Murder in the Links Vol. 11

A weekly roundup of links, books I’m reading and other murderous miscellanea

This week I’ve been…

Watching this chateau tour. I think half the reason I love country house mysteries is the inevitable hidden staircase/passageway reveal, so this French chateau, with its hidden rooms accessed by secret stairways was deeply relevant to my interests. They were mostly used to house servants (depressing), but they’re fascinating nevertheless.

Marveling at this collection of “imaginary” books, currently on display at the Grolier Club in New York. I love other people’s interesting hobbies, and this one is so fun: Reid Byers has made physical books of (fake) titles mentioned in real books. Golden Age fans will note the section on the novels of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. I would love to visit the exhibit but will probably have to settle for a copy of Byers’ book.

Reading this article about the discovery of a trove of A.A. Milne’s letters and manuscripts. I wrote about Milne’s only detective novel, The Red House Mystery, a while back and while it doesn’t seem to be mentioned in any of the documents found, insight into the author process is always illuminating.