Blurbs for R. T. Campbell Mysteries

(Note: Books are listed alphabetically.)

Bodies in a Bookshop (1946)

by R. T. Campbell

Dover Books (1984)

Cover price: $3.95

'At the time of the Second World War, Scottish-born poet, scholar, art critic and fantasy novelist Ruthven Campbell Todd (1914-1978) wrote a series of detective novels, using the pen name R. T. Campbell. Todd soon abandoned detective fiction for other literary projects and was quickly -- but unjustly -- forgotten as a mystery novelist. Today, his detective novels are almost impossible to find.

'When a rare copy of Bodies in a Bookshop does turn up, it is a treat for all mystery lovers and those who love to rummage through musty old bookstores in search of the unexpected. Botanist Max Boyle visits "a curious little shop in a side-street off the Tottenham Court Road" in London and is delighted with the bibliophilic treasures he finds. He also stumbles across something less pleasant: in a back room, an unlit gas ring emits noxious fumes, and two corpses lie sprawled on the floor.

'Boyle calls in "The Bishop" -- Chief Inspector Reginald F. Bishop of Scotland Yard -- who in turn coaxes Professor John Stubbs, a rotund old Scottish botanist and amateur criminologist, to lend his assistance. The salty old professor, quaffing pint after pint of good British beer, his pipe emitting clouds of foul smoke; the protesting Boyle, who would rather be basking in the sun on the Scilly Islands; and the polite, skeptical, world-weary Bishop soon delve beneath the tip of a sinister iceberg to discover skulduggery and dark deeds. Fueled as much by friction among themselves as by enthusiasm, the little crime-solving club threads a maze through London's book and print emporia, grappling with a puzzle that is likely to baffle even the most astute armchair detective.

'Bodies in a Bookshop is filled with amusing sallies of wit, quaint and pungent observations, droll characters and rambles among many a volume of forgotten lore. Crisp dialogue keeps the plot moving at top speed. After forty years, Bodies in a Bookshop is as exuberantly readable as ever, a welcome and refreshing relief from so many of today's flat and colorless mystery puzzles.'