Digging Up Murder

MURDER BY BURIAL.
By Stanley Casson.
Harper's.
1938. $2.00

Casson's solo performance as a mystery writer:

Well written, quite literate, amusing in parts, informative on both archaeology and numismatics. The dialogue sometimes seems more lecture than conversation, but the lectures are interesting and thus tolerable. — William F. Deeck, MYSTERY*FILE (27 August 2009)

Another viewpoint:

'Murder by Burial' is far from a Golden Age classic in terms of plot or detection (the ‘detective’ doesn’t turn up until quite late in the day), but it is clever, informative if you have an interest in archaeology (and an attention span longer than Time Team’s regulation “only three days . . .”), very well written and, in parts, extremely funny. — Mike Ripley, GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER

From THE SATURDAY REVIEW (September 10, 1938):

Cave-in "accidentally" smothers amateur archeologist. Expert excavator scents murder and scotches clever killers. - Soberly paced, highly analytical affair, with Fascist-plot furbelows and some British—but acceptable—humor. - Verdict: Competent.

When it came to archaeology, Casson produced a good deal more; the UNZ index lists 26 items.

Category: Detective fiction