderer and Spinsters In Jeopardy), Dorothy L Sayers (Five Red Herrings and The Unpleasantness At The Bellona Club), Josephine Tey (Pan editions of Miss Pym Disposes and The Singing Sands) and Patricia Wentworth (Rolling Stone in a 1946 Popular Library edition).