The Complete Short Stories of Sherlock Holmes, Week 2.
Continue readingShort stories
#1023: “The act of homicide always throws a man off balance.” – Bodies from the Library [ss] (2018) ed. Tony Medawar
The annual Bodies from the Library (2018-present) collections, in which Tony Medawar expertly selects long-forgotten and previously-unpublished stories and plays, have become essential purchases for anyone with even a passing interest in the great and the good of detective fiction’s Golden Age.
Continue reading#1021: Little Fictions – ‘A Scandal in Bohemia’ (1891) by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Today begins a long-range project in which I work through the 56 canonical short stories featuring Mr. Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle…some of which I haven’t read in over 20 years. I’m fascinated by Holmes, especially when he is as his creator made him, and, while I doubt I’ll have anything new to say, I intend to enjoy rereading him from first to last.
Continue reading#1013: Fell Murder (1944) by E.C.R. Lorac
Another gentle tale of Northern homicide from the pen of E.C.R. Lorac, Fell Murder (1944) was Chief Inspector Robert Macdonald’s first visit to Lunesdale — I’m not entirely sure how many he would make over his career, but I understand it to be more than a few — and finds author and character both having a lovely time. This only falls down for me in comparison to the similarly-set Crook o’ Lune (1953) in that the eventual solution doesn’t feel quite so rigorously proved, relying on a few rather key assumptions which spoil the overall effect. Prior to that, however, Lorac’s melding of character and setting again shows through very strongly, making her popularity easy to understand.
#997: “Actors never betray themselves…” – Final Acts: Theatrical Mysteries [ss] (2022) ed. Martin Edwards
I tend to read multi-author anthologies over — if I’m honest — a couple of months, to better ameliorate the often wild changes in style and content of each tale. In recent times I’ve sped this process up, so that I’m able to review the annual Bodies from the Library (2018-present) collections on this very blog, so let’s see how I fare doing the same for the latest Martin Edwards-edited collection in the British Library Crime Classics range, eh?
Continue reading#995: Little Fictions – Four Corners, Volume 2: ‘Ghost on Lonesome Hill’ (1941) by Theodore Roscoe
#992: Little Fictions – Four Corners, Volume 2: ‘Stay As Sweet As You Are’ (1939) by Theodore Roscoe
#989: Little Fictions – Four Corners, Volume 2: ‘There Are Smiles That Make You Happy’ (1939) by Theodore Roscoe
The Four Corners stories by Theodore Roscoe, concerning mysterious and suspenseful happenings in the so-named town in northern NY, are legitimate masterpieces in setting and tone — and ‘There Are Smiles That Make You Happy’ (1939) is another beautiful example of the storyteller’s craft.
Continue reading#986: Little Fictions – Four Corners, Volume 2: ‘The Man Who Hated Lincoln’ (1939) by Theodore Roscoe
Relatively late in his career, Theodore Roscoe wrote a book about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, The Web of Conspiracy (1959), and it’s difficult not to wonder if the seed for that might have been planted in this visit to the fictional town of Four Corners, NY.
Continue reading#983: Little Fictions – Four Corners, Volume 2: ‘Ghoul’s Paradise’ (1938) by Theodore Roscoe
Back in August, I read the first volume of Theodore Roscoe’s stories set in the fictional town of Four Corners, and enjoyed them so much that I’m back this month for the five tales that comprise Volume 2.
Continue reading
The Invisible Event 