Upon first encounter, some 15 years ago, I left four of Randall Garrett’s Lord Darcy stories unread for reasons which now elude me; and those reasons seem even more elusive when you realise that the last one I did read was possibly the strongest of the lot.
Continue readingShort stories
#1460: Little Fictions – ‘The Bitter End’ (1978) by Randall Garrett
Five Tuesdays in June means that I have sufficient time and space to read and write about the five remaining Lord Darcy short stories by Randall Garrett which, given that I reviewed the novel Too Many Magicians (1967) back in January, means the full canon will then be covered on The Invisible Event.
Continue reading#1453: “The police are bound to be about the place somewhere.” – Lessons in Crime: Academic Mysteries [ss] (2024) ed. Martin Edwards
Featuring fifteen felonious fables from phrontistery factions, Lessons in Crime [ss] (2024) is another collection in the British Library Crime Classics range edited by the acme of appreciation of this era, Martin Edwards.
Continue reading#1425: “The only pleasure that never flags is that of the fight itself.” – The Eight Strokes of the Clock [ss] (1922) by Maurice Leblanc [trans. Alexander Teixeira de Mattos 1922]
I recently acquired a boxset of 8 Maurice Leblanc novels and short story collections featuring his gentleman bastard Arsène Lupin, and so before I dig into those I thought I should revisit the first Leblanc book I read, the Haycraft-Queen Cornerstone collection The Eight Strokes of the Clock [ss] (1922).
Continue reading#1422: “Same old game, what?” – Settling Scores: Sporting Mysteries [ss] (2020) ed. Martin Edwards
Fifteen tales of murder and mystery centring around various athletic pastimes would, you imagine, be a fairly difficult undertaking to assemble, and so Martin Edwards is to be commended for finding enough to fill the pages of Settling Scores [ss] (2017) for the British Library Crime Classics series.
Continue reading#1420: Adventures in Self-Publishing – ‘Body of Matter’ (2022) by Jamie Probin
Having enjoyed Jamie Probin‘s previous stabs at the impossible crime, I turn to the currently last of his stories to be made publicly available, the long short story ‘Body of Matter’ (2022).
Continue reading#1417: Little Fictions – The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction: ‘Coup de Grace’ (1958) by Jack Vance
A fourth story from the 13 Crimes of Science Fiction [ss] (1977) collection, as I further explore my interest in the crossover mystery. Might this be the point where this collection springs to life?
Continue reading#1414: Little Fictions – The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction: ‘The Ceaseless Stone’ (1975) by Avram Davidson
My first two excursions into the 13 Crimes of Science Fiction [ss] (1977) anthology haven’t exactly been roaring successes. Might some actual detective work find things more to my liking?
Continue reading#1411: Little Fictions – The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction: ‘Second Game’ (1958) by Charles V. De Vet and Katherine MacLean
A second delve into The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction [ss] (1979), as I explore the possibilities of another crossover mystery.
Continue reading





