BURIED FOR PLEASURE - Edmund Crispin

Originally published in the 1940's the Gervase Fen mysteries are one of those rights of passage for crime lovers.  Or at least they were in my house as I was growing up.  Vintage Books have done us all an enormous favour in turning their attention back to some of the classic books - and this set from Edmund Crispin is a real job to behold.  Now I have read a lot of these books before, but the chance to reread them, without having to rely on falling on fragile old copies in second-hand bookshops is a joy.

And these are still very good crime stories.  Slightly eccentric in that vaguely bats sort of what-ho English style, they are built around a good solid foundation of a problem and a solution, no matter how odd the methodology might seem these days.

They are ultimately extremely enjoyable books - and Gervase Fen is a wonderfully eccentric, but extremely alert British investigating sort of chap - and I cannot recommend them highly enough - either as a reread or as a new experience if you're new to these classic English crime books.