[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Golden Age of Detective Fiction reached its apogee between the two world wars, and in 1929 English theologian (and, apparently, amateur pedant) Ronald Knox wrote up a list of Ten Commandments for would-be writers in the genre. For today's quiz, which of the following is/are not among Knox’s requirements? Extra credit for those who can ID the source(s) of the non-Knoxian rules. The story may not contain more than one secret room or passage. A servant must not prove to be the culprit – instead, the villain must be a “decidedly worth-while person.” The detective himself must not be...

Les Blatt of Classic Mysteries reviews Margery Allingham's More Work for the Undertaker, lucky 13 in the Albert Campion series. Set after the second World War, the novel has been called "Dickensian" for its depiction of an odd collection of characters inhabiting London's Apron street, particularly the Palinode family, penniless former owners of the rooming house they now occupy. Despite the title, More Work for the Undertaker is a greatly enjoyable read, full of vivid character sketches. http://classicmysteries.podbus.com/MoreWorkForTheUndertaker.mp3

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e asked Sarah Rayne if her writing had always had a quality of darkness to it, and she admitted that this had indeed been the case, and what the attraction of "darkness" and of writing psychological thrillers has been for her. The video quality is not the greatest (we did this over Skype), but we thought her answers interesting and wanted to share them with you. http://youtu.be/SsK22l6bTUQ

[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or our continuing Allingham & Crispin sale, we give you two very different kinds of books: Edmund Crispin's The Glimpses of the Moon, his last, and Margery Allingham's Police at the Funeral. Police at the Funeral, number 4 in the Campion series, is the first outing in which we catch a glimpse of the real person behind the amiable fool persona that Albert Campion puts on, especially in the early novels. Set amidst a family in which middle-aged children are ruled over with an iron fist by an aging matriarch, the novel paints remarkably vivid portraits of characters that are...

Today's special is Sudden Vengeance, yet another of the Gervase Fen adventures in sleuthing, this time in the world of film production. Edmund Crispin, whose real name was Robert Bruce Montgomery, was a composer best known for the score to several of the movies in the "Carry On" British film franchise. As Les Blatt points out in his audio review below, Crispin made good use of his knowledge of the milieu for this novel. And if you haven't read it, this is your chance: Sudden Vengeance is now available for $5.95 through the weekend. Add to Stack http://classicmysteries.podbus.com/SuddenVengeance.mp3