The Mammoth Book of Locked Room Mysteries & Impossible Crimes

by Mike Ashley

This collection of criminal conundrums are more than whodunits, they're howdunits and are intended to stretch your powers of deduction to the limits.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Anthologies, Crime, Ebooks, Fiction, Short Story Collection

559 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 7, 2000

About the author

Michael Raymond Donald Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books that in total have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Chatham, Kent.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 'Mammoth' Collections are mixed bags in every sense. However, in this particular tome, I found a lot more memorable stories compared to the 'Meh' types.
My favourites were~
1. 'Waiting for Godstow' by Martin Edwards;
2. 'The Silver Curtain' by John Dickson Carr;
3. 'The Stolen Saint Simot' by Michael Kurland;
4. 'The Problem of the Crowded Cemetery' by Edward D. Hoch;
5. 'Death Rides the Elevator' by Lois H. Gresh & Robert Weinberg;
6. 'The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke' by Lynne Wood Block & Lawrence Block;
7. 'No Way Out' by Michael Collins;
8. 'Murder Strips Off' by Amy Myers;
9. 'Murder in the Air' by Peter Tremayne;
10. 'The Pulp Connection' by Bill Pronzini;
11. 'Mr Strang Accepts A Challenge' by William Brittain;
12. 'Ice Elation' by Susanna Gregory;
13. 'The Amorous Corpse' by Peter Lovesey.
Above all, the 'Afterword: Impossible Crimes' penned by Mike Ashley is a treasure trove for mystery-lovers.
Overall, a very good collection. Recommended.

[☆Ruth☆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really a fan of short stories, but this book was easy to read and provided an undemanding alternative, when I felt like a break from a more intense novel.
Most of the offerings were adequate but none really stood out as being special.

[Katrine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've struggled with this one. Seriously struggled. While this is certainly a collection of locked-room mysteries, the style, scope and even quality of the stories vary so much that the collection seriously lacks focus. With a smaller collection, that might be all right, but with such a significant volume - it is, indeed, 'mammoth' - the reading experience easily grows tedious rather than exciting. It is, of course, impossible for every reader to enjoy every story equally, but the context in which these stories are presented make it more easily for readers to get bored and impatient. It's saying something that I cannot even think of a single story to point out as particularly engaging or stand-out; this is quite simply too much, and too grab-bag.

[Roger Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of stories, some good and some not so good. I like the period and historical stories best.

[Jiří Pavlovský · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jak už jsem toho četl spoustu, tak občas se mi stane, že sáhnu po knize a říkám si, tohle je mi nějaké povědomé… nečetl jsem to už jednou? A ano, četl. I když tady fakt nevím, jestli jsem to četl komplet. Nějaké povídky ze začátku jsem si pamatoval, ale pak jsem toho zřejmě nechal. Ale teď, už jen kvůli tomu, že jsem díky téhle knize objevil Davida Renwicka a jeho seriál Jonathan Creek, jsem se to rozhodl přelouskat. A musím přiznat, že v televizi mě záhady zamčeného pokoje bavili víc. Tady to je… no, v podstatě jako by vám někdo vyprávěl o kouzelnickém představení.
Ale jako profil je to hezké. Máte tu vraždu v prázdném výtahu, čerstvou mrtvolu v staré rakvi, vraždu na člunu, v jedoucím autě, v letadle i během stryptýzu a všechny klasiky, včetně Dicksona Carra. Ale asi nejvíc se mi líbil Clayton Rawson, autor u nás vydaného románu Smrt z cylindru, který se vsadil, že nechá zmizet člověka z telefonní budky. A ano, povedlo se mu to a jeho řešení je zábavné. Ostatní tvůrci víc sází na udělátka. H.R.F. Keating nechal aspoň zmizet uříznuté nohy (a hodil příběh do Indie) a Susana Gregory nechala příběh odehrávat se v Antarktidě na výzkumné stanici. Je to spíš vyvražďovačka než tajemství zamčené místnosti, ale možná i proto to působí vysloveně osvěžujícím dojmem.
Hezký profil, solidní výběr povídek, ale obávám se že kdybych po tom za pár let sáhl, zase si bude pamatovat jen pár titulů.

[Richard Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know where I picked up the impression that the Mammoth Book of .... series was not high quality reading, but I've had it ever since I started collecting and reading mystery anthologies. I've read a few of them, and the impression was not entirely erased, but after reading this one, I have to promote the impression of their overall quality to at least slightly above average. Maybe even to really good books. This one impressed me.

The selection of older stories was excellent. The addition of stories that are original in this book helps, but there are a few just average stories among them. Only one of them, "The Next Big Thing" by Peter T. Garratt, was sufficiently boring that I did not finish it. I rarely abandon stories before finishing them--they have to be long (more than 20 pages and really uninteresting or unskillfully written) to earn a skip.

I was impressed with the editor's thought processes in selecting stories from the old-time and recent-time great authors. He avoided the stories that had been anthologized really frequently, such as one of the best locked rooms stories of all time, Futrelle's "The Problem of Cell 13," which appears in 13 of my 950-or-so mystery anthologies and collections. Instead he uses another Futrelle story, "The Motor Boat," which is only in one other anthology that I have. While it's not Cell 13 (nothing is!), it's still a good story, well worth reading.

This is a fine book.

[Mark Higginbottom · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection....I much preferred the older stories or even the British ones....I really struggle to enjoy detectives set in America....they all seem so repetitive and boring....but there were some interesting ones that I managed to get through ( just )....it was good that there were a fair few that I had never read before....so....yeah....it was a pleasant enough read....

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

most of the stories were good.

There was one story, very modern in its speech, that I simply couldn’t follow. But I’m neither young, nor do I play games online…??? Not sure how to define this…fantasy games? Anyway it was about something rather like that. Lots of words and expressions, ways of speaking that made no sense to me.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting short stories.

[Arjun]

Bookmark...
October 12
Chapter 1
WAITING FOR GODSTOW

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read as always

[Chris Andrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag but entertaining. I like short stories as the impossible crime has more prominence

[Harish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Single word - AWESOME!!! All the best detective mysteries rolled into one.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

Waiting for Godstow / Martin Edwards --3
The odour of sanctity / Kate Ellis --3
A traveller's tale / Margaret Frazer --
The silver curtain / John Dickson Carr --3
The stolen Saint Simon / Michael Kurland --2
The problem of the crowded cemetery / Edward D. Hoch --
Death rides the elevator / Lois H. Gresh & Robert Weinberg --2
The burglar who smelled smoke / Lynne Wood Block & Lawrence Block --
No way out / Michael Collins --
Off the face of the earth / Clayton Rawson --3
Murder strips off / Amy Myers --
Out of his head / Thomas Bailey Aldrich --3
The Doomdorf mystery / Melville Davisson Post --3
The adventure of the Jacobean house / C.N. & A.M. Williamson --
The motor boat / Jacques Futrelle --3
Murder in the air / Peter Tremayne --3
*The pulp connection / Bill Pronzini --
*Stag night / Marilyn Todd --
Mr Strang accepts a challenge / William Brittain --3
The legs that walked / H.R.F. Keating --
The next big thing / Peter T. Garratt --
The second drug / Richard A. Lupoff --2
Ice elation / Susanna Gregory --
The mystery of the taxi-cab / Howel Evans --
Heartstopper / Frank M. Robinson --
Blind eyes / Edward Marston --3
The amorous corpse / Peter Lovesey --

[Linda Brue · Rating 3 out of 5]

29 stories of crime that does not ask IF it is murder, but how the murder was accomplished, since all appear, on the surface, to be impossible.

As in most compilations of this type, there is probably something here to appeal to almost everyone. That said, while there are no duds in this book, naturally not all of them were equally interesting to me.

If you enjoy puzzling out "howdunnits" you won't go wrong picking up this book of puzzles.

[Simon Hedge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given the apparent restrictiveness of the title, this book contains a great variety of stories. They are mostly pretty good, and some of them are great. A very few were, to my tastes, stinkers - but isn't that always the way with anthologies? The essay on the history of the locked-room mystery is a cornucopia of titles to add to your 'want to read' shelf!

[Lucky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic locked room mysteries are like interesting puzzles. Solving them before "all is revealed" is the fun. To enjoy this collection, you must enjoy locked room mysteries.

[Cody Gillespie-Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great fun. If you enjoy locked room, and other impossible sorts of mysteries, you need to read this book.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fine collection of Locked Room mysteries, modern and Golden Age, some published for the first time in this anthology. Highly recommended.

[Steve Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun

[Martin Butland · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is good, I was recommended to read it by a friend so I did, crime solving mysteries isn't my thing but I gave it a go. It's a great book if you like who done it mysteries.

[Yolande · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of mystery short stories, what's not to love? Each story grab your attention, but because of the differences in writing, you never get bored. Perfect !!

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's nothing like a good locked-room mystery and this book is chock full of them.