This new course will be reading five short stories or novellas by the best-known women writers in Britain in the “Golden Age” of Mysteries: Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, Dorothy Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, and Josephine Tey.

Although they were not all born in England, each author was writing in English and locating many of their stories throughout Britain. And each of their “sleuths”—whether amateurs or professionals, inspectors or policemen, male or female—and their successful solutions to the crimes they tackled were never simple nor obvious. But each (fictional) detective certainly earned their literary fame.

Throughout the 20th century and into the present day, these five women’s works have been translated into many languages in the world. Many of these works remain in print in the USA, Canada, and Britain even today. In this class we will cover one story or novella and its place in its author’s entire work per week. In the final three classes, we can compare or contrast these authors’ works in each classmate’s reading experiences, and discuss suggestions for other stories and novels to read by these and any other authors in the mystery genre.