Julian Symons Libri

When it appeared in 1972 'Bloody Murder' was greeted as the classic study of crime fiction, a book "heartily recommended to anyone who has ever enjoyed a detective story or a crime novel" as Kingsley Amis wrote. Subsequent edition ensured that this study was kept up to date to include later authors, and a third and final revised edition was issued in 1993 in celebration of distinguished author/critic Julian Symons' 80th year. The views expressed are as candid as ever. One bestselling writer is called unreadable, another compared to writers of "strip cartoon stories". But the general tone is warmly appreciative of every sort of book within the genre.

Wealth can have its drawbacks. Case in point: The Collard and Vandervent families, who for decades have shared a large estate in the elegant London suburb of Blackheath. It's now the 1890s, and over the years, the families' near-incestuous entanglement has grown into a toxic web of lies and bitterness. While mama keeps an iron grasp on the purse strings, an unmarried daughter sucks greedily on her own disappointment, a son raises corruption to an art form, and an ethereal daughter-in-law casts come-hither glances at anything in pants. She casts them frequently at young Paul Vandervent, who responds by filling his journal with fevered love poems. And when one member after another of the extended clan falls victim to gastric misadventure--and his beloved falls under suspicion--Paul embarks on an equally feverish quest to clear her name, resolving to solve the extraordinary series of crimes popularly called The Blackheath Poisonings.

"Sutherland House Classics is proud to bring back to print Julian Symons’ The Tell-Tale Heart, an acclaimed and best-selling biography of Edgar Allan Poe, one of the most influential authors in the English language. A highly-regarded mystery and crime writer in his own right, Symons is in a unique position to understand Poe’s work and to sharply, thoroughly reveal the secrets of his life. He paints Poe as his contemporaries saw him: a man whose life was filled with tragedy and who struggled to make a living through his writing, only to emerge as a definitive voice in murder-and-madness fiction and the inventor of the detective story. More relevant than ever in our horror-obsessed times, The Tell-Tale Heart is the second volume in the Sutherland Classics series, which seeks to rediscover and reprint classic works of narrative non-fiction"-- Provided by publisher

In 1936 Orwell went to Spain to report on the Civil War and instead joined the fight against the Fascists. This famous account describes the war and Orwell’s experiences. Introduction by Lionel Trilling.

General Gordon, charged with defending Khartoum, was stabbed to death when the Mahdi's forces took the town by storm. Two days later, the Expeditionary force arrived to relieve Gordon, but found the town firmly in the hands of the Mahdi. In England's Pride, Julian Symons tells the story of the disastrous and tragic failure of this mission.

Telling the story of a murder, a trial, and the subsequent psychiatric evaluation, this award-winning crime novel from 1957 is a gripping examination of the psychology of murder and the nature of justice.

This atmospheric novel of family secrets, first published in 1964, is by a winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.

Set in the 1890s, the story unfolds within the intertwined lives of the Collard and Vandervent families in Blackheath, revealing a toxic atmosphere filled with lies and bitterness. The narrative centers on young Paul Vandervent, who is infatuated with his brother's wife, as he navigates family corruption and disappointment. As mysterious gastric mishaps plague the family, Paul becomes determined to exonerate his beloved, leading him on a passionate quest filled with love poems and intrigue.

Arthur Brownjohn has never quite got anything right. Whatever he does, it always seems to go more than a little awry. The same could be said for the murder of his wife - a bungled, inferior affair despite his having consulting all the experts in the field of killings, executions and dastardly deeds. Resolving never to repeat the same mistakes, he enlists the help of Major Easonby Mellon - a man who really knows what he's doing...

Mystery crime fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder The murder, a brutal stabbing, definitely took place on Guy Fawkes's (bonfire) night. It was definitely by the bonfire on the village green, and there were definitely a number of witnesses. And yet, nobody is clear on what exactly happened and what they saw. In the writhing, violent shadows, it seems as if the truth may have gone up in smoke. Julian Symons's phenomenal 1960 novel is a searing drama of wrongful accusation, twisty police procedural, and account of grim murder all rolled together. Also includes the short story "The Tigers of Subtopia."