The miniature book museum in the old city part of Baku in Azerbaijan includes amongst the titles on display two tiny (less than two inches tall) editions of Agatha Christie, translated into Russian. For those of you unfamiliar with the cyrillic script, both bear the title Two Stories. Unfortunately, as the display is behind glass, I was unable to check which two stories were included and whether the two volumes contained the same pair of stories or different ones.

Simon Brett and Len Tyler have suggested the following pre-conference reading for their talk on The Changing Image of the Golden Age. Some of these are articles and not a book so a careful internet search may prove fruitful in locating copies (possibly, though by no means caertainly, for free).

The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler

The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards

Murder for Pleasure by Howard Haycraft

Talking About Detective Fiction by P.D. James

Bloody Murder by Julian Symons

Snobbery with Violence by Colin Watson

Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd? by Edmund Wilson

The Baffle Book by Lassiter Wren and Randle McKay

Dr Jennifer Palmer has suggested the following books as preparatory reading for her session at this year’s conference. Jennifer says that although some of the books are more obscure and difficult to obtain than others, she also refers to a number of books which are readily available in paperback or ebook form, including one title from the British Library Crime Classics series.

The Widening Stain by Morris Bishop

Dewey Death by Charity Blackstock

Death Walks in Marble Halls by Lawrence G. Blochman

The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie

Murder in a Library by Charles J. Dutton

Dewey Decimated by Charles A. Goodwin

Murder in the Stacks by Marion Boyd Havighurst

Operation Pax  by Michael Innes

Landscape with Dead Dons by Robert Robinson

Murder in the Museum by John Rowland

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

As we move into the final weeks before the conference, here are three more titles to add to your Suggested Reading to help you make the most of your day:

Come Tell Me How You Live by Agatha Christie Mallowan
An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
Beware of Johnny Washington by Francis Durbridge

The first two titles by Christie are non-fiction. The name under which she published Come Tell Me How You Live may give you a clue that it focuses on her times spent on digs in the Middle East with her archaeologist husband Sir Max Mallowan though there is little doubt that her experiences lend not only local colour but also verisimilitude to her fiction excursions in the area.

The Francis Durbrdge title, originally from 1951 but recently republished, is a reworking of the first Paul Temple radio serial Send For Paul Temple that features alternative characters including the eponymous Johnny Washington.