All but Impossible!: An Anthology of Locked Room and Impossible Crime Stories by Members of the Mystery Writers of America

by Edward D. Hoch (Editor)

Twenty stories tell of baffling crimes, disappearing footprints, vanishing criminals, and amazing thefts

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1981

About the author

Edward D. Hoch is one of the most honored mystery writers of all time.

* 1968 Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America): "The Oblong Room", The Saint Mystery Magazine, July 1967
* 1998 Anthony Award (Bouchercon World Mystery Convention): "One Bag of Coconuts", EQMM, November 1997
* 2001 Anthony Award (Bouchercon): "The Problem of the Potting Shed", EQMM, July 2000
* 2007 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award (awarded 2008): "The Theft of the Ostracized Ostrich", EQMM, June 2007
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 2000
* Grand Master (Mystery Writers of America), 2001
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Bouchercon), 2001

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Shadow of the Goat / John Dickson Carr -- The Little House at Croix-Rouge / Georges Simenon -- The Problem of the Emperor's Mushrooms / James Yaffe -- From Another World / Clayton Rawson -- Through a Glass, Darkly / Helen McCloy -- Snowball in July / Ellery Queen -- The Newtoninan Egg / Peter Godfrey --The Triple Lock'd Room / Lillian de la Torre -- The Brazen Locked Room / Isaac Asimov -- The Martian Crown Jewels / Peter Anderson -- The Day the Children Vanished / Hugh Pentecost -- As if by Magic / Julian Symons -- The Impossible Theft / John F. Suter -- Mr. Strang Takes a Field Trip / William Brittain -- No One Likes to Be Played for a Sucker / Michael Collins -- The Arrowmont Prison Riddle / Bill Prozini -- Box in a Box / Jack Ritchie -- Number 12 Jinx /John L. Breen -- The Magician's Wife / J.F. Peirce -- The Problem of the Covered Bridge / Edward D. Hoch

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, a fantastic collection. Several of my favorite locked-room mystery short stories are here, including "Through A Glass, Darkly," by Helen McCloy (which was a shortly story before McCloy wrote it as a full-length novel).

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection. As with all anthologies, some are better than others, but there were no poor stories here.

[Lennart Guldbrandsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

20 of the best locked room and impossible crime short stories, with a very good introduction by the master of the genre, Edward D Hoch. Some rare and seldom collected short stories and writers who are not known primarily for their impossible crime works, such as Georges Simenon, are also included here.

[Jessi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read “More Things Impossible” and liked it so much I got this book as well. This book has the same short, somewhat chronological stories about seemingly impossible crimes that are set up and solved within 30-40 pages.

[Race Bannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually like this type of book but this time I did not
think the stories were all that clever. And it had
suffered from being so dated,

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

Locked-room stories...pretty fun, but kind of like a haiku anthology: though you may be impressed by the variety, ultimately (inevitably) it's fairly limited. Liked "From Another World"--with the sealed room that wasn't really (and the tearing paper). One of them was indeed like the Chowchilla kidnapping--eerily.

[Spiegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anthologies are a great format, but this theme got repetitive. There are only so many ways the gimmick can go, so after reading a couple of them, the others become less interesting. Then there's the casual sexism and racism, yikes.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of locked room and other seemingly impossible crimes edited by Edward Hock. I enjoyed the book but as in all collections a unevenness in the quality of the stories.