Curtains in Cambridge - Detective Fiction: A Selection
The city of Cambridge provides a rich setting for detective stories, with the colleges of Trinity, St John’s and King’s sharing the distinction of being the most popular.
The discovery of a porter’s body lying between first and second court on the last morning of term is inconvenient but to lose the dean as well is slightly careless. This is the situation that faces Sir Richard Cherrington, Vice-President of Fisher College, extra-curricular amateur detective and, like his creator, a noted archaeologist - in The Cambridge Murders, the first of two mysteries to feature him by Glyn Daniel.
Reluctant sleuth Cassandra James is thrust into the midst of petty a academic rivalries, having become head of the English department at St Etheldreda’s College following the suspicious death of the previous Incumbent in Christine Poulson’s Murder is Academic. And the peace of St Nicholas’s College (Jesus College) is disturbed by the unexpected death of an arrogant visiting speaker in V C Clinton-Baddeley’s Death’s Bright Dart. Dr Davie begins his own investigations, discovering that too many delegates know too much about nasty poisons.
In Jill Paton Walsh’s Bad Quarto, amateur detective Imogen Quy of St Agatha’s College (situated on Castle Mound), investigates the early departure of night climber John Tallentire, a young don, who’s died attempting a leap from one building to another. Then, corrupt privilege lies at the heart of Andrew Taylor’s late-eighteenth-century-set Anatomy of Ghosts based in Jerusalem College (Emmanuel). Whilst in the summer of 1932, old Girtonian Maisie Dobbs accepts an undercover assignment posing as a lecturer in philosophy in Jacqueline Winspear’s A Lesson in Secrets. things become more complicated when the college principal is murdered.
A present-day mystery with a toe in the seventeenth century, Rebecca Stott’s Ghostwalk, concerns the recent death of a reclusive Cambridge historian found drowned clutching an antique glass prism. A three-hundred-year-old murder with Isaac Newton a possible suspect, forms part of the troubling evidence that her research had unearthed.
I hope that this reader’s guide to Cambridge crime will provide material for further study in those elusive free periods. Do get in touch if you have favourites you think should be added [email protected]
Margery Allingham: The Police at the Funeral (Albert Campion/4) (9780099507345)
Anne Atkins: An Elegant Solution (9781912863099. £8.99)
Kate Atkinson: Case Histories (1st Jackson Brodie) (9780552772433)
Lois Austen-Leigh: Incredible Crime (9780712356022)
Regan Barry: Death No Stranger (Holt & Fiske/1) (9798755837309. £9.99)
Mask of Fear (Holt & Fiske/3 - NYP 10/23)
When Blood Burns (Holt & Fiske/2) (9788359462082. £8.99)
A K Benedict: The Beauty of Murder (9781409103929)
S(haron) J Bolton: The Split (9781409174219)
Dead Scared (Flint/2) (9780552159838)
Adam Broome: The Cambridge Murders (9781906288075)
Douglas Browne: The May Week Murder (9781906288020)
The discovery of a porter’s body lying between first and second court on the last morning of term is inconvenient but to lose the dean as well is slightly careless. This is the situation that faces Sir Richard Cherrington, Vice-President of Fisher College, extra-curricular amateur detective and, like his creator, a noted archaeologist - in The Cambridge Murders, the first of two mysteries to feature him by Glyn Daniel.
Reluctant sleuth Cassandra James is thrust into the midst of petty a academic rivalries, having become head of the English department at St Etheldreda’s College following the suspicious death of the previous Incumbent in Christine Poulson’s Murder is Academic. And the peace of St Nicholas’s College (Jesus College) is disturbed by the unexpected death of an arrogant visiting speaker in V C Clinton-Baddeley’s Death’s Bright Dart. Dr Davie begins his own investigations, discovering that too many delegates know too much about nasty poisons.
In Jill Paton Walsh’s Bad Quarto, amateur detective Imogen Quy of St Agatha’s College (situated on Castle Mound), investigates the early departure of night climber John Tallentire, a young don, who’s died attempting a leap from one building to another. Then, corrupt privilege lies at the heart of Andrew Taylor’s late-eighteenth-century-set Anatomy of Ghosts based in Jerusalem College (Emmanuel). Whilst in the summer of 1932, old Girtonian Maisie Dobbs accepts an undercover assignment posing as a lecturer in philosophy in Jacqueline Winspear’s A Lesson in Secrets. things become more complicated when the college principal is murdered.
A present-day mystery with a toe in the seventeenth century, Rebecca Stott’s Ghostwalk, concerns the recent death of a reclusive Cambridge historian found drowned clutching an antique glass prism. A three-hundred-year-old murder with Isaac Newton a possible suspect, forms part of the troubling evidence that her research had unearthed.
I hope that this reader’s guide to Cambridge crime will provide material for further study in those elusive free periods. Do get in touch if you have favourites you think should be added [email protected]
Margery Allingham: The Police at the Funeral (Albert Campion/4) (9780099507345)
Anne Atkins: An Elegant Solution (9781912863099. £8.99)
Kate Atkinson: Case Histories (1st Jackson Brodie) (9780552772433)
Lois Austen-Leigh: Incredible Crime (9780712356022)
Regan Barry: Death No Stranger (Holt & Fiske/1) (9798755837309. £9.99)
Mask of Fear (Holt & Fiske/3 - NYP 10/23)
When Blood Burns (Holt & Fiske/2) (9788359462082. £8.99)
A K Benedict: The Beauty of Murder (9781409103929)
S(haron) J Bolton: The Split (9781409174219)
Dead Scared (Flint/2) (9780552159838)
Adam Broome: The Cambridge Murders (9781906288075)
Douglas Browne: The May Week Murder (9781906288020)
Alison Bruce: The Backs (Goodhew/5) (9781472102133)
Because She Looked Away (Ronnie Blake/1) (3/23) (9781472123909, £18.99)
The Calling (Goodhew/3) (9781780333830)
Cambridge Blue (Goodhew/1) (9781849012645)
Cambridge Black (Goodhew/7) (9781472119650)
I Did it for Us (Standalone) (9781472123862)
The Promise (Goodhew/6) (9781472112279)
The Silence (Goodhew/4) (9781472101945)
Because She Looked Away (Ronnie Blake/1) (3/23) (9781472123909, £18.99)
The Calling (Goodhew/3) (9781780333830)
Cambridge Blue (Goodhew/1) (9781849012645)
Cambridge Black (Goodhew/7) (9781472119650)
I Did it for Us (Standalone) (9781472123862)
The Promise (Goodhew/6) (9781472112279)
The Silence (Goodhew/4) (9781472101945)
Helen Callaghan: Dear Amy (9781405923415)
Siobhan Carew: Cambridge Green (2) (9781999807450. £7.99)
Cambridge Red (1) (9780957334496.£7.99)
Cambridge Rose (3) (9781999807412. £7.99)
Kate Charles: False Tongues (4th Callie Anson) (9781910674055)
Clare Chase: Death Comes to Call (Tara Thorpe/3) (9781786818126. £8.99)
Death on the River (Tara Thorpe/2) (9781786817402. £8.99)
Murder in the Fens (Tara Thorpe/4) (9781838880446. £8.99)
Murder on the Marshes (Tara Thorpe/1) (9781786814319. £8.99)
One Dark Lie (3) (kindle only)
A Stranger’s House (2) (9781781893470. £9.99)
You Think You Know Me (1) (9781781892541.£7.99)
Rory Clements: Corpus (Wilde/1) (9781785762642)
The English Fuhrer (Wilde/7) (01/23) (9781804181072)
Hitler's Secret (Wilde/4) (9781838770297)
The Man in the Bunker (Wilde/6) (9781838777678)
Nemesis (Wilde/3) (9781785767500)
Nucleus (Wilde/2) (9781785764523)
Barbara Cleverly: Diana's Altar (Sandilands/13) (9781616958053)
Fall of Angels (Redfyre/1) (9781641290227)
Invitation to Die (Redfyre/2) (9781641291903)
New Cambridge Mysteries: A collection of three Stories (9781909619265)
V C Clinton-Baddeley: Death's Bright Dart (Dr Davie/1) (9781906288037)
My Foe Outstretch'd Beneath the Tree (Dr Davie/2) (9781906288044)
No Case for the Police (Dr Davie/4) (9781906288211)
Only a Matter of Time (Dr Davie/3) (9781906288204)
To Study a Long Silence (Dr Davie/5) (9781906288198)
Charlie Cochrane: The Case of the Undiscovered Corpse (Alasdair & Toby & Cambridge Fellows/) (9781912582839. £9.99 (also available 12 books in the Cambridge Fellows Mysteries - Edwardian era)
Randall Collins: The Case of the Philosophers Ring (9781906288228)
Philip Cumberland: Killing Time in Cambridge (9781916481770. £10.99)
Jeanne Dams: Blood Will Tell (Dorothy Martin/17) (9781847516640. £12.99)
Glyn Daniel: The Cambridge Murders (*Ostara Publishing: 9781909619159)
Eva Dolan: After You Die (Cambs/Peterborough/Zigic & Ferreira/3) (9781784701765)
Between Two Evils (Cambs/Peterborough/Zigic & Ferreira/5) (9781408886410)
Long Way Home (Cambs/Peterborough/Zigic & Ferreira/1) (9780099584391)
One Half Truth (Cambs/Peterborough/Zigic & Ferreira/6) (9781408886526)
Tell No Tales (Cambs/Peterborough/Zigic & Ferreira/2) (9780099584384)
Watch Her Disappear (Cambs/Peterborough/Zigic & Ferreira/4) (9781784701772)
Jim Eldridge: Murder at the Fitzwilliam (Museum Mysteries/1) (9780749023867)
Sebastian Faulks: Engleby (9780099458272)
