Three Times Three, Mystery omnibus

by Howard Haycraft (Editor), John Beecroft (Editor)

Three volumes in one! Collection of suspenseful short stories and novellas by Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, Rex Stout, Ellery Queen, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, William Irish, John Dickson Carr, Frances and Richard Lockridge, and more!

Genres: Mystery, Anthologies

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

A publisher, editor, critic and anthologist who wrote one of the first serious books of criticism of the mystery/detective genre, Murder for Pleasure: The Life and times of the Detective Story , still in print and considered a classic. He also edited a number of interesting and important anthologies.

Reviews

[Jendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of the leading authors from the golden age of detective novels, 1930s-50s. I enjoyed some selections much more than others. Five stars for Raymond Chandler and Ngaio Marsh. Both short novels were beautifully written and atmospheric. Agatha Christie never disappoints. Stanley Elkin's dark comedy was fun too. By comparison, a lot of the other stories felt dated and contrived. I was underwhelmed by McBain and Rex Stout, considering their reputations. Nero Wolfe's misogyny is not as cute as he thinks it is.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best sort of lazy weekend read!

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

This time I didn't find this at the thrift store, but at Tsunami's outdoor book sale where everything was a dollar. This is old, so you can probably guess that the tales aren't hip with the modern vibe, man.
Like any anthology, this has a couple good stories, but mostly they are physcological thrillers--pop psycology used to give reason to why some neurotic guy kills. I think it was the time period: well after the golden age of the early 1900's and before the modern age of Paretsky and other women writers.

[Cws]

M Hay