A Mussoorie Mystery

by Ruskin Bond

‘On the morning of 19 September, while Miss Mountstephen was still away, Miss Garnett-Orme was found dead in her bed. The door was locked from the inside. On her bedside table was a glass. She was positioned on the bed as though laid out by a nurse or undertaker.’From ‘A Mussoorie Mystery’ by Ruskin BondThere are very few readers who don’t get a feeling of satisfaction from reading a good short story. It is the ending to a story that can make the reader sit up and think about it—some can be good, some twisted and some absolutely anticlimactic! Read about a couple who set out to get the perfect gift for each other and the surprising twist in the end in ‘The Gift of the Magi’; a robotic dancing partner, which creates more menace than a human partner ever can in ‘The Dancing Partner’; and Bond’s own telling of a mystery set in Mussoorie, which caught the fancy of none other than Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes; and many more such stories. Selected and edited by Ruskin Bond, this collection is abound with several fantastic, scary, surprising and humorous stories.

Genres: Short Stories

144 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2017

About the author

Ruskin Bond is an Indian author of British descent. He is considered to be an icon among Indian writers and children's authors and a top novelist. He wrote his first novel, The Room on the Roof, when he was seventeen which won John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. Since then he has written several novellas, over 500 short stories, as well as various essays and poems, all of which have established him as one of the best-loved and most admired chroniclers of contemporary India. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi award for English writing, for his short stories collection, "Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra", by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters in India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1999 for contributions to children's literature. He now lives with his adopted family in Landour near Mussoorie.

Reviews

[Vikas Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first Poirot mystery was inspired from murder at Hotel Savoy. In April 1912 Conan Doyle received a letter from his Sussex neighbor Rudyard Kipling about a murder in Mussoorie. It was during the summer season of 1911 that Miss Frances Gurnett Orme checked into a suite at Savoy along with her companion Miss Mountstephen. On the morning of 19th September Miss Orme was found dead in her bed with door locked from inside. Miss Orme had been poisoned with prussic acid. She suffered from dyspepsia and regularly took sodium bicarbonate. It was alleged that the bottle had been tempered with by Miss Mountstephen, who was subsequently charged with murder. However she was in Jhansi at the time of murder and hence was found innocent and discharged by Allahabad court in 1912. People however speculated that it was murder by remote control and that Miss Mountstephen who was an expert in crystal gazing had somehow exerted sinister influence on Miss Orme to take the poisoned medicine. The chief justice in delivering his verdict remarked that the true circumstances of Miss Orme’s death would probably never be known. And he was right.In the Mysterious affair at Styles, the poisoner was in a distant place by the time the victim ( Mrs. Inglethorp) took the fatal dose of Strychnine that had precipitated at the bottom due to the bromide powder added to the medicine. Death by remote control. Savoy’s architecture might have lent themselves to Styles Court, an Essex County manor, which was the setting of the book. She started writing the story in 1916 which was finally published in 1921. The legend of Garnett-Orme was also the inspiration behind Ruskin Bond’s– A Mussoorie Mystery

[Suyog Garg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would term this as a nice selection of stories, having within itself one of the most widely circulated story ‘The Gift of Magi’, which I had in fact read multiple times beforehand in various abridged versions. The other stories are not somehow up to the mark, though coming from some of the giants from the genre and though I really loved the gothic story of the ‘The Man with Cough’. One of the most enduring aspect of Bond’s collections of short stories, in my opinion, is the way all most all of them resonate with the readers thinking and transports him to the realm of the past or future whatever it may be. All his Rupa collection stand true to this lovely fact, made possible, I think primarily because of Bond’s own association with the genre from the very start. In conclusion, I would be more likely to recommend some other collections more often than this one, however owing to the singular presentation of some of the tales, at times eerie and usually bizarre, I recommended this one anyway.

[Ufaque · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories by various authors, edited and compiled by Ruskin Bond. Each story has a different theme and tone, some are dark and spooky while some are satirical and humorous. All of them are very interesting and Ruskin Bond rightly says in the 'Introduction' of the book that,

"Fantastic, scary, surprising or humorous, the stories in this collection are bound to bring forth all kinds of emotions."

There are eleven short stories in this book. The story titled "A Mussoorie Mystery" same as the book title is the only one written by Ruskin Bond in this book. All the others are written by various authors like O. Henry, Jerome K. Jerome, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, etc. My favourite is "The Great French Duel" by Mark Twain, it is quite funny.

This book is a very enjoyable read. You can pick this up when you are bored and looking for a fast and easy read. Highly recommended.

[Parnaaz Kaur · Rating 3 out of 5]

good read

[Jitendra Mulay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully chosen short stories

[Rags · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is a collection of short stories by various authors . I liked re reading some old stories from my childhood such as 'The Gift of the Magi' . It is difficult to rate such a book as it is a collection of stories by various authors. Jerome K Jerome's story for example is 5 star . However, I disliked a horror story in the book. Ruskin bond's own story was a disappointment too. Expected a better story to be part of this book. It is light and breezy and one won't regret picking it up. This can be right book to take to a cafe.

[Adithya Bharadwaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the author talks about in the foreword, it is a collection of short stories recommended by Mr.Ruskin Bond.

