Murder by the Book at Cambridge University Library

My main motivation for travelling to Cambridge in August was to attend the Murder by the Book exhibition at Cambridge University Library (I had intended to get this post up before it finished on August 24th but a family medical emergency – now largely resolved – impacted all my plans). I’d never been up to the part of Cambridge where the library is located before which is the main research library of the university. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott (designer of the red telephone box among other things) it opened in 1934.

The exhibition was free though they did suggest a timed entry ticket “bought” in advance was essential. I did so but I’m not sure it was really necessary – there were maybe a handful of people at the exhibition during the Wednesday morning I was there. On presenting my ticket at the front desk I was given a visitor’s pass to wear around my neck which showed you which areas of the library you now had access to.

The first part of the exhibition was in the library’s dedicated exhibition space downstairs which held most of the items donated for the event. As a big fan of the Golden Age of crime fiction, particularly Agatha Christie, it was great to be able to see so many Christie items. These included her typewriter and the dictaphone which she used to dictate her autobiography.

Another interesting Christie item was the typescript of Curtain, her final Poirot novel which she kept hidden in a bank vault for 30 years until she was ready to publish it.

Other highlights included editions of novels grouped by their content and which have had a lasting impact on the crime genre from Christie, to Conan Doyle, to Colin Dexter to PD James, to lesser known authors having something of a revival in part thanks to the British Library reissuing many Crime Classics.

The second half of the exhibition, located along one of the gallery corridors (you needed to show your pass to get upstairs for this) was slightly less well done, focusing more on film adaptations of crime books by Alfred Hitchcock. There were a couple of films playing you could watch but it was mostly just a display of film posters and a small section on crime novels set in Cambridge.

Going up to the gallery corridor did allow me to take a peek inside the library itself…

…and also as part of the exhibition the visitor’s pass gave access to the tea room which isn’t generally open to the public. I stopped off here for an okay cup of tea and a very nice slice of cake.

Overall I enjoyed the exhibition though it seemed a little superficial in places.