Ariana Franklin (with Samantha Norman): The Assassin's Prayer (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/4 & Sicily) (9780553824148)
Death and the Maiden (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/5) (9780062562364)
The Death Maze (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/2 & St Albans) (9780553818017)
The Mistress of the Art of Death (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/1) (9780857500366)
The Relics of the Dead (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/3 & Glastonbury) (9780553820324)
Martyn Goodger: Biding My Time (Kindle only)
Elizabeth George: For the Sake of Elena (5th Inspector Lynley) (9781444738308)
Susanna Gregory: A Bone of Contention (3rd Matthew Bartholomew/Medieval) (9780751568042)
The Chancellor's Secret (25th Matthew Bartholomew) (cased: 9780751557948); pbk (08/22) 9780751579499)
A Deadly Brew (4th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569384)
Death of a Scholar (20th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751549768)
The Devil's Disciples (14th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569544)
A Grave Concern (22nd Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751549805)
The Habit of Murder (23rd Matthew Bartholomew/ & Clare, Suffolk) (9780751562644)
The Hand of Justice (10th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569445)
A Killer in Winter (9th Matthew Bartholomew/Christmas) (9780751569438)
The Killer of Pilgrims (16th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751542585)
The Lost Abbot (19th Matthew Bartholomew/& Peterborough) (9780751549744)
The Mark of a Murderer (11th Matthew Bartholomew & Oxford) (9780751569513)
A Masterly Murder (6th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569407)
Murder by the Book (18th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751542578)
The Mystery in the Minister (17th Matthew Bartholomew/& York) (9780751542592)
An Order for Death (7th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569414)
A Plague on Both Your Houses (1st Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751568028)
A Poisonous Plot (21st Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751549782)
The Sanctuary Murders (24th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751562668)
A Summer of Discontent (8th Matthew Bartholomew & Ely) (9780751569421)
The Tarnished Chalice (12th Matthew Bartholomew/& Lincoln) (9780751569520)
To Kill or Cure (13th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569537)
An Unholy Alliance (2nd Matthew Bartholomew/Medieval) (9780751568035)
A Vein of Deceit (15th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751539158)
A Wicked Deed (5th Matthew Bartholomew/& Suffolk) (9780751569391)
Sebastian Faulks: Engleby (9780099458272)
Ariana Franklin (with Samantha Norman): The Assassin's Prayer (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/4 & Sicily) (9780553824148)
Death and the Maiden (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/5) (9780062562364)
The Death Maze (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/2 & St Albans) (9780553818017)
The Mistress of the Art of Death (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/1) (9780857500366)
The Relics of the Dead (Medieval/Adelia Aguilar/3 & Glastonbury) (9780553820324)
Martyn Goodger: Biding My Time (Kindle only)
Elizabeth George: For the Sake of Elena (5th Inspector Lynley) (9781444738308)
Susanna Gregory: A Bone of Contention (3rd Matthew Bartholomew/Medieval) (9780751568042)
The Chancellor's Secret (25th Matthew Bartholomew) (cased: 9780751557948); pbk (08/22) 9780751579499)
A Deadly Brew (4th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569384)
Death of a Scholar (20th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751549768)
The Devil's Disciples (14th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569544)
A Grave Concern (22nd Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751549805)
The Habit of Murder (23rd Matthew Bartholomew/ & Clare, Suffolk) (9780751562644)
