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Fourteen Great Detective Stories
1928. Contents: The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe; The Red-Headed League by A. Conan Doyle; The Blue Cross by G.K. Chesterton; The Stanway Cameo Mystery by Arthur Morrison; The Case of Oscar Brodski by R. Austin Freeman; The Tragedy at Brookbend Cottage by Ernest Bramah; In the Fog by Richard Harding Davis; The Age of Miracles by Melville Davisson Post; The Absent-Minded Coterie by Robert Barr; The Fenchurch Street Mystery by Baroness Orczy; The Problem of Cell 13 by Jacque Futrelle; The One Best Bet by Samuel Hopkins Adams; The Private Bank Puzzle by Edwin Balmer and William MacHarg; and One Hundred in the Dark by Owen Johnson.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1928
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43 people want to read
About the author
Vincent Starrett
194 books30 followersAKA Charles Vincent Starrett, or Charles Starrett
Vincent Starrett was a book collector, author, bibliographer, and a Sherlock Holmes scholar. He has been referred to as part of Chicago's "literary renaissance” and has written or edited more than 50 books of essays, criticism, fiction, biography, poetry, and bibliography.
Vincent Starrett was a book collector, author, bibliographer, and a Sherlock Holmes scholar. He has been referred to as part of Chicago's "literary renaissance” and has written or edited more than 50 books of essays, criticism, fiction, biography, poetry, and bibliography.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 28, 2018
Got this at the library, it's a good introduction to many of these writers.
The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allan Poe
The Red-Headed League - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Problem of Cell 13 - Jacques Futrelle
The Case of Oscar Brodski - R. Austin Freeman
The Blue Cross - G. K. Chesterton
The Age of Miracles - Melville Davisson Post
The Little Mystery - E. C. Bentley
The Third-Floor Flat - Agatha Christie
The Yellow Slugs - H. C. Bailey
The Bone of Contention - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Adventure of the African Traveler - Ellery Queen
Instead of Evidence - Rex Stout
The House in Goblin Wood - Carter Dickson
The Dancing Detective - Cornell Woolrich
The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allan Poe
The Red-Headed League - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Problem of Cell 13 - Jacques Futrelle
The Case of Oscar Brodski - R. Austin Freeman
The Blue Cross - G. K. Chesterton
The Age of Miracles - Melville Davisson Post
The Little Mystery - E. C. Bentley
The Third-Floor Flat - Agatha Christie
The Yellow Slugs - H. C. Bailey
The Bone of Contention - Dorothy L. Sayers
The Adventure of the African Traveler - Ellery Queen
Instead of Evidence - Rex Stout
The House in Goblin Wood - Carter Dickson
The Dancing Detective - Cornell Woolrich
February 5, 2013
This one was fun, for a number of reasons. There is something about the feel of the pages in older books that starts things off well, and I enjoyed the content. Found some new authors to look into, reremembered a few old friends... although I realized that Christie stories are not as interesting now as they were when I first read them. (Original readthroughs were likely somewhere pre-12. Potentially quite a bit before.)
August 25, 2019
Below I rate/give thoughts on each story individually, and then the overall rating is an unweighted average: 3.5 but rounded up.
As can be expected with an anthology, it is hit and miss. There are some detectives I was introduced for the first time that I would like to revisit (Thorndyke, Father Brown, Dupin) and at least one I never want anything to do with again (Average Jones).
Purloined letter: 4.5 stars Entertaining and interesting story. I enjoyed how the discussions Dupin has are meandering and insulting to many professions. Make the character much more believable, interesting to be around, and worthwhile to read. As with some of these stories, I felt like there was too much exposition. However, the exposition was well done and did more that show how clever Dupin is. Also, Poe basically invented the genre and it's impressive how much it is emulated in the rest of the stories.
Red-Headed Leauge: 5 stars. A great Shelock Holmes story. Not much more to say. There's action. Watson is not just a sounding board to show how clever the detective is. The reader is given all the information that Watson has, and in the end everything is logical. On top of that, it's not pure exposition. There's action, and Holmes succinctly explains himself in the end. There's a reason why he's the most famous.
The Blue Cross: 4.5 stars. I've never read a Father Brown story, but this should keep me coming back. It was very much a deconstruction of the detective story. It unfolds like a typical exciting detective story. Does a good job explaining the steps along the way without getting bogged down in exposition. Then the ending is suprising, and tends to undercut the entire genre. The only reason it's not 5 stars is because there is a slight, annoying inconsistency.
The Stanway Cameo Mystery: 3 stars. Way, way, way too much exposition and almost no action. The reader is given little to any clues as to what's going on, then the detective spends a considerable amount of the time explaining how clever he is. Seems to be one of the pitfalls of the genre.
The Case of Of Oscar Brodski: 5 stars. This is the first Thorndyke story I've read, and I'd like to come back for more. R. Austin Freeman invented the convention of describing the crime before the detective solves the crime. Makes the writing harder, since the reader already knows the solution. This story had all the great trappings: Throndyke as a signature green case, solves the crime using the most up-to-date forensic science, and there are wandering around deserted train tracks and a remote English country cottage. Hits all the high points of scene, excitement, and character you'd expect from a great story.
The Tragedy of Brookbend Cottage: 3.5 stars. Largely forgettable. The main detective is blind, but that has little to no bearing on the story. Seems like a characteristic invented to make the character interesting without working at it. There was a lot of action, and you can think through the thought process as the mystery unfolds. So, solid but forgettable.
In The Fog: 5 stars. (spoilers?) This was was highly entertaining. An exclusive London club, a Russian princess, a foggy London night, and a murder. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, in the end it ends up being kind of meta. Very fun.
The Age of Miracles: 3 stars. Written fine. Seems like I was missing something. Maybe the characters are more interesting if I read the entire book. Otherwise there was no reason to actually be interested in the outcome of the story.
The Absent-Minded Coterie: 4 stars. (spoilers?) Another deconstruction of the genre. Reads exactly like what you would expect from a classic story, except it points out how it wouldn't work in the real world. I read that Valmont was supposed to be the first comedic detective, but I didn't find this story comedic at all. Valmont seems to have the same easy arrogance as all the detectives here, yet in the end he fails and becomes a fool. Not in a comedic way, but very straightforwardly, which is a more dangerous indictment of the genre. It was quite interesting.
The Fenchurch Street Mystery: 2 stars Entertaining, and would have probably made a good straightforward story. Although, everything is told in exposition. I have no idea who the person talking is, and I don't know why I care who he is. How he solves the mystery is not explained. With Holmes or Dupin, they see some detail that everybody else misses. Thorndyke would try to use the scientific method. Here, there's just a logical solution that didn't take any special power. Just not a good example of the genre.
The Problem of Cell 13: 3 stars. As I was reading this, I thought it was going in a different, much more interesting direction. One of the pitfalls of the genre is that the author controls everything about the story. Namely, the locations, how the crime is committed, and how the crime is solved. This one doesn't have a crime, but a scientist trying to escape a prison cell. The problem is that the escape depends on the details of how the prison is constructed and the author has complete control over this. So the solution is just not interesting. (Where I thought it was going was that the scientist would go insane or hurt himself. Then he could escape in a week and win the bet technically.)
The One Best Bet: 1 star. I did not like this story. I have no idea why anyone would trust "Average Jones" as much as they do in this story. At least in many of the others the detectives are met with skepticism, but not here. And solving a problem with what seems to be Freshman level physics+Pythagorean theorem? I might have enjoyed this much more as a young adult.
The Private Bank Puzzle: 2 stars. This was doing so well, then the last third was pure exposition to show how much more intelligent/clever the detective is than all the other characters. This much exposition just kills the story. It didn't help that he used psychology to solve the problem, and I'm not sure anything precise can ever be said about that science. Also, it seems the people are constantly misread and convicted of crimes they never committed because the police misuse psychology/guilt.
One Hundred In The Dark: 4 stars The discussion about the nature of storytelling/detective fiction at the beginning is very interesting. The actual detective story is told well, and the ending is great. It just seems a little slight, and doesn't have the scenes to really sink your teeth into. Although, it's still recommended. Another little deconstruction of the genre that is interesting.
As can be expected with an anthology, it is hit and miss. There are some detectives I was introduced for the first time that I would like to revisit (Thorndyke, Father Brown, Dupin) and at least one I never want anything to do with again (Average Jones).
Purloined letter: 4.5 stars Entertaining and interesting story. I enjoyed how the discussions Dupin has are meandering and insulting to many professions. Make the character much more believable, interesting to be around, and worthwhile to read. As with some of these stories, I felt like there was too much exposition. However, the exposition was well done and did more that show how clever Dupin is. Also, Poe basically invented the genre and it's impressive how much it is emulated in the rest of the stories.
Red-Headed Leauge: 5 stars. A great Shelock Holmes story. Not much more to say. There's action. Watson is not just a sounding board to show how clever the detective is. The reader is given all the information that Watson has, and in the end everything is logical. On top of that, it's not pure exposition. There's action, and Holmes succinctly explains himself in the end. There's a reason why he's the most famous.
The Blue Cross: 4.5 stars. I've never read a Father Brown story, but this should keep me coming back. It was very much a deconstruction of the detective story. It unfolds like a typical exciting detective story. Does a good job explaining the steps along the way without getting bogged down in exposition. Then the ending is suprising, and tends to undercut the entire genre. The only reason it's not 5 stars is because there is a slight, annoying inconsistency.
The Stanway Cameo Mystery: 3 stars. Way, way, way too much exposition and almost no action. The reader is given little to any clues as to what's going on, then the detective spends a considerable amount of the time explaining how clever he is. Seems to be one of the pitfalls of the genre.
The Case of Of Oscar Brodski: 5 stars. This is the first Thorndyke story I've read, and I'd like to come back for more. R. Austin Freeman invented the convention of describing the crime before the detective solves the crime. Makes the writing harder, since the reader already knows the solution. This story had all the great trappings: Throndyke as a signature green case, solves the crime using the most up-to-date forensic science, and there are wandering around deserted train tracks and a remote English country cottage. Hits all the high points of scene, excitement, and character you'd expect from a great story.
The Tragedy of Brookbend Cottage: 3.5 stars. Largely forgettable. The main detective is blind, but that has little to no bearing on the story. Seems like a characteristic invented to make the character interesting without working at it. There was a lot of action, and you can think through the thought process as the mystery unfolds. So, solid but forgettable.
In The Fog: 5 stars. (spoilers?) This was was highly entertaining. An exclusive London club, a Russian princess, a foggy London night, and a murder. What more could you ask for? Oh yeah, in the end it ends up being kind of meta. Very fun.
The Age of Miracles: 3 stars. Written fine. Seems like I was missing something. Maybe the characters are more interesting if I read the entire book. Otherwise there was no reason to actually be interested in the outcome of the story.
The Absent-Minded Coterie: 4 stars. (spoilers?) Another deconstruction of the genre. Reads exactly like what you would expect from a classic story, except it points out how it wouldn't work in the real world. I read that Valmont was supposed to be the first comedic detective, but I didn't find this story comedic at all. Valmont seems to have the same easy arrogance as all the detectives here, yet in the end he fails and becomes a fool. Not in a comedic way, but very straightforwardly, which is a more dangerous indictment of the genre. It was quite interesting.
The Fenchurch Street Mystery: 2 stars Entertaining, and would have probably made a good straightforward story. Although, everything is told in exposition. I have no idea who the person talking is, and I don't know why I care who he is. How he solves the mystery is not explained. With Holmes or Dupin, they see some detail that everybody else misses. Thorndyke would try to use the scientific method. Here, there's just a logical solution that didn't take any special power. Just not a good example of the genre.
The Problem of Cell 13: 3 stars. As I was reading this, I thought it was going in a different, much more interesting direction. One of the pitfalls of the genre is that the author controls everything about the story. Namely, the locations, how the crime is committed, and how the crime is solved. This one doesn't have a crime, but a scientist trying to escape a prison cell. The problem is that the escape depends on the details of how the prison is constructed and the author has complete control over this. So the solution is just not interesting. (Where I thought it was going was that the scientist would go insane or hurt himself. Then he could escape in a week and win the bet technically.)
The One Best Bet: 1 star. I did not like this story. I have no idea why anyone would trust "Average Jones" as much as they do in this story. At least in many of the others the detectives are met with skepticism, but not here. And solving a problem with what seems to be Freshman level physics+Pythagorean theorem? I might have enjoyed this much more as a young adult.
The Private Bank Puzzle: 2 stars. This was doing so well, then the last third was pure exposition to show how much more intelligent/clever the detective is than all the other characters. This much exposition just kills the story. It didn't help that he used psychology to solve the problem, and I'm not sure anything precise can ever be said about that science. Also, it seems the people are constantly misread and convicted of crimes they never committed because the police misuse psychology/guilt.
One Hundred In The Dark: 4 stars The discussion about the nature of storytelling/detective fiction at the beginning is very interesting. The actual detective story is told well, and the ending is great. It just seems a little slight, and doesn't have the scenes to really sink your teeth into. Although, it's still recommended. Another little deconstruction of the genre that is interesting.
May 23, 2016
Includes some pioneering stuff (for the era!). Great golden age mysteries and suspense stories.
Want to read
January 26, 2019Synopsis: short stories from Poe, Doyle, Chesterton, Morrison, Freeman, Bramah, Davis, Post, Barr, Orczy, Futrelle, Adams, Balmer, and Johnson.
Read
April 18, 2018very good.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews