The Detection Collection. Simon Brett

       Copyright

      Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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      Hammersmith, London W6 8JB

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by Orion 2005

      Introduction copyright © Simon Brett 2014

      The Part-time Job copyright © P.D. James 2005

      Partnership Track copyright © Michael Ridpath 2005

      A Toothbrush copyright © H.R.F. Keating 2005

      The Sun, the Moon and the Stars copyright © John Harvey 2005

      ‘Going Anywhere Nice?’ copyright © Lindsey Davis 2005

      Between the Lines copyright © Colin Dexter 2005

      The Life-lie copyright © Robert Barnard 2005

      The Woman from Marlow copyright © Margaret Yorke 2005

      Toupee for a Bald Tyre copyright © Robert Goddard 2005

      The Holiday copyright © Clare Francis 2005

      Fool of Myself copyright © Reginald Hill 2005

      The Detection Club – A Brief History copyright © Simon Brett 2014

      Jacket design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 2014

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780007583898

      Ebook Edition © November 2014 ISBN: 9780007569724

      Version: 2014-09-11

       Dedication

       To all the members, past and present, who have contributed to the unique history of the Detection Club

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction: Simon Brett

The Part-time Job: P.D. James

Partnership Track: Michael Ridpath

A Toothbrush: H.R.F. Keating

The Sun, the Moon and the Stars: John Harvey

       ‘Going Anywhere Nice?’: Lindsey Davis

       Between the Lines: Colin Dexter

       The Life-lie: Robert Barnard

       The Woman from Marlow: Margaret Yorke

       Toupee for a Bald Tyre: Robert Goddard

       The Holiday: Clare Francis

       Fool of Myself: Reginald Hill

       The Detection Club – A Brief History: Simon Brett

       Also in this series

       About the Publisher

       INTRODUCTION

      Simon Brett

      This volume of crime stories was originally published in 2005, arguably to celebrate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Detection Club. At that time I used the word ‘arguably’, not because the occasion did not qualify for celebration, but because there is argument about the precise date of the Club’s inauguration. (For further details of this, consult The Detection Club – A Brief History at the back of the book.)

      So this new edition could be said arguably to celebrate the Club’s eighty-fifth anniversary. But in all those many years of existence, the primary distinction of the Detection Club has not changed. When founded in 1930 – or 1929 or 1932, according to different authorities – its membership comprised the cream of British crime-writing talent, and that is still the situation today. As a result, The Detection Collection has an extremely distinguished list of contributors.

      In my role as editor – and, incidentally, the Club’s president – I had the great pleasure of being the first to read the stories as they were delivered. And I remember being delighted, not just by the quality, but by the variety of the contributions. Each one reflected the unique voice of its author.

      There were stories of devilish cunning, as one would expect from the minds of P.D. James and Colin Dexter. There were lighter-hearted contributions from H.R.F. Keating, Lindsey Davis and Robert Goddard. Michael Ridpath presented a story of skulduggery in the corporate world he knew so well. Robert Barnard’s skills as a literary historian were focused on a slightly fictionalised incident in the life of Henrik Ibsen. Clare Francis provided a chilling character study.

      And