The Hand of Justice (10th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569445)
A Killer in Winter (9th Matthew Bartholomew/Christmas) (9780751569438)
The Killer of Pilgrims (16th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751542585)
The Lost Abbot (19th Matthew Bartholomew/& Peterborough) (9780751549744)
The Mark of a Murderer (11th Matthew Bartholomew & Oxford) (9780751569513)
A Masterly Murder (6th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569407)
Murder by the Book (18th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751542578)
The Mystery in the Minister (17th Matthew Bartholomew/& York) (9780751542592)
An Order for Death (7th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569414)
A Plague on Both Your Houses (1st Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751568028)
A Poisonous Plot (21st Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751549782)
The Sanctuary Murders (24th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751562668)
A Summer of Discontent (8th Matthew Bartholomew & Ely) (9780751569421)
The Tarnished Chalice (12th Matthew Bartholomew/& Lincoln) (9780751569520)
To Kill or Cure (13th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751569537)
An Unholy Alliance (2nd Matthew Bartholomew/Medieval) (9780751568035)
A Vein of Deceit (15th Matthew Bartholomew) (9780751539158)
A Wicked Deed (5th Matthew Bartholomew/& Suffolk) (9780751569391)
Aceituna Griffin: The Punt Murder (Cambridgeshire) (*Ostara Publishing: 9781906288013)
Elly Griffiths: The Lantern Men (12th Ruth Galloway/& Norfolk) (9781787477551)
Sophie Hannah: Lasting Damage (9780340980682)
Robert Harris: Enigma (9780099527923)
John Harvey: Gone to Ground (9780099585626)
Suzette Hill: The Cambridge Plot (Rosie Gilchrist/5) (9780749022983)
P D James: Death of an Expert Witness (The Fens/Inspector Adam Dalgliesh/6) (9780571350827)
An Unsuitable Job for a Witness (Cordelia Gray/1) (9780571355709)
Olly Jarvis: The Genesis Inquiry (9781913793418. £9.99)
Marshall Jevons: A Deadly Indifference (3rd Harvard Professor Henry Spearman) (9780691164168)
Jim Kelly: The Fire Baby (Dryden/Ely/2) (9780749025304)
The Great Darkness (Nighthawk/1) (9780749022921)
Mathematical Bridge (Nighthawk/2) (9780749024031)
The Moon Tunnel (Dryden/Ely/3) (9780749025403)
Night Raids (Nighthawk/3) (9780749024925)
Waterclock (Dryden/Ely/1) (9780749025205)
Elly Griffiths: The Lantern Men (12th Ruth Galloway/& Norfolk) (9781787477551)
Sophie Hannah: Lasting Damage (9780340980682)
Robert Harris: Enigma (9780099527923)
John Harvey: Gone to Ground (9780099585626)
Suzette Hill: The Cambridge Plot (Rosie Gilchrist/5) (9780749022983)
P D James: Death of an Expert Witness (The Fens/Inspector Adam Dalgliesh/6) (9780571350827)
An Unsuitable Job for a Witness (Cordelia Gray/1) (9780571355709)
Olly Jarvis: The Genesis Inquiry (9781913793418. £9.99)
Marshall Jevons: A Deadly Indifference (3rd Harvard Professor Henry Spearman) (9780691164168)
Jim Kelly: The Fire Baby (Dryden/Ely/2) (9780749025304)
The Great Darkness (Nighthawk/1) (9780749022921)
Mathematical Bridge (Nighthawk/2) (9780749024031)
The Moon Tunnel (Dryden/Ely/3) (9780749025403)
Night Raids (Nighthawk/3) (9780749024925)
Waterclock (Dryden/Ely/1) (9780749025205)
Charlot King: Blood Moon (3) (9780993408328. £10.99)
Christmas Eve in Grantchester (Kindle only)
A Christmas Mystery (4) (9780993408359. £10.99)
Cursed (2) (9780993408311. £10.99)
Poison (1) (9780993408304. £10.99)
Valentine’s Day (5) (9780993408373. £10.99)
V M Knox: Where Death and Danger Go (9780648940487)
Bonnie MacBird: The Three Locks (Sherlock Holmes/4) (9780008380878.£8.99)
G M Malliet: Death at the Alma Mater (9781472117748)
Alex Michaelides: The Maidens (9781409181682)
Peter Murphy: And is there Still Honey for Tea (9781843444015)
To Become an Outlaw (8th Ben Schroeder legal thriller) (9780857304667)
Q. Patrick: Murder at Cambridge (*Ostara Publishing: 9781906288747)
Cecilia Peartree: A Quest for Clemency (Adventurous Quests 1950s/4) (9798831743463. £6.99)
