Cosy up with classic crime this month: A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith, The Magus of Sicily by Philip Gwynne Jones, The Golden Age of Murder by Martin Edwards

Following up on a successful debut novel is tough for any author. Expectations are high but rarely fulfilled. Smith is one of the exceptions.

We are once again in the company of Sir Gabriel Ward KC, a scion of the Inner Temple, an exclusive reserve for the legal elite.

When mummified body parts start turning up on the doorsteps of leading residents, causing one occupant to die of shock, Gabriel is asked to lead an investigation and stop scandal spilling out to nearby Fleet Street.

Meanwhile, our part-time detective has his work cut out representing a music hall singer in a defamation case against a high-born seducer.

A brilliant mystery.

A small town in Sicily is in festive spirit until a man’s body is fished out of the sea. He was a leading psychic, one of a fraternity of fraudsters. A cub reporter on the local newspaper, Nedda Leonardi believes there is more to the case than an accidental drowning. Her unlikely ally is known as the Magus, a gambler and showman who is well-versed in the tricks of the mystic’s trade.

While Nedda is on the track of a scoop, the Magus is occupied keeping one step ahead of jealous rivals.

Philip Gwynne Jones is on a winning streak with his Italian mysteries. While the action has moved from Venice to Sicily, there is no let-up in the tension that keeps us rooted to the page.

Focusing on the inter-war period, Edwards draws on his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Golden Age.

We are treated to an intriguing profile of Dorothy L. Sayers, a vicar’s daughter whose erratic career started in advertising, from which she took extended leave to give birth to an illegitimate child. For Sayers, as for the followers of her urbane detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, crime fiction was an escape from a dismal present.

Edwards delves into the often surprising sources of leading authors’ creativity.

Much of the inspiration came from the Detection Club, bringing together the top professionals of their day.

Still a prestigious gathering, it counts Edwards among its members. It would be hard to imagine a better dip-into book for summer.