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paula simoes' blog @[email protected] · 2025-03-01 · 15:52 UTC

Playing Dead: A new book by The Detection Club (out 4th March 2025)

(I got an advancing reading copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review).

To the delight of so many readers (like me!), we will have soon a new book written by the members of The Detection Club.

Playing Dead was written to honour Simon Brett for his 80th anniversary this year, as a way to celebrate his contributions to the Club, and includes short stories from 22 members of The Detection Club, including Simon Brett (President Emeritus of the Club) and Martin Edwards (editor of this anthology and current President of the Club).

According to Edwards, that organised and edited the collection, the contributors were encouraged to write whatever type of crime story they preferred, and this shows in a truly delightful way.

And indeed, what I loved the most about this collection was the diversity we get in terms of sub-genres, place (one of the stories takes us all the way to Iceland), time, and even form. We get historical mysteries, police procedurals, even satire, we get stories that occur today’s, with cellphones and Internet as part of the story, as well as stories in the 1930’s, we get stories that deal with writers and publishers and that add to the discussion of the genre hardboiled/cosy (can I call it a meta-fiction-essay? Delicious!), we also get stories with that twist or final kick that is so satisfying to read, we get stories that borrow characters from Simon Brett’s works, but also writers like Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins as characters, and others that nod to Agatha Christie’s characters and titles, we get short stories, but also an haiku and a non-fiction essay.

This exercise of inserting known characters into (and acting in) new contexts was really exciting to read, it was like seeing the writers making a new experiment, with pleasurable results.

At the same time, besides having this wonderful diversity, the collection also has an arching coherence, that was captured both in the title and by Piers Tilbury in the cover design: there is a regular theme of theatre, radio shows and studios, actors, and acting in general, which is really fitting: besides being an author of detective fiction, with several book series, Simon Brett is also a playwright, producer and writer for radio and television. I’m sure I’m being unfair with other works, but let me cite the BBC radio drama adaptations of Lord Peter Wimsey with Ian Carmichael, which the first six instalments were directed by Simon Brett, just because they are probably my favourite radio adaptations ever.

I would also like to highlight the final essay by Simon Brett sharing his memories about the Club. Not only it was delightful to read, but I think it is critically important as memory preservation for the Club’s future history.

Finally, I knew other works by some of the authors, but not all of them, so I think this collection also gives us the opportunity to read sub-genres that we usually wouldn’t pick to find new writers and new books.

#BookReview #books #CrimeFiction #livros #PlayingDead #readings #ShortStories #TheDetectionClub

#thedetectionclub #shortstories #readings #playingdead #livros #crimefiction

David August ❌👑 @[email protected] · 2024-06-19 · 03:30 UTC

Playing possum. This little guy was running, got spooked by the doggie and then pretended to be dead, tongue out and all. Like a cartoon. Minutes later, once we were far enough away, it got up and went on about its possum day. So cool.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Yc2eRtM6Q/

#nature #possum #opossum #cute #PlayingDead #PlayingPossum #doggie #dog #doggo