Elizabeth Penney: Chapter & Curse (1) (9781250787705. £7.95)
A Treacherous Tale (2) (9781250787729. £7.95)
Jane Phillips: Bury the Truth (9798359950305)
Christine Poulson: Murder is Academic (Cassandra James/1) (9781906288396)
Betsy Reavley: Murder at the Bookclub (Barrett & Palmer/1) (9781912604708. £8.99)
Murder in the Dark (Barrett & Palmer/2) (9781912986033.£8.99)
The Optician’s Wife (9780995511118. £8.99)
Mike Ripley: Mr Campion’s Farewell (Albert Campion pastiche/1) (9781786894960. £8.99)
Mr Campion's Wings (Albert Campion pastiche/9) (9781448306398)
David Roberts: Sweet Sorrow (10th Lord Edward Corinth) (9781472128171)
E G Rodford: The Bursar's Wife (1st PI George Kockaryan) (9781785650031)
James Runcie: Sidney Chambers and the Dangers of Temptation (5) (9781408870235)
Sidney Chambers and the Forgiveness of Sins (4) (9781408862278)
Sidney Chambers and the Perils of the Night (2) (9781408843536)
Sidney Chambers and the Persistence of Love (6) (9781408879047)
Sidney Chambers and the Problem of Evil (3) (9781408851012)
Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death (1) (9781408831403)
The Road to Grantchester (Sidney Chambers/Prequel) (9781408886861)
Fran Smith: Dr Potter’s Private Practice (Vita Carew/3/Christmas1904) (9781916152441. £8.99)
The Killings at Crowswood Castle (Vita Carew/5) (Kindle only/01/23)
Painted Penny Stamp (Vita Carew/4) (9781916152496. £8.99)
Poison at Pemberton Hall (Vita Carew/1 Edwardian) (9781916152427. £8.99)
A Thin Sharp Blade (Vita Carew/2) (9798674095118. £8.99)
Dorothy L Sayers: The Nine Tailors (11th Lord Peter Wimsey/Fens) (9781473621398)
Michelle Spring: Every Breath You Take (1st PI Laura Principal) (9781906288495)
Susie Steiner: Missing Presumed (Huntingtdon/Cambs/DS Manon Bradshaw/1) (9780008123321)
Persons Unknown (Huntingdon/Cambs/DS Manon Bradshaw/2) (9780008123376)
Remain Silent (Huntingdon/Cambs/DS Manon Bradshaw/3) (9780008273842)
Rebecca Stott: Ghostwalk (9780753823576)
Margaret Suckling: Blood on the Backs (Midge Carrington/2) (9781521004173)
Double Negative (Midge Carrington/4 & Suffolk) (9781983390067. £10.99)
Murder of the Master (Midge Carrington/5) (9798702899725. £10.49)
My Enemy’s Enemy (Midge Carrington/3 & Suffolk) (9781521583814. £9.99)
Prisoner at the Bar (Midge Carrington/1) (9781519047366. £8.99)
Up Before the Beak (Midge Carrington/6) (9798650116837. £9.99)
R E Swartwout: The Boat Race Murder (9781915475039)
Persons Unknown (Huntingdon/Cambs/DS Manon Bradshaw/2) (9780008123376)
Remain Silent (Huntingdon/Cambs/DS Manon Bradshaw/3) (9780008273842)
Rebecca Stott: Ghostwalk (9780753823576)
Margaret Suckling: Blood on the Backs (Midge Carrington/2) (9781521004173)
Double Negative (Midge Carrington/4 & Suffolk) (9781983390067. £10.99)
Murder of the Master (Midge Carrington/5) (9798702899725. £10.49)
My Enemy’s Enemy (Midge Carrington/3 & Suffolk) (9781521583814. £9.99)
Prisoner at the Bar (Midge Carrington/1) (9781519047366. £8.99)
Up Before the Beak (Midge Carrington/6) (9798650116837. £9.99)
R E Swartwout: The Boat Race Murder (9781915475039)
Andrew Taylor: Anatomy of Ghosts (Georgian) (9781405936125)
Caroline Minuscule (William Dougal/1) (9780340932919)
M J Trow: Dark Entry (Kit Marlowe/1: 1583)
L C Tyler: Bodies in the Bookshop: Anthology in praise of Heffers and other bookshops with three stories set in Heffers (9781909619173)
Nicola Upson: Nine Lessons (Tey/7) (9780571324781)
Jill Paton Walsh: Bad Quarto (Imogen Quy/4) (9780340839225)
Debts of Dishonour (Imogen Quy/3) (9780340839201)
A Piece of Justice (Imogen Quy/2) (9780340839508)
The Wyndham Case (Imogen Quy/1) (9780340839492)
Jay Warton: Sleeping Sickness (9798495762220. £9.95)
F J Whaley: Trouble in College (9781906288730)
T H White: Darkness at Pemberley: (9781906288532)
Emily Winslow: The Red House (9780749018061)
Start of Everything (9780749014209)
The Whole World (9780749014001)
Jacqueline Winspear: A Lesson in Secrets (8th Maisie Dobbs) (9780749040048)
Felicia Yap: Yesterday (9781472242228)