The Complete Mysteries of Simon Iff, Magician & Detective

by Aleister Crowley

WHAT IS AN "ENHANCED EDITION?"

This Aleister Crowley series of delightful mystery stories has been enhanced for your ebook reading pleasure. We've taken pains to remove ebook formatting errors in the source material. This book includes the following:

- expert formatting for optimal display on your Nook or Nook app
- a hyperlinked table of contents
- a bibliography of Aleister Crowley's works
- a short biography of Aleister Crowley
- a sample short story from William Hope Hodgson's Carnicki tales

THE SIMON IFF STORIES

His Simon Iff stories, collected her in entirety for the first time as an ebook at over 150,000 words (the length of two standard novels) are a wonderfully entertaining series of detective stories featuring the Daoist mystic and psychologist Simon Iff. They are urbane, witty, thoroughly British, and often verbally dazzling.

Simon Iff solves crimes by looking deeply into the human heart and mind, but always with wit and humor.

Crowley referred to the Simon Iff thusly: "Think of a situation as inexplicable as possible, then to stop up all the chinks with putty, and having satisfied myself that no explanation was possible, to make a further effort and find one."

EXCERPT

"But even as he spoke, the telephone rang. It was a voice unknown to the magician. It had appeared that Mrs. A had been telling Mrs. B at Mrs. C's dinner-party that Mrs. D had heard from Mrs. E that Mrs. F had a letter from Mrs. G saying that Mrs. H had met Mrs. I and Mrs. J's, the subject of discussion being Mrs. K's divorce. Mrs. L had then... it went on to the climax, where Mrs. Y had advised Mrs. Z to consult Mr. Iff; and might she call to see him? Mr. Iff regretted that he was sailing, that afternoon, to take up residence in a monastery on Mount Athos, and replaced the receiver."

And:

“Evidence of Identity', by Dolores Cass, was the Book of the season. It was as dry as a treatise on trigonometry, but people read and discussed it as if it were a novel The Washington Square group all tried to look like each other so as to deceive the very elect, and succeeded perfectly, as there was not one ounce of individuality in the whole gang."

–

We hope you enjoy this enhanced edition of the Simon Iff stories.

Genres: Fiction

Nook

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Aleister Crowley was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, proclaiming himself as the prophet destined to guide humanity into the Æon of Horus in the early 20th century. A prolific writer, Crowley published extensively throughout his life.
Born Edward Alexander Crowley in Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, he was raised in a wealthy family adhering to the fundamentalist Christian Plymouth Brethren faith. Crowley rejected his religious upbringing, developing an interest in Western esotericism. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, focusing on mountaineering and poetry, and published several works during this period. In 1898, he joined the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, receiving training in ceremonial magic from Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Allan Bennett. His travels took him to Mexico for mountaineering with Oscar Eckenstein and to India, where he studied Hindu and Buddhist practices.
In 1904, during a honeymoon in Cairo with his wife Rose Edith Kelly, Crowley claimed to have received "The Book of the Law" from a supernatural entity named Aiwass. This text became the foundation of Thelema, announcing the onset of the Æon of Horus and introducing the central tenet: "Do what thou wilt." Crowley emphasized that individuals should align with their True Will through ceremonial magic.
After an unsuccessful expedition to Kanchenjunga in 1905 and further travels in India and China, Crowley returned to Britain. There, he co-founded the esoteric order A∴A∴ with George Cecil Jones in 1907 to promote Thelema. In 1912, he joined the Ordo Templi Orientis (O.T.O.), eventually leading its British branch and reformulating it according to Thelemic principles. Crowley spent World War I in the United States, engaging in painting and writing pro-German propaganda, which biographers later suggested was a cover for British intelligence activities.
In 1920, Crowley established the Abbey of Thelema, a religious commune in Cefalù, Sicily. His libertine lifestyle attracted negative attention from the British press, leading to his expulsion by the Italian government in 1923. He spent subsequent years in France, Germany, and England, continuing to promote Thelema until his death in 1947.
Crowley's notoriety stemmed from his recreational drug use, bisexuality, and criticism of societal norms. Despite controversy, he significantly influenced Western esotericism and the 1960s counterculture, and remains a central figure in Thelema.

Reviews

[Paul Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book. It kind of lures you in in the first couple of stories, which, although not great, have some wit in the dialogue, and i suppose i like the overall idea of them that motive and psychology could be more important in solving crimes than Sherlock Holmes clues. However, the psychology described by Crowley is never very convincing and worse than that, he very quickly runs out of ideas for plots and fills the absence with things i suppose he thinks will excite readers for their shock value. But even considering the ultimate lack of imagination, i might have still given the book a better review (the early stories sometimes made me smile, after all--but cleverness is expended as quickly as plot), except for the fact the the second to last story is the vilest, most repugnant, racist, sexist claptrap that i have ever read in print. perhaps you expect Crowley to be broadminded and counter-cultute due to his reputation, but don't be fooled. he proves himself to have completely conventional points of view from the time period that led people to the gas chambers a generation later. Please, spare yourself having to read such garbage and consign this morally execrable man to the dung heap where he belongs.

[Will · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crowley’s ego running riot.

[Χρήστος Δούκας · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teitan Press, 1987. Hardcover.