The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers, including

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ronald Knox, Freeman Wills Crofts, Arthur Morrison,

Hugh Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE (13 March 18841 June 1941) was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among those who encouraged him were the authors Hen ...

John Rhode Cecil John Charles Street (3 May 1884 – 8 December 1964), who was known to his colleagues, family and friends as John Street, began his military career as an artillery officer in the British Army. During the course of World War I, he became a ...

, Jessie Rickard, Baroness Emma Orczy,

R. Austin Freeman Dr. Richard Austin Freeman (11 April 1862 – 28 September 1943) was a British writer of detective stories, mostly featuring the medico-legal forensic investigator Dr. Thorndyke. He invented the inverted detective story (a crime fiction in wh ...

, G. D. H. Cole, Margaret Cole,

E. C. Bentley Edmund Clerihew Bentley (10 July 1875 – 30 March 1956), who generally published under the names E. C. Bentley or E. Clerihew Bentley, was a popular English novelist and humorist, and inventor of the clerihew, an irregular form of humorous verse ...

, Henry Wade,

Constance Lindsay Taylor Constance Lindsay Taylor (10 January 1907 – 15 January 2000) was a British writer, playwright and screenwriter who wrote under the pseudonym Guy Cullingford. Her novels and short stories were written in the style of Golden Age detective fiction ...

and

H. C. Bailey Henry Christopher Bailey (1 February 1878 – 24 March 1961) was an English author of detective fiction. Life Bailey was born in London. He studied Classics at Oxford University, earning a B.A. in 1901.William L. DeAndrea, ''Encyclopedia Myster ...

Anthony Berkeley Anthony Berkeley Cox (5 July 1893 – 9 March 1971) was an English crime writer. He wrote under several pen-names, including Francis Iles, Anthony Berkeley and A. Monmouth Platts. Early life and education Anthony Berkeley Cox was born 5 Jul ...

was instrumental in setting up the club, and the first president was

G. K. Chesterton Gilbert Keith Chesterton (29 May 1874 – 14 June 1936) was an English writer, philosopher, Christian apologist, and literary and art critic. He has been referred to as the "prince of paradox". Of his writing style, ''Time'' observed: "Wh ...

. There was a fanciful initiation ritual with an oath written by Sayers, and the club held regular dinner meetings in London.

Guidelines

In addition to meeting for dinners and helping each other with technical aspects in their individual writings, the members of the club agreed to adhere to Knox's Commandments in their writing to give the reader a fair chance at guessing the guilty party. These fair-play "rules" were summarised by one of the members, Ronald Knox, in an introduction to an anthology of detective stories. They were never intended as more than guidelines, and not all the members took them seriously. The first American member (though then living in the UK) was

John Dickson Carr John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn. He lived in England for a number of years, and i ...

, elected in 1936. The club continues to exist, although the fair-play rules have been considerably relaxed. A number of works were published under the club's sponsorship; most of these were written by multiple members of the club, each contributing one or more chapters in turn. In the case of '' The Floating Admiral'', each author also provided a sealed "solution" to the mystery as he or she had written it, including the previous chapters. This was done to prevent a writer from adding impossible complications with no reasonable solution in mind. The various partial solutions were published as part of the final book.

The oath

Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them using those wits which it may please you to bestow upon them and not placing reliance on nor making use of Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence, or Act of God?

Presidents

(1930–1936) *

(1936–1949) * Dorothy L. Sayers (1949–1957) *

(1957–1976) *

Lord Gorell Baron Gorell, of Brampton, Derbyshire, Brampton in the Derbyshire, County of Derby, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 16 February 1909 for Gorell Barnes, 1st Baron Gorell, Sir Gorell Barnes, President of the Prob ...

(1957–1963) * Julian Symons (1976–1985) *

H. R. F. Keating Henry Reymond Fitzwalter Keating (31 October 1926 – 27 March 2011) was an English crime fiction writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID. Life Keating, known as "Harry" to friends and family, ...

(1985–2000) * Simon Brett (2000–2015) * Martin Edwards (2015–) Lord Gorell shared the presidency with Agatha Christie, who only agreed to accept the role if a co-president was appointed to conduct the club's proceedings.

Publications

*'' The Scoop and Behind the Screen'' (1931, round-robin novellas) *'' The Floating Admiral'' (1931,1932, round-robin novel) *''Ask a Policeman'' (1933) *''

The Anatomy of a Murder ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

'' (1936) (US title ''The Anatomy of Murder'' (New York, Macmillan, 1937) True crime essays *''

Detection Medley {{Unreferenced, date=March 2018 In general, detection is the action of accessing information without specific cooperation from with the sender. In the history of radio communications, the term "detector" was first used for a device that detected t ...

'' (1939; US title, ''Line-Up,'' 1940; short stories, some original, some reprints; edited by John Rhode) *''

Mystery Playhouse presents The Detection Club Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

'' (January 1948); six 30 minute radio plays by club members on

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

written in aid of club funds *''

No Flowers By Request No (and variant writings) may refer to one of these articles: English language * ''Yes'' and ''no'' (responses) * A determiner in noun phrases Alphanumeric symbols * No (kana), a letter/syllable in Japanese script * No symbol, displayed � ...

'' (round-robin novella, 1953) *''

Verdict of Thirteen In law, a verdict is the formal finding of fact made by a jury on matters or questions submitted to the jury by a judge. In a bench trial, the judge's decision near the end of the trial is simply referred to as a finding. In England and Wales, ...

'' (1978; original short stories, edited by Julian Symons, published by Faber and by Harper & Row) *'' The Man Who...'' (1992); original short stories in honor of Julian Symons's 80th birthday, edited by

, published by Macmillan]) *''

The Detection Collection ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (2005; original short stories in recognition of the Club's 75th anniversary, edited by Simon Brett, published by Orion and by St. Martin;'s (2006)) *''

The Verdict of Us All ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (2006; original short stories in honor of

's 80th birthday, edited by Peter Lovesey, published by

Crippen & Landru Crippen & Landru Publishers is a small publisher of mystery fiction collections, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1994 by husband and wife Sandi and Douglas G. Greene in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is named af ...

and Allison & Busby) *''

The Sinking Admiral ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'' (2016, round-robin novel, published by Collins Crime Club) *'' Motives for Murder'' (2016; original short stories in honor of Peter Lovesey's 80th birthday, edited by Martin Edwards, published by

and by Sphere ( Little, Brown Book Group). *'' Howdunit: A Masterclass in Crime Writing by Members of the Detection Club'' (2020; edited by Martin Edwards, published by Collins Crime Club). * ''

Eric the Skull The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

'' (2020; a 45-minute

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

play, being a fictionalised account of the setting up of the club, written by Simon Brett and produced by Liz Anstee).

References

External links