My Mother The Detective: Enlarged Edition

Mom

by James Yaffe

Such a Mystery! Mom never wanted her son Dave to become a policeman. -- For all the brains it takes, believe me, you might as well be in business with your uncles. Besides, All those gangsters and dope fiends and bookies and hatchet murderers and other such goniffs; isn't it possible you could get hurt some day; It's not difficult to solve crimes, Mom explains and it's certainly not for her. Dave and his very superior, Wellesley-educated wife, Shirley