Crime story collection

Crime Story Collection
Level 4
Retold by John and Celia Turvey Series Editors: Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter
Pearson Education limited
Edinburgh Gate, Harlow,
Essex CM20 2JE, England
and Associated Companies throughout the world.
ISBN 0 582 419190
This compilation first published in Longman Fiction 1998 This edition first published 1999
NEW EDITION
5 7 9 10 8 6
The story “Three is aLucky Number” © Margery Allingham is reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown, London on behalf of P. & M.Youngman Carter Ltd. The story “Full Circle” by Sue Grafton is reprinted with the permission of Abner Stein, London. The story “How’s Your Mother?” © Simon Brett 1980 is from A Box of Tricks, published by Victor Gollancz Ltd. The story “At the Old Swimming Hole” © 1986 Sara Paretsky was firstpublished in Mean Streets: The Second Private Eye Writers of America Anthology, edited by Robert J. Randisi, published by Mysterious Press. All rights reserved. First published in the UK by Hamish Hamilton Limited. The Patricia Highsmith story “Slowly, Slowly in the Wind” was first published in Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine 1976. Copyright © 1993 Diogenes Verlag AG, Zurich. The Patricia Highsmithstory “Woodrow Wilsons Neck Tie” was first published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine 1972. Copyright © 1993 Diogenes Verlag AG, Zurich. The story “The Absence of Emily” by Jack Ritchie is reprinted with kind permission of the Larry Sterring & Jack Byrne Literary Agency, Milwaukee, United States of America. The story “The Inside Story” © 1993 Colin Dexter. This abridgement and simplification ©Addison Wesley Longman Limited 1997.
This edition copyright © Penguin Books Ltd 1999 Illustrations by Les Edwards Cover design by Bender Richardson White
Set in 11/14pt Bembo Printed in China SWTC/05
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording orotherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publishers.
Published by Pearson Education Limited in association with Penguin Books Ltd, both companies being subsidiaries of Pearson Plc
For a complete list of the titles available in the Penguin Readers series please write to your local Pearson Education office or to: Penguin Readers Marketing Department.
Pearson Education. Edinburgh Gate.Harlow. Essex CM20 2JE.
Contents
page
Introduction v
Three Is a Lucky Number Margery Allingham 1
Full Circle Sue Grafton 9
How's Your Mother? Simon Brett 21
At the Old Swimming Hole Sara Paretsky 32
Slowly, Slowly in the Wind Patricia Highsmith 42
Woodrow Wilson s Tie Patricia Highsmith 54
The Absence of Emily Jack Ritchie 65
The Inside Story Colin Dexter 74
Activities 93
IntroductionThis collection contains eight murder stories written by some of the finest British and American mystery writers of the twentieth century. Many, like Colin Dexter and Patricia Highsmith, are best known for their full-length works while others, like Jack Ritchie, specialize in the short story In some of these stories, like Sara Paretsky’s ‘At the Old Swimming Hole’, we follow the action throughthe eyes of the person who is trying to solve the crime. Other stories are told from the point of view of the criminal; as readers of Patricia Highsmith’s ‘Woodrow Wilson’s Tie’, we share the murderer’s thoughts as well as his actions.
English mystery writer Margery Allingham (1904-66) was born in London.She followed other members of her family into a life of writing, producing her first mysterystory in 1927. She also wrote about social history. In ‘Three Is a Lucky Number’ we meet Ronald Torbay, who is making careful preparations for his third murder. But will he succeed?
Born in Kentucky in 1940, Sue Grafton, who now lives in California, has won many prizes for her crime stories. Kinsey Millhone, a strong, intelligent female private detective with a good sense of humour, is the main...