Golden Age Detective Stories

by Marie Smith (Editor), Arthur Conan Doyle (Contributor), Anna Katharine Green (Contributor)

A scandal in Bohemia / A. Conan Doyle
Cheating the gallows / Israel Zangwill
The doctor, his wife and the clock (novella) / Anna Katherine Green
The flitterbat lancers / Arthur Morrison
The florentine dante / Fergus Hume
Nine points of the law / E.W. Hornung
In the fog (novella) Richard Harding Davis
The fire of London / Arnold Bennett
Lord Chizelrigg's missing fortune / Robert Barr
A retrieved information / O. Henry
The four just men (complete novel) / Edgar Wallace
The mysterious railway-passenger / Maurice Leblanc
The affair of the corridor express / Victor L. Whitechurch
The diamond master (complete short novel) / Jacques Futrelle
The hard-boiled egg / Ellis Parker Butler
The master of mystery / Jack London
"Spontaneous combustion" / Arthur B. Reeve
A wastrel's romance (novella) R. Austin Freeman
The honour of Israel Gow / G.K. Chesterton
Smothered in corpses / Ernest Bramah
The angel of the Lord / Melville Davisson Post
His last bow: an epilogue of Sherlock Holmes / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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

517 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Outlander · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great selection of 19th and early 20th century detective tales ! I especially enjoyed the best known tales (again) there are two from A C Doyle's many Sherlock Holmes tales, a Raffles tale from E W Hornung, a Dr J L Thorndyke from R A Freeman and many others. I discovered Robert Barr's "tongue in cheek" sleuth called Luke Sharp (love that name) and one of the many Sherlockian's, such as Martin Hewitt, Ebenezer Gryce and Thorpe Hazell (love those names) a mixed bunch but all in worth the 5 stars I have bestowed on the collection.

[Serena]

stars

Sherlock Holmes 01 A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle *****
Cheating the Gallows by Israel Zangwill
Mr Gryce 07 the Doctor, His Wife, and the Clock by Anna Katherine Green
the Flitterbat Lancers by Arthur Morrison
the Florentine Dante by Fergus Hume
Nine Points of the Law by EW Hornung
In the Fog by Richard Harding Davis
the Fire of London by Arnold Bennett
Lord Chizelrigg's Missing Fortune by Robert Barr
A Retrieved Information by O. Henry
Four Just Men 01 the Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace
Arsène Lupin 04 the Mysterious Railway Passenger by Maurice Leblanc ****
the Affair of the Corridor Express by Victor L. Whitechurch
the Diamond Master by Jacques Futrelle
the Hard-boiled Egg by Ellis Parker Butler
the Master of Mystery by Jack London
Spontaneous Combustion by Arthur B Reeve
A Wastrel's Romance by R Austin Freeman
Father Brown] the Honour of Israel Gow by GK Chesterton
Smothered in Corpses by Ernest Bramah
the Angel of the Lord by Melville Davisson Post
Sherlock Holmes 56 His Last Bow by Arthur Conan Doyle ****

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent collection of short story's ,novellas and even a couple of short Novels which apart from the Holmes tales have quite a few bits I have never read before.
The 'Golden Age' alluded to here isn't as the author explains in the foreword the usual mid twentieth century period where pulp magazines fed into a true Golden age of hard noses detectives and plucky sales but the Victorian and Edwardian period of tales.
To be fair the stories however have held up extremely well and there is enough scope to keep interest going throughout this collection..all the tales to me(even the longer ones) seemed about the right length and made me ponder the fact that in truth some of my more satisfying reads have been showed her scale tomes...sometimes less is more.

[Connlou Ross · Rating 1 out of 5]

(1994) It was a book packed with Victorian and Edwardian tales of crime. Some were an interesting read but for me it was a very slow read. A lot of twists and turns in solving a seemingly tough crime investigation.

[Don]

added

09/20/2008