B. J. Rahn - Detective Scholar

Books

  • Dorothy L. Sayers: The Art of the Short Story in Words and Pictures. London, 2023

  • SHERLOCK HOLMES – A MAN OF HIS TIME

    The Real World of Sherlock     explores how closely (or not) Holmes' fictional world represents Victorian life. It provides a fascinating insight into crime and detection in nineteenth-century London by tracing how the work of police detectives and CSI evolved in this era. From footprint analysis and human blood testing to fingerprinting and crime-scene photography, comparing Holmes' methods with official procedures yields several surprises—as does research into Sherlock's fabled drug addiction. Analysis of Holmes and the Fair Sex reveals that despite his antifeminist remarks, Holmes' actions speak louder than his words, as he befriends female clients, earns the trust of reluctant witnesses, and protects helpless victims. Holmes was very much a man of his time, attuned to social issues, ready to accept new ideas and to challenge unjust or inequitable practices and thereby help to reshape society. He was a quintessential Victorian.

    • The Real World of Sherlock. Stroud, UK: Amberley Publishing, hb. 2014, 256 pp.

    The Real World of Sherlock. Stroud, UK: Amberley Publishing, pbk. 2015, 264 pp.

Articles for Journals, Magazines and Newspapers




  • "Dr. Crippen and Whose Body?", Bulletin Dorothy L. Sayers's Society, Vol. 289, September 2023, pp. 7-8.
  • "Illustration on the Dust Wrapper of Dorothy L. Sayers's Whose Body? - Who-Done It?", Bulletin Dorothy L. Sayers's Society, Vol. 288, July 2023, pp. 13-15.
  • "American Reviews of Dorothy L. Sayers's Whose Body?", CADS—Crime and Detective Stories, Vol. 90, July 2023, pp. 23-24.
  • "Clothing in Dorothy L. Sayers's Crime Fiction", by Birgitta Berglund, Dorothy L. Sayers Society Bulletin, No. 283, September 2022, pp. 13-15.
  • "Setting in Margery Allingham's Flowers for the Judge", The Bottle Street Gazette, Journal of the Margery Allingham Society, No. 51, Autumn 2020, pp. 3-26.
  • "Review of Square Haunting: Five Lives in London Between the Wars", Dorothy L. Sayers Society Bulletin, No. 267, January 2020, pp. 11-13.
  • "My First Impressions of P. D. James", Dorothy L. Sayers Society Bulletin, No. 238, March 2015, pp. 14-16.
  • "A Contrary Look at a Scandinavian Favourite," CADS—Crime and Detective Stories, No. 62, February 2012, p. 18 .
  • "Murder in Faraway Places: Under the Eye of Kali," CADS—Crime and Detective Stories, No. 58, June 2010, pp. 67-68.
  • "The Mystery of Ernest Bramah," CADS—Crime and Detective Stories, No. 56, June 2009, pp. 43-46.
  • "Agatha Christie and Mignon Eberhart: A False Analogy," CADS—Crime and Detective Stories, No. 49, Spring 2006, pp.58-59.
  • "Agatha and Feminism," Problem at Pollensa Bay, No. 78, The Agatha Christie Collection, October 2004, pp. 3-8.
  • "Trouble at the Bay," Problem at Pollensa Bay, No. 78, The Agatha Christie Collection, October 2004, pp. 9, 12-15.
  • "Dorothy L. Sayers and Sherlock Holmes: The French Connection," Sayers in the 21st Century: Readers, Writers and Critics on Dorothy L. Sayers, No. 3, Occasional Papers, Dorothy L. Sayers Society, August 2003, pp. 19-27.
  • "Agatha Christie in the 21st Century," CADS--Crime and Detective Stories, No. 39, May 2001, pp. 39-40.
  • "Agatha Christie," Mystery Writers of America Annual, ed. Angela Zeman. New York: Mystery Writers of America,  2001, pp. 53, 56.
  • "Ngaio Marsh's Troy Alleyn," Promptbook, Ngaio Marsh Society International, 1999, pp. 18-28.
  • "Dorothy L. Sayers and Sherlock Holmes: The French Connection," The Musgrave Papers, Volume 12, Autumn 1999, pp. 40-51.
  • "P. D. James," Mystery Writers of America Annual, ed. P. M. Carlson, New York: Mystery Writers of America, 1999, pp. 57, 62.
  • "A Gaggle of Literary Governesses," A Gaggle of Governesses, Sherlock Holmes Society, 7 September 1997, pp. 59-63.
  • "From Trash to Treasure: Detective Fiction Gains Acceptance in the Academy," Mystery Readers Journal, Autumn 1996, pp. 19-21.
  • "On Agatha Christie's Trail in Devon," Mystery Scene, July/August 1996, pp. 17-19.
  • "Moonlight and Sunlight in Berkshire," Sherlock Holmes Journal, Vol. 23, No. 3 (86th Issue), Winter 1995,  pp. 99-100.
  • "MWA's 50th­­Marsh's 100th," Mystery Writers of America Annual, ed. P. M. Carlson. New York: Mystery Writers of
     America, 1995, pp. 15-16.
  • "Ngaio Marsh's Dramatic Detective Novels," Mystery Scene, No. 47, May/June 1995, pp. 15, 55.
  • "Ngaio Marsh's Detective Novels of Manners," The Armchair Detective, Vol. 28, No. 2, Spring 1995, pp. 141-47.
  • "Senior Citizen Sleuths: Detection as a Second Career," Mystery Readers Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3., Fall 1994,  p. 4­9.
  • "Dorothy L. Sayers' Bloomsbury," Sidelights, Vol. XLI, Dorothy L. Sayers Society, May 1994, pp. 14­-20.
  • "The Legacy of Dorothy L. Sayers," Mystery Writers of America Annual, April 1993, pp. 10-­13.
  • "The Lumber Room of the Mind: A Profile of Catherine Aird," Million: The Magazine of Popular Fiction, May/June 1992, pp. 29­-35.
  • "Rendezvous at Reichenbach: Sherlockian Centenary Revels," The Armchair Detective, Vol. 25, No. 2, Spring 1992, pp. 210-2­18.
  • "Must Have Been Some Party," Sunday Book Review, New York Times, 11 Nov. 1990, p. 27.
  • "Pardon Me, It's Murder," Interview with Elizabeth Ferrars, The Armchair Detective, Fall 1990, Vol. 23, No. 4,  pp. 408-19.
  • "Anthony Boucher," Bouchercon XXI Program, Sept. 1990, p. 19.
  • "Seeley Regester's The Dead Letter­­A Neglected Masterpiece," Mystery Writers of America Annual, May 1990,  p. 47.
  • "Deadly Dames: Why English Women Write Good Whodunits," TWA Ambassador, September 1989, pp. 44, 61-­64.
  • "Mysteries: Modern Morality Plays," Christian Science Monitor, August 4, 1989, pp. 12-­14.
  • "No Mere Painted Backdrop: Setting in the Modern Crime Novel," Mystery Writers of America Annual, May 1989,  pp. 46-­47.
  • "Talk About Murder: English Women Crime Writers Discuss Their Craft," Hunter Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1985,   pp. 11-­15.

Essays in Books

  • "In the Eye of the Beholder: Quirky Museums of Margery Allingham," Margery Allingham: 100 Years of a Great  Mystery Writer, ed. Marianne van Hoeven, Lucas Books, Alysham, Norfolk, 2004, pp. 261-79.
  • "Douglas Clark," The Dictionary of Literary Biography: British Mystery and Thriller Writers since 1940, ed. Gina  MacDonald. Bruccoli Clark Layman, Gale Group, Sumter NC, 2003, pp. 90-101.
  • "Who Gets Away with Murder in Detective Fiction," The Great Good Place? ed. Peter Nover. Frankfurt am Main et al. Peter Lang, 1999, pp. 45-57.
  • "Who Gets Away with It," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John  Reilly, Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 496-97.
  • "Unusual Poisons," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John Reilly, Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 337-38.
  • "Unusual Murder Weapons," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John  Reilly, Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 492-93.
  • "Seeley Regester," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John Reilly, Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 380-81.
  • "Motives for Murder," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John Reilly, Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 296-98.
  • "The Elderly Sleuth," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John Reilly,  Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 130-31.
  • "The Butler Did It," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert, John Reilly,  Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 49-50.
  • "Audience Participation Whodunits," The Oxford Companion to Crime and Mystery Writing, ed. Rosemary Herbert,  John Reilly, Catherine Aird. New York and London: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 29-30.
  • "Ruth Rendell," Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection and Espionage, ed. Robin  Winks and Maureen Corrigan. New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998, pp. 773-90.
  • "The Armchair Detective," Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage, ed.  Robin Winks and Maureen Corrigan. New York and London: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998, pp. 983-94.
  • "P. M. Carlson," St. James' Guide to Crime and Mystery Writers, ed. Jay Pederson Detroit: St. James Press, 1996,  pp. 150-52.
  • "Foreward," Hours to Kill by Ursula Curtiss, Great Britain, Chivers Press, Black Dagger Series, Fall 1995, pp.  v-viii. 
  • "June Thomson," Great Women Mystery Writers, ed. Kathleen Klein. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, October 1994, pp. 335-­38.
  • "Liza Cody," Great Women Mystery Writers, ed. Kathleen Klein. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press, October 1994, pp. 71­-75.
  • "The Marriage of True Minds," Dorothy L. Sayers: The Centenary Celebration, ed. Alzina Stone Dale. New York:  Walker Publishing, April 1993, pp. 51-65.
  • "Introduction," Dark Nantucket Noon by Jane Langton. London: Chivers Press, Black Dagger Series, autumn 1992, pp. v-viii.
  • "Miss Maud Silver," 100 Great Detectives, ed. Maxim Jackubowski. New York: Carroll & Graf, July 1991, pp. 194-­97.
  • "Helen Eustis," Magill's Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, Inc.,  Jan. 1989, pp. 579-­584.
  • "Josephine Bell," Magill's Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction. Pasadena, California: Salem Press,  Inc., Jan. 1989, pp. 99-­106.
  • "Seeley Regester: America's First Detective Novelist?" in The Sleuth and the Scholar, B. Rader and H. Zettler eds. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, Feb. 1988, pp. 47-­61.

Edited Works

  • ed., Ngaio Marsh: The Woman and Her Work. Metuchen, N. J. & London: The Scarecrow Press, 1995, 252 pp.
  • ed., A Collection of Crime Fiction Course Syllabi. New York: Murder Is Academic Press, May 1993, 144 pp.