Murderous Schemes: An Anthology of Classic Detective Stories

by J. Madison Davis (Primary Contributor), J. Madison Davis (Primary Contributor)

When plotting a murder (figuratively speaking), the mystery writer has at hand any number of M.O.s, including such tried and true conventions as the locked room, the unbreakable alibi, the double bluff, and the mistaken identity. Now, in Murderous Schemes, renowned mystery writers Donald E. Westlake and J. Madison Davis offer an illuminating look at eight such mystery conventions, illustrating each with four short stories written by some of the masters of the form. The resulting collection of thirty-two tales spans a hundred and fifty years of crime fiction and includes virtually every style imaginable, from the hard-boiled detective story to the cozy armchair mystery. the differences between American and British detective fiction, and they illuminate the evolution of crime writing over time. Here is a glorious treasure chest of tales that cover every crime in the book, written by a who's who of crime fiction-Edgar Allan Poe, Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Raymond Chandler, Dorothy L. Sayers, Chester Himes, Edward D. Hoch, and Lawrence Block, to name but a few.Bringing together a century and a half of superb crime stories, Murderous Schemes is a glorious collection that will inform and delight anyone who loves mystery and mayhem.

Genres: Mystery, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 1996

Reviews

[Cheryl A.]

Chose because included is a (gruesome) story by the talented Fredric Brown. Decided to read all the stories by names I recognized. Was impressed by several, including a memorable subtle chiller by Lawrence Block. I guess that, even though I don't like the mystery thriller genre much, I do like some detective shorts.

I certainly appreciated that Dashiell Hammett referred to an attractive female, age 24 or 25, as a 'woman' not a 'girl.' Makes me even more angry with those who have written since his time using the latter infantilizing term.

I'm tempted to give it four stars, but I didn't like the first story at all, and skipped many others, so I don't feel qualified to judge.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donald E. Westlake chose some innovative, classic and crafty short stories from the best and unjustifiably forgotten mystery writers, and some hilarious ones as well. Highly recommended.

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This massive tome contains 32 tales— many of them novella length, covering almost all types of criminal acts. They are classified into 8 categories. My favourites, category-wise, are~
(A) Type: The Locked Room
1. "The Leopold Locked Room" by Edward D. Hoch;
2."The Man Who Read John Dickson Carr" by William Brittain;
(B) Type: Only One Among You
3. "They Can Only Hang You Once" by Dashiell Hammett;
(C) Type: The Caper
4. "Don't Know Much About Art" by Simon Brett;
(D) Type: The Armchair Detective
5. "The Blue Geranium" by Dame Agatha Christie;
(E) Type: Come Into My Parlour
6. "The Landlady" by Roald Dahl;
(F) I Confess!
7. "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle;
(G) Hoist On Their Own Petards
8. "The Secret Lover" by Peter Lovesey;
(H) Over The Edge
9. "Little Apple Hard To Peel" by Frederic Brown.
With elaborate notes and useful information, this anthology truly traces the darker shades of human psychology. However, the longish tales felt rather boring. It was only the sharpish wit and delivery evident in the shorter works that managed to sustain me through this tome.
But it's a good one, goes without saying.

[Richard Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good anthology with thoughtful, insightful introductions to the stories by Donald Westlake, the editor. I had read over half of these stories already in other "Best Of" anthologies, which shows how good the stories are.

[Brett Wallach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointingly effete and tepid group of stories, with just a few notable exceptions. Where’s Richard Stark when you need him?

[Lainie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good variety of classic murder mystery short stories. Some fantastic, others meh.

[Manu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great anthology of detective stories from famous authors and, not so famous ones. I discovered many new authors in this book.

[Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Westlake and Davis’s introduction and notes are long, and quite delicious on their own, but this is an enormous collection of wonderful stories, all with some criminal elements. The premise for the collection, and the arrangement of the stories is particularly effective; there are eight sections of four stories each:

The Locked Room:
Brittain, William: “The Man Who Read John Dickson Carr”, 1965
— nice twist on a nearly perfect crime
Carr, John Dickson: “The Shadow of the Goat”, ~1926
— a villain escapes from a locked room, or does he? Superb, very early story.
Hoch, Edward D.: “The Leopold Locked Room”, 1971
— a vengeful ex-wife with a plan
Runyon, Damon, “What, No Butler?”
— a nasty, elderly playboy meets his match, dated but still funny

Only One Among You:
Chesterton, G. K.: “The Secret Garden”
— murder at the home of the French Chief of Police
Hammett, Dashiell: “They Can Only Hang You Once”
— nifty Sam Spade short, about a deadly old gentleman
Kaminsky, Stuart: “Busted Blossoms”, 1986
— Toby Peters meets D.W. Griffith, and a guest dies at dinner
Sayers, Dorothy L.: “The Necklace of Pearls”
— after-dinner games, with shadowy motives

