Changes

I expected to enjoy the stories from the big names more than those who have not survived quite so well, but I was pleasantly surprised. [[:Category:Sir Arthur Conan Doyle|Arthur Conan Doyle]] is represented, - as you might expect - by Sherlock Holmes, but it's one of the lesser-known stories: ''The Copper Beeches''. In contrast we don't meet Father Brown in the offering from [[:Category:G K Chesterton|G K Chesterton]], but his less well known detective, Dr Adrian Hyde, who has been rather overlooked. [[:Category:E W Hornung|E W Hornung]] gives us Raffles, the gentleman thief and this was my only slight disappointment (and it was purely personal) as it's only a year or so since I read the story ''Gentleman and Players''. [[Category:Ernest Bramah|Ernest Bramah]] gives us his blind detective, Max Carrados, whilst [[:Category:Margery Allingham|Margery Allingham]] allows ''her'' favourite detective, Albert Campion to rest in favour of a very short story about the Molesworths.

It was hard to pick a favourite, but I finally rested on [[:Category: J J Bell|J J Bell's]] ''The Message on the Sundial'', where the murderer is betrayed by a series of seemingly nonsensical numbers. It's followed a close second by ''The Manor House Mystery'' by [[:Category:J S Fletcher|J S Fletcher]]. [[:Category:Sapper|Sapper's]] story of ''The Horror at Staveley Grange'' is perhaps the most ingenious in the collection and was just nicely on the right side of believability. [[:Category:Anthony Berkeley|Anthony Berkeley]] better know to me as Francis Iles and his story ''The Mystery of Horne's Copse'' is one of the longest in the collection (a short story with ''chapters'') but earns the space well. Other stories come from [[:Category:E V Knox|E V Knox]], [[:Category:Ethel Lina White|Ethel Lina White]] and [[:Category:Nicholas Blake|Blake]].