Classics in September – On The Radar – This week our books news brings you a message from our sponsors, Open Road Media along with publishing partner Mysterious Press. Not wishing to miss out on all the classic crime fun, our book report this week takes a trip down memory lane, back to the golden age of our genre, and a look at five novels that really should be on every Crime Fiction Lover’s TBR pile.

An Officer and a Lady (And Other Stories) by Rex Stout
Probably best known for his Nero Wolfe novels, here Stout’s earlier stories have been collected together. They feature expert burglar, Bill Farden. However, in the first story, he’s about to meet his match in a nine-year-old girl who happens to be a crack shot and pulls a gun on him during his latest break-in. Something tells me things are about to get interesting for Bill.
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Clouds of Witness by Dorothy L Sayers
The Duke of Denver has been accused of murder following the discovery of a dead man in his shooting lodge in this tale from one of the queens of early crime fiction. Frankly, the odds aren’t looking good for our duke. There’s only one man who can help him, his brother, Lord Peter Wimsey, but Denver’s making life terribly hard for him. Why won’t he co-operate? To complicate matters further, the corpse just happens to be their sister’s fiance!!! With Denver’s life on the line, can Lord Peter save him?
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Call After Midnight by Mignon Eberhart
Jenny Vleedam’s husband left her for another woman but when he needs help, it’s Jenny he turns to. When her phone rings just after midnight, Jenny knows it can only be Peter calling and tries to ignore it, but something makes her answer it. His news leaves her with mixed emotions. Fiora – the other woman – has been shot. Peter claims she was holding the gun when it was fired. Not knowing whether Fiora is alive or dead, Jenny rushes to Peter’s side, but can she protect him from a murder charge?
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Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye by Horace McCoy
This one’s definitely worth grabbing if you love classic crime, and its author is credited with influencing the film noir movement in France. In Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Ralph Cotter is an Ivy League graduate with a penchant for crime that’s left him in the slammer, but Ralph’s got an escape plan up his sleeve and a criminal rampage on his mind. A genius when it comes to planning, he’s got a heart of stone and a conscience that isn’t likely to keep him awake at night. The one thing driving him is his own twisted ambition, but grifting into wealthy heiress Margaret Dobson’s bedroom might just change that. Cotter can’t stop Margaret getting under his skin, and once she’s there, the warped layers of his psyche start to peel back to reveal the damaged soul at his core.
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Calamity Town by Ellery Queen
Wrightsville, 1940, and mystery writer Ellory Queen has just rolled into town looking for trouble, or material he can use for his latest novel, whichever finds him first. Wrightsville is a town filled with corruption, hiding behind a facade of respectability, and the family he rents a house from seem to be at the centre of all the local gossip, especially the three daughters. Ellery may get more than just his story, all he has to do is sit back and wait, and in this town, trouble won’t take long to find him.
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