The Detection Collection

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The Detection Collection
Phyllis James James

Simon Brett

Colin Dexter

Robert Goddard

Reginald Hill

Ten years since it was first published in hardback, and now for the first time as an eBook, this volume of short stories by the cream of British crime writing talent celebrates 75 years of the quintessential Detection Club.The Detection Club represents the cream of British crime writing talent. Founded on the cusp of the 1930s, the Club’s first President was G.K. Chesterton, and since then the mantle of Presidency has passed to some of the most significant names inthe history of crime fiction, including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Julian Symons. The Club meets three times a year - to dine, to plot, and to exchange ideas.This anthology includes eleven new stories by the Best of British: Robert Barnard, Lyndsey Davis, Colin Dexter, Clare Francis, Robert Goddard, John Harvey, Reginald Hill, P.D. James, H.R.F. Keating, Michael Ridpath and Margaret Yorke, and has been edited by the Club’s President, Simon Brett. Among the authors are a number of bestsellers, as well as winners of both Diamond and Gold Daggers.This outstanding collection is a must for crime lovers everywhere.

Copyright (#ulink_bf2f552a-61ee-568e-bf73-dcc00b7ed73e)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

77–85 Fulham Palace Road,

Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Orion 2005

Introduction copyright © Simon Brett 2014

The Part-time Job copyright © P.D. James 2005

Partnership Track copyright © Michael Ridpath 2005

A Toothbrush copyright © H.R.F. Keating 2005

The Sun, the Moon and the Stars copyright © John Harvey 2005

‘Going Anywhere Nice?’ copyright © Lindsey Davis 2005

Between the Lines copyright © Colin Dexter 2005

The Life-lie copyright © Robert Barnard 2005

The Woman from Marlow copyright © Margaret Yorke 2005

Toupee for a Bald Tyre copyright © Robert Goddard 2005

The Holiday copyright © Clare Francis 2005

Fool of Myself copyright © Reginald Hill 2005

The Detection Club – A Brief History copyright © Simon Brett 2014

Jacket design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 2014

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007583898

Ebook Edition © November 2014 ISBN: 9780007569724

Version: 2014-09-11

Dedication (#ulink_d9c38652-d5a2-5808-857e-edd41573ef70)

To all the members, past and present, who have contributed to the unique history of the Detection Club

CONTENTS

Cover (#uc887a4a6-29b4-592b-8526-dccb64271297)

Title Page (#uf2d4b659-9c51-5f00-a666-724248a34cf8)

Copyright (#u31c7541e-e898-53e3-a329-af4222e0118d)

Dedication (#u8eec1cac-7a82-538e-96ee-93e193f64e6b)

Introduction: Simon Brett (#u2ad890bc-c2eb-5483-bee7-25de3aa3d782)

The Part-time Job: P.D. James (#ua8796b35-ffcf-5a35-8bbb-25e85274e067)

Partnership Track: Michael Ridpath (#uc2c7698c-01ec-5c8a-8360-fcea4b9a2c49)

A Toothbrush: H.R.F. Keating (#u185f6219-bbe0-59f7-930a-aa4aafadac8c)

The Sun, the Moon and the Stars: John Harvey (#u62c6fab6-a2fd-5f4b-b0ec-1f4440e65b91)

‘Going Anywhere Nice?’: Lindsey Davis (#ue712d8f6-c26e-5713-af79-e882b0d16cdb)

Between the Lines: Colin Dexter (#uf16bdd37-9443-5316-86d0-e45616f8b2a9)

The Life-lie: Robert Barnard (#ue78fdfc4-652d-558e-84cd-3e102b72b5ba)

The Woman from Marlow: Margaret Yorke (#ubeb2b56d-d7b1-5191-87de-4882190b4e55)

Toupee for a Bald Tyre: Robert Goddard (#ufa6d07f3-7719-5fb1-8b7c-56e8ba564f9c)

The Holiday: Clare Francis (#u93217451-f7f9-57d7-9d98-60f03868a9fd)

Fool of Myself: Reginald Hill (#u5dadc173-2bfd-5f03-b95c-23792580f410)

The Detection Club – A Brief History: Simon Brett (#uf58fca16-ef63-53d3-90b1-9c70164615fd)

Also in this series (#uc528fe9b-e8ac-5e34-b206-883a8a6ed121)

About the Publisher (#uae0cd1f0-d415-5ebc-b12d-49e36ebb9339)

INTRODUCTION (#ulink_d59fdc4b-be74-58d1-be29-1cb845bf5778)

Simon Brett

This volume of crime stories was originally published in 2005, arguably to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Detection Club. At that time I used the word ‘arguably’, not because the occasion did not qualify for celebration, but because there is argument about the precise date of the Club’s inauguration. (For further details of this, consult The Detection Club – A Brief History at the back of the book.)

So this new edition could be said arguably to celebrate the Club’s eighty-fifth anniversary. But in all those many years of existence, the primary distinction of the Detection Club has not changed. When founded in 1930 – or 1929 or 1932, according to different authorities – its membership comprised the cream of British crime-writing talent, and that is still the situation today. As a result, The Detection Collection has an extremely distinguished list of contributors.

In my role as editor – and, incidentally, the Club’s president – I had the great pleasure of being the first to read the stories as they were delivered. And I remember being delighted, not just by the quality, but by the variety of the contributions. Each one reflected the unique voice of its author.

There were stories of devilish cunning, as one would expect from the minds of P.D. James and Colin Dexter. There were lighter-hearted contributions from H.R.F. Keating, Lindsey Davis and Robert Goddard. Michael Ridpath presented a story of skulduggery in the corporate world he knew so well. Robert Barnard’s skills as a literary historian were focused on a slightly fictionalised incident in the life of Henrik Ibsen. Clare Francis provided a chilling character study.

And some of the contributing authors wrote new stories about well-loved serial characters. Margaret Yorke went back to the beginning of her distinguished crime-writing life with a story featuring her academic investigator Patrick Grant. John Harvey revived the career of jazz-loving Charlie Resnick, and Reginald Hill provided the delicious rarity of a story featuring Dalziel without Pasco.

Sadly the passage of the years means that some of the contributors are no longer with us. H.R.F. Keating, Margaret Yorke, Reginald Hill and Robert Barnard will not be delighting us with any new investigations, but they do live on through the quality of their work

And they all added to the wonderful mix of The Detection Collection, which still represents the very best in contemporary crime fiction. I am confident that you will get as much pleasure from the stories as I did when I first read them.