The Imaginary Bookshop 1934

For my 200th post, we’ll be traveling all the way back to 1934. Despite (or perhaps because of) the Depression, this was a banner year for mystery fiction that would see the publication of many future classics, most notably Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers, The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain, The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett, and Fer-de-Lance, the debut of Rex Stout’s iconic detective Nero Wolfe.

Orient Express is only one of three novels Christie published in 1934—one of which, Three Act Tragedy, actually appeared in the United States prior to its UK publication in 1935. (The UK got its revenge this same year, as Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? made its debut there well before American readers got their hands on it.) Since the covers below are American editions, representing what a reader like me might be able to find in their local bookstore that year, it becomes especially obvious how many titles were changed for the US market during this time.

The year’s other prolific authors include John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson, who produced three books under two different names; Erle Stanley Gardner’s three Perry Mason novels; and grand champion John Rhode/Miles Burton with four. Not all of these titles are pictured below due to their repetitive cover designs, but they would certainly have tempted any discerning book buyer of 1934.

• Death of a Ghost by Margery Allingham
• Out Went the Taper by R. C. Ashby

• Mr. Pidgeon’s Island by Anthony Berkeley
• Plan XVI by Douglas G. Browne

• The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
• The Eight of Swords by John Dickson Carr

• Mr. Parker Pyne, Detective (aka Parker Pyne Investigates) by Agatha Christie
• Murder in the Calais Coach (aka Murder on the Orient Express) by Agatha Christie

• Murder in Three Acts (aka Three-Act Tragedy) by Agatha Christie
• Death in the Quarry by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole

• End of an Ancient Mariner by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole
• The Brandon Case (aka The Ha-Ha Case) by J. J. Connington

• Wilful and Premeditated (aka The 12.30 from Croydon) by Freeman Wills Crofts
• The Plague Court Murders by Carter Dickson

• The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson
• The Cat Screams by Todd Downing

• The Cases of Susan Dare by Mignon G. Eberhart
• Sinister Inn by J. Jefferson Farjeon

• For the Defense: Dr. Thorndyke by R. Austin Freeman
• Mr. Pinkerton Goes to Scotland Yard by David Frome

• The Case of the Lucky Legs by Erle Stanley Gardner
• The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

• The Hand of the Chimpanzee by Robert Hare
• The Murder of My Aunt by Richard Hull

• The Lesser Antilles Case by Rufus King
• Settled Out of Court by Ronald Knox

• Still Dead by Ronald Knox
• The Manuscript Murder by George Limnelius

• The Greenwell Mystery by E. C. R. Lorac
• The Chianti Flask by Marie Belloc Lowndes

• The Clue of the Dead Goldfish by Victor MacClure
• Give Me Death by Isabel Briggs Myers

• The Puzzle of the Silver Persian by Stuart Palmer
• The Divorce Court Murder by Milton Propper

• The Adventures of Ellery Queen by Ellery Queen
• The Chinese Orange Mystery by Ellery Queen

• Poison for One by John Rhode
• The Robthorne Mystery by John Rhode

• The State vs. Elinor Norton by Mary Roberts Rinehart
• The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers

• Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout
• For the Hangman by John Stephen Strange

• The Talking Sparrow Murders by Darwin L. Teilhet
• Richardson’s Second Case by Basil Thomson

• Criss-Cross by Don Tracy
• The Casino Murder Case by S. S. Van Dine

• The Visiting Villain by Carolyn Wells
• Fear by Night by Patricia Wentworth

• The Case of the Gold Coins by Anthony Wynne
• Death of a Banker by Anthony Wynne

There were also quite a few notable titles that, as far as I can tell, were UK-only releases that year—including a number of future British Library Crime Classics.

• The Case of the 100% Alibis by Christopher Bush
• Insoluble by Francis Everton

• Death at Broadcasting House by Val Gielgud and Holt Marvell
• The Unfinished Clue by Georgette Heyer

• Murder at the Bookstall by Henry Holt
• Obelists En Route by C. Daly King

• A Man Lay Dead by Ngaio Marsh
• Henbane by Catherine Meadows

• Quick Curtain by Alan Melville
• Scarweather by Anthony Rolls

• Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg
• Constable Guard Thyself by Henry Wade

It’s honestly mind-boggling how many great books were published in this single year. With summer, and therefore the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge, just around the corner, my plan is to immerse myself in 1934 reading. The only question is which twenty to choose…