The Caper:
Brett, Simon: “Don’t Know Much About Art”, 1984
— brilliant bit about a thick hood who outdoes the wise guys
Hornung, E. W.: “A Costume Piece”
— excellent old-fashioned romp, with style, less sweet than usual
Suter, John F.: “The Impossible Theft”, 1964
— classic little locked room tale with a prestidigious ending
Westlake, Donald E.: “The Ultimate Caper”, 1975
— loony parody of Maltese Falcon, VERY broad

The Armchair Detective:
Christie, Agatha: “The Blue Geranium”, 1928
— Miss Marple almost meets a ghost, sly and smooth
Orczy, Emmuska: “The Mysterious Death on the Underground Railway”
— well written “old man in the corner” story, but rambling and “dated”
Queen, Ellery: “The Adventure of Abraham Lincoln’s Clue”
— nifty locked room variant, a nice last twist
Stout, Rex: “The Affair of the Twisted Scarf”, apa “Disguise for Murder”, 1950
— a dame gets murdered IN Wolfe’s office, really fun, but weak ending

Come Into My Parlor:
Block, Lawrence: “Someday I’ll Plant More Walnut Trees”, 1993
— creepy family doings over generations, excellent and subtle
Brand, Christianna: “Bless This House”, 1993
— an old lady “gets religion”, and a bit more than she asked for
Dahl, Roald: “The Landlady”, 1959
— lush classic, oft reprinted, a young man on his first job and away from home
Ellin, Stanley: “The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby”, 1950
— marriage can be deadly, oft-anthologized, and rightly so

I Confess!:
Dinesen, Isak: “The Fat Man”
— an odd little story about a child molester
Doyle, Arthur Conan: “The Adventure of the Dying Detective”
— superb Sherlockiana, excellently overthetop victorian bits
London, Jack: “The Master of Mystery”
— Inuit shamans and village politicking
Poe, Edgar Allan: “‘Thou Are The Man’”
— scaring a murder confession out of a con man

Hoist On Their Own Petards:
Chandler, Raymond: “I’ll Be Waiting”, 1934
— a dame, almost lost; a detective, who almost finds her
Green, Anna Katharine: “Midnight in Beauchamp Row”
— nicely twisted melodrama about a robbery that goes very wrong
Jackson, Shirley: “The Possibility of Evil”
— superb, classic, twisted small towns and...
Lovesey, Peter: “The Secret Lover”, 1985
— two women, one man, lots of trouble, edgy

Over the Edge:
Brown, Fredric: “Little Apple Hard to Peel”, 1942
— small town bad boy finally gets his comeuppance, WOW!!
Burke, Thomas: “The Hands of Mr. Ottermole”, 1931
— classic slippery killer in the shadows a.la Ripper
Glaspell, Susan: “A Jury of Her Peers”, 1917
— oft-anthologized classic about a frightened farm wife
Himes, Chester: “Tang”
— sad little bit about a man with problems, and a woman with a gun

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Murderous Schemes: an anthology of classic detective stories
edited and with an introduction by Donald Westlake

I enjoyed "Whodunit" enough that when I happened across this anthology the next time I was browsing the adult mystery collection, I decided to give it a try.

A brief introduction introduces the book and its organization. The collection is organized into eight categories of four stories each. Each category is introduced by a brief (1-2 page) commentary on that type of detective story, it's origins and famous authors, and ends with a brief commentary on the stories selected to represent it. Each story is preceded by an ever briefer (no more than 1 page) biography on the author.

The introductions and biographies added a lot to my enjoyment of the stories, and to my knowledge of the mystery genre. I also got to enjoy an encore from a few authors that I came across for the first time in "Whodunit."

I must confess that my preferred categories made up the first half of the book: the locked room, only one among you, the caper , the armchair detective, and I confess. (Most of the category names are pretty self-explanatory, so I won't bore you with descriptions.)

The second half of the book contained edgier categories, some bordering on horror: come into my parlor, hoist on their own petards, and over the edge. The former and latter of those three I considered skipping altogether, but in the end, I read all the stories but one.

A solid pick for mystery lovers--and the introductions make it easy to skip any story you think you'd rather not read, while providing a window to expand your detective horizons.

[Missmath144 · Rating 3 out of 5]

edited by Donald Westlake
"The Man Who Read John Dickson Carr' by William Brittain -- a good locked-room story
"They Can Only Hang You Once" by Dashill Hammett -- so-so
"The Shadow of the Goat" by John Dickson Carr -- I couldn't follow it; didn't even finish it
"The Ultimate Caper" by Westlake -- so-so
"A Costume Piece" by E.W. Hornung, Arthur Conan Doyle's brother-in-law, has a character (Raffles) who is the Sherlock-Holmes-gone-criminal -- pretty good
"Don't Know Much About Art" -- a caper story by Simon Brett -- pretty good
"The Impossible Theft" by John F. Suter --ok
"The Orderly World of Mr. Appleby" by Stanley Ellen -- good

[Laura D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little something for everyone, from every angle.

[Lauren Little · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the stories were good, others not so good.