The Longer Bodies: A Mrs. Bradley Mystery (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) [Paperback]

Gladys Mitchell (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Rue Morgue Press (December 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1601870345
• ISBN-13: 978-1601870346
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #929,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mrs Bradley in Print - Long Overdue, Let Down by Typography, August 30, 2010

By 

William "williamnedblake" (Kansas City, MO, United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Longer Bodies: A Mrs. Bradley Mystery (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is a review in two brief vignettes: first, the novel itself, secondly, a word about the publisher's effort in bringing these books to life.

The story of "The Longer Bodies" is perplexing. A rich great-aunt brings three branches of her family together to attempt to train them as Olympic athletes. Within a short time of the beginning of the training exercises, a local drunkard and wife-beater is murdered in the grounds of her home, which have been converted for the purpose of athletic training. There are many suspects from which to choose, but it is not until a second murder, that of Great Aunt Puddequet's (I kid you not - Gladys Mitchell had a penchant for curious names) adopted grandson, that circumstances take a turn for the bizarre, and eventually, with police plodding and ineptitude on the rise, Mrs Beatrice Adela Lestrange Bradley arrives on scene in an attempt to clear things up.

Don't expect fair play here at all - although this was only the third novel to feature Mrs Bradley, originally published in 1930, Mitchell has already decided that sometimes, as in life, motive is entirely random. It's an enjoyable romp, with the occasional priceless line of description, and well worth your time. If you can find "Speedy Death (Black Dagger Crime Series)", begin there, then read "The Mystery of a Butcher's Shop", just for the sake of background - you'll be glad that you did.

Now, to the publishers themselves. Ironically, a later volume by Gladys Mitchell - also featuring the crocodilian Mrs Bradley - is called "Printer's Error"... ironic, for reasons that I will shortly explain.

Rue Morgue Press are attempting to perform an invaluable service, that of keeping in print (or in some cases, printing in the US for the first time) otherwise extremely difficult to find novels by classic detective story writers. Gladys Mitchell would be a case in point: although she wrote something on the order of eighty books, very few of them see the light of day in America, thereby making it an expensive proposition just to try to read the Mrs Bradley mysteries. So an inexpensive paperback edition is a welcome effort...

If only it were a better-managed effort. Unlike the Hogarth Press reprints of the 1980s, the Rue Morgue editions have very little going for them. Any one of my complaints - poor cover art, typographical error-strewn text, awkward size, unpleasant type-face - might singly be allowed to pass. But together? [Insert inarticulate growl of annoyance here.] The most egregious, a random line break, occurs on page 106 and can be seen just by flipping through the volume, even if you don't know that it's there. Quotes are left unclosed, unopened, or simply in the wrong place. The cover art bears an image of a skeletal athlete, but the jersey appears to have sponsorship around the number - something which I'm relatively certain was not a feature of the garments worn by 1930s-era Olympians. Sure, not everyone gets wound up over stuff like this, but if you do, if you're a writer or an editor or a proofer or know anything about printing, it could well send you round the bend.

The sad thing is this: I really want to read these books. And I will continue to do so, even if I must do it with these volumes, because otherwise they're just damn near impossible to find. But I would implore you, Rue Morgue Press, to look very carefully at your production methods, and to please bring us more of the divine Gladys (as per Larkin), but in better edited, better designed volumes. A grateful public will thank you..