We are delighted to confirm the date of next year’s annual Bodies From The Library conference at the British Library.

Our fifth conference will take place on Saturday 29th June 2019.

Tickets will go on sale shortly. Till then, make sure you block out the date in your diary so you don’t miss all the fun.

Here is the list of books with settings in libraries which Dr Jennifer Palmer mentioned in her talk at this year’s conference last Saturday.

The Librarian by Larry Beinhart
Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody
Sew Deadly and series from 2009 by Elizabeth Casey
Witch Way to Murder and series from 2005 by Shirley Damsgaard
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Real Murders and series from 1994 by Charlaine Harris
The Cruellest Month by Hazel Holt
Murder Past Due and series from 2010 by Miranda James
Step in the Dark by Elizabeth Lemarchand
By Its Cover by Donna Leon
Seneca Falls Inheritance by Miriam Grace Monfredo
Footfall by Christine Poulson
The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom
Oxford Exit by Veronica Stallwood
Murder at the Library of Congress by Margaret Truman
The Wyndham Case by Jill Paton Walsh
The Mark Twain Murders and series from 1989

As we wake up on the morning after what we hope, based on comments from delegates, has been another enjoyable conference, we have so many people we have to thank for making it a success.

Firstly, all of the speakers for sharing their erudition and doing so in such an entertaining fashion.

To our partners the British Library (for such a fabulous venue and all the unsung backroom services such as Audio Visual support, not forgetting content for the goody bags and putting them together, which makes our lives easier on the day) and HarperCollins Publishers (for content for the goody bags and providing competition prize).

To Kazabo Publishing for additional goody bag content.

To Coffee and Crime for providing another competition prize.

To the Barbican Library for the exhibition of their unique collection of early editions of classic Golden Age titles.

And Lucy Gordon-Smith for volunteering as “second roving microphone” in the auditorium.

But most of all we want to thank you, our conference delegates, for coming along and giving your attention, your enthusiasm, your fantastic questions and contributions from the floor. Without your active participation, quite simply, there would be no conference.

Thank you all. And we look forward to welcoming you back next year for Bodies From The Library 2019.

The Bodies From The Library Team

Liz Cooper, Susan Cooper, John Curran, Norman Home, Mike Linane

The British Library is making available six of its yet to be published titles exclusively to delegates at the conference today. Some of these will not be available in shops for several months.
And, if that isn’t tempting eniugh, the Crime Classics will be on sale on a three for the price of two basis.

Not got a ticket? Not a problem, you can pay on the door and secure one of the few remaining places.

Oh yes, and you will get to hear leading experts on the Golden Age sharing their knowledge on a range of topics relating to detective fiction’s finest ers.

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.

Martin Edwards will be speaking at the conference on the works of Richard Hull. To get you in the right frame of mind for this you might want to check out the following books:

The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull
Blood on the Tracks by Martin Edwards
Bats in the Belfry by E. C. R. Lorac

I might add that I am currently reading Murder Isn’t Easy by Richard Hull, which has a similar tone to The Murder of My Aunt. It also promises to be every bit as good as, and as convention-upsetting, as that novel.