cmbohn's review
4.0
Sherlock Holmes was not the only detective at work in late Victorian England. Others, some honest, some untrustworthy, all highly capable, were at work all over England. This book contains short stories featuring several of those sleuths.
I always enjoyed Agatha Christie's book Partners in Crime. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford set up a small detective agency in the hopes of tracking down a master criminal. In part of the book, they decide to emulate some other fictional detectives. I remember reading the book and wondering who they were talking sometimes. This little collection features a few of the people they copied.
Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, as she is called, although there is no official title given, is the only woman in the book. Her case, I thought, was a rather easy one. The rest of the sleuths include the Old Man in the Corner with his piece of string, Dr. Thorndike, Romney Pringle - one of the few to appear twice in the book, Duckworth Drew of the Secret Service, and several others. Some I had never heard of before, but a few of the stories, like the one with Martin Hewett chasing down a missing bank clerk and some stolen cash, I had read before. I enjoyed all the stories. The editor picked out a great variety and I would love to read another such collection. Recommended for fans of historical mysteries, espionage, or the short story.
I always enjoyed Agatha Christie's book Partners in Crime. Tommy and Tuppence Beresford set up a small detective agency in the hopes of tracking down a master criminal. In part of the book, they decide to emulate some other fictional detectives. I remember reading the book and wondering who they were talking sometimes. This little collection features a few of the people they copied.
Lady Molly of Scotland Yard, as she is called, although there is no official title given, is the only woman in the book. Her case, I thought, was a rather easy one. The rest of the sleuths include the Old Man in the Corner with his piece of string, Dr. Thorndike, Romney Pringle - one of the few to appear twice in the book, Duckworth Drew of the Secret Service, and several others. Some I had never heard of before, but a few of the stories, like the one with Martin Hewett chasing down a missing bank clerk and some stolen cash, I had read before. I enjoyed all the stories. The editor picked out a great variety and I would love to read another such collection. Recommended for fans of historical mysteries, espionage, or the short story.
lokster71's review
3.0
This is an interesting selection of stories written during what I'm going to call the fin de siecle featuring Detectives of various types: from the blatant Sherlock Holmes rip-off, through the corrupt, the occult, the blind and even - shock, horror - the female.
It's a mixed bag in terms of quality for me. Some of the stories are shruggable nonsense but there's a few - The Horse of the Invisible featuring the occult investigator Carnacki springs to mind - that are genuinely fascinating. Written by William Hope Hodgson this was strange enough and well-written enough to encourage me to get 'Carnacki: The Ghost Finder' for my Kindle (as it is free being out of copyright.)
And it was interesting to discover that Baroness Orczy, who I only knew as the author of the Scarlett Pimpernel, also does a fine line in detective stories. Her stories I think are the best written, although I saw the solution to 'The Woman in the Big Hat' coming from quite a distance.
I also particularly enjoyed 'The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds' by Guy Boothby and 'The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle and Tire Co. Ltd.' by Arthur Morrison about which I won't go into detail because it would spoil by of them.
The introduction by Hugh Greene, who edited the collection, is also worth a read as it outlines a little about the writer's whose stories are included in the collection (about some of whom little is known indeed.)
It's a mixed bag in terms of quality for me. Some of the stories are shruggable nonsense but there's a few - The Horse of the Invisible featuring the occult investigator Carnacki springs to mind - that are genuinely fascinating. Written by William Hope Hodgson this was strange enough and well-written enough to encourage me to get 'Carnacki: The Ghost Finder' for my Kindle (as it is free being out of copyright.)
And it was interesting to discover that Baroness Orczy, who I only knew as the author of the Scarlett Pimpernel, also does a fine line in detective stories. Her stories I think are the best written, although I saw the solution to 'The Woman in the Big Hat' coming from quite a distance.
I also particularly enjoyed 'The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds' by Guy Boothby and 'The Affair of the Avalanche Bicycle and Tire Co. Ltd.' by Arthur Morrison about which I won't go into detail because it would spoil by of them.
The introduction by Hugh Greene, who edited the collection, is also worth a read as it outlines a little about the writer's whose stories are included in the collection (about some of whom little is known indeed.)
More...