OK, so I abandoned this blog, and moved to Blogger, where nothing much got done because life got in the way – Covid, family illness, eye problems, moving house. But I’m entitled to change my mind, and now I’m back trying to re-establish The Book Trunk and give it a new look. It’s a bit of a work in progress, and I need to set things up properly, but I wanted to join Reading Indies which runs throughout February over at kaggsysbookishramblings, where Karen is hosting a celebration of independent publishers.

By co-incidence, I’ve just acquired a copy of Serpents in Eden, a collection of 13 short stories gathered together by British Library Crime Classics, with a lovely introduction by Martin Edwards. It features a tale from Arthur Conan Doyle (without Sherlock Holmes), and another from Margery Allingham (minus her series sleuth Albert Campion), as well as offerings from GK Chesterton, Ethel Lina White and Anthony Berkeley. Best of all in my opinion is Our Pageant, by Gladys Mitchell, which is only four pages long, but packs a lot in – the pageant itself, Morris dancing, rivalry over a Morris jig (and for the affections of a young lady drafted in to be Jack in the Green because there aren’t enough men). There is also the oddest reason for a marriage that I have ever encountered. And, of course, there is a murder, in full view of performers and audience. The local police are mystified, but a ‘London chap’ from Scotland Yard unveils the culprit in what seems like seconds after his arrival. Sadly, there is no Mrs Bradley – I can’t help feeling she would have had a field day trying to solve this crime! The plotting is much tighter than in Gladys Mitchell’s novels, but every bit as bonkers as those longer works. I thought the book was worth the money for this story alone, and the other contributions were all most enjoyable, especially the Conan Doyle, where I managed to work out what was happening, which is most unusual for me.

Since this month is about independent publishers, I bought a print edition (from my local charity bookshop, which may not be quite in the spirit of things). Like others in this series, it’s nicely produced. The font is easy to read if you have dodgy eyesight, the pages are nice to handle, and the cover is fabulous – it reminds of the old railway posters when I was young, or the advertisements for Greenline buses, which ran from London into the surrounding countryside.

If, like me, you’re not a fan of of crime books featuring lots of blood and gore, or deep psychological insights into the mind of a killer, then you will probably enjoy many of the BLCC ‘Golden Age’ crime novels, most of which were written between the wars, when life somehow seemed gentler – but don’t be fooled into thinking they are ‘cosy’, because they are not. Our way of life may have changed, but people have not.

Black and white photo of Morris dancers from English Folk Dance Society (borrowed from https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/).