The very first case for Oxford-based sleuth Gervase Fen, one of the last of the great Golden Age detectives. As inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P.G. Wodehouse, this is the perfect entry point to discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin - crime fiction at its quirkiest and best. A pretty but spiteful young actress with a talent for destroying men's lives is found dead in a college room just yards from the office of the unconventional Oxford don Gervase Fen. Anyone who knew the girl ...
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The very first case for Oxford-based sleuth Gervase Fen, one of the last of the great Golden Age detectives. As inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P.G. Wodehouse, this is the perfect entry point to discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin - crime fiction at its quirkiest and best. A pretty but spiteful young actress with a talent for destroying men's lives is found dead in a college room just yards from the office of the unconventional Oxford don Gervase Fen. Anyone who knew the girl would gladly have shot her, but can Fen discover who did shoot her, and why? Published during the Second World War, The Case of the Gilded Fly introduced English professor and would-be detective Gervase Fen, one of crime fiction's most irrepressible and popular sleuths. A classic locked-room mystery filled with witty literary allusions, it was the debut of 'a new writer who calls himself Edmund Crispin' (in reality the choral and film composer Bruce Montgomery), later described by The Times as 'One of the last exponents of the classical English detective story . . . elegant, literate, and funny.' This Detective Story Club classic is introduced by Douglas G. Greene, who reveals how Montgomery's ambition to emulate John Dickson Carr resulted in a string of successful and distinctive Golden Age detective novels and an invitation from Carr himself to join the exclusive Detection Club.
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Add this copy of The Case of the Gilded Fly to cart. $9.95, like new condition, Sold by CBExchange rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Fontana, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1980 by Avon Books.
Add this copy of The Case of the Gilded Fly to cart. $13.89, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1980 by Avon Books.
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Seller's Description:
Very Good. Collectible-Very Good. Barbara G. Mertz Rev Trust custom bookplate on front inside cover. This book formed part of Barbara G. Mertz's personal library at her home in Frederick, Maryland. (Vintage mystery and adventure, mystery, adventure, crime thriller, detective novel, Gervase Fen)
Add this copy of The Case of the Gilded Fly: a Gervase Fen Mystery to cart. $31.17, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Newport Coast, CA, UNITED STATES, published 1980 by AVON BOOKS.
This was a delightfully complicated mystery story. It's British mystery - in the same genre as Christie and Doyle. It's in the high brow style - the vocabulary is a notch above the usual whodunit. fait attention - there are the politically incorrect comments peppered throughout revealing how much our language has changed. This will definitely please you if you like are a connoisseur of mysteries. I have since bought and read 3 more Crispins and will continue to look for them.