The book features the following shot stories
1. The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
2. The Dancing partner by Jerome K. Jerome
3. The man with the cough by Mrs. Moleworth
4. Laura by Saki
5. The Great French Duel by Mark Twain
6. The Masque of the Red death by Edgar Allan Poe
7. A Mussoorie Mystery by Ruskin Bond
8. The death of Halpin Frayser by Ambrose Bierce
9. The Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton
10. The man with the pale eyes by Guy de Maupassant
11. The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelley

Was introduced to Ruskin Bond through my previous reading ' A Gathering of Friends'. Followed it up with 'A Mussoorie Mystery'. Was expecting similar stories written by the compiler. To my delight it was a short story collection that the author has recommended.

'The Gift of the Magi' and 'Laura' story was exceptional, loved it. I confess though that I got a bit lost reading 'The man with the pale eyes' and 'The mask of the red death'. Guess it will be for the second read.

Probably will follow it up by reading the books of authors with whom I got introduced here.

[Asha Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories from some of the best authors of our generation such as Twain, Chekhov, Shelley, Bond, etc.

[Tulika Chikersal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a treat!! Making mystery so edible yet intriguing and making you a reader detective, who could do it better than Ruskin Bond!!
I enjoy the stories a lot because he makes you curious to know the end and then leaves the end open for you to ponder over.
Go ahead and read for a sweet mysterious experience :)

[Rudrashree Makwana · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has a collection of short stories. Each story is filled with wisdom and beautiful writing. In some characters are clever while in some characters sacrifice for each other. Some stories were dark and eerie. I loved the story inspired from murder at Hotel Savoy. The Masque of Red Death is my favourite.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected a mystery written by Ruskin Bond, but found instead a collection of short stories written by some of the masters of the craft. Some, if not more, may however be familiar tales. Though the title is misleading, the collection is good.

[Raaisha Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a mix of 4-5 stories on mysteries in many events. Honestly, I didn't really understand the stories fully and was a bit confused. I didn't really enjoy it but there was good vocabulary and good ideas from the great author Ruskin Bond.

[Papri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A superb collection of sharp, intriguing short stories, some of which are of the mystery genre, while some belong to the horror and even comedy , in some cases. A very quick read and worthy too.

[Sudeshna Panigrahi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book as a collection of short stories from around the world, a short , light read .
Grab it if you want something to pull you out of a reading slump.

[Suhasini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection. After reading a couple of them I wondered the outcome. It's unique stores from various renowned authors and the mystery in each one of them that kept me glued till the end.

[Niket Sheth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a good introduction book for Ruskin Bond. The only short story worth reading is by Saki and Charles Dickens

[Siji · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure why but most of the stories felt like they were incomplete. Maybe that is how short stories format works?

[sourav pattanayak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two classic stories - The Gift of the Magi, The Lady or the Tiger. Some good stories including "Laura", "The man with the cough".

[Vijayalakshmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very misleading title. It is just a collection of short stories curated by ruskin bond. While some of them are good this particular supposed Mussoorie mystery is just a retelling of a murder mystery without even a proper conclusion. Except 2 or 3 stories others didn't even stick much with me

[Ian Laird · Rating 4 out of 5]

The eminent Indian writer Ruskin Bond has gathered together eleven tales in this slim volume, an entertaining selection drawn from the treasure chest of short stories, written by pioneers of the form, among them O Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, Saki and Ambrose Bierce, although apart from Bond himself, none has any connection to India.

As almost all were written long ago this seems at first glance to be an out of copywrite enterprise, to make money for Bond and his publisher, using old authors still with some cache. Yet, once the disappointment fades at the lack of sub-continental flavour, the stories are for the great part vastly enjoyable. It helps that I hadn’t read any of them previously.

O Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi’ is reminiscent of the Russian master Gogol and the wittiest contribution is ‘Laura’, Saki’s caustic tale of vengeance. Mark Twin’s somewhat jingoistic ‘The Great French Duel’ allows the old Mississippi master to pillory the French in general and in particular their manners and habits when duelling. Jerome K Jerome anticipates artificial intelligence and the dangers of preferring the inanimate to the animate and Mary Shelley wonders how immortality might affect a relationship.

But my favourite is from an author completely unknown to me, Frank Stockton, whom I found to have been renowned in his time. His best known work is this modern fairy tale ‘The Lady and the Tiger’, in which a princess torn by terrible emotions must make a choice which will decide lives:

‘that hot blooded semi-barbaric princess, her soul at a white heat, beneath the combined fires of despair and jealousy. She had lost him, but who should have him?' (pp102-3)

[Nikhil Bakshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruskin Bond's classic writing style but also seen in the works of other authors. Mysterious, scary and comedic....full of thrill

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book from a very high shelf in the very bookshop in Mussoorie where Mr Bond hangs out. Sadly, this was a very poor exemplar of his work. The title story, by Mr Bond, does not have a satisfying ending at all. It's just mysterious and nothing else. I'm not sure whether it's a true story or not - it's on Wikipedia...

The other stories varied in quality, from the always amazing Gift of the Magi down to the unreadable dross by Ambrose Bierce. This is a collection of public domain stories, plus a dubious effort from Mr Bond, and the whole is a low-effort piece of work. I presume Mr Bond has done better.

[Swati Panwar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compilation of short stories from various authors including one from Mr. Bond himself. Each story will leave with an awe. Mr. Ruskin Bond has carefully selected these stories to share some very important messages to the readers. A must read for anyone who wants to read but is scared of the size of the novels.. Ruskin Bond is the safest option to start with.

[Memoona Rehman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book which I found difficult to put down. Great attention to detail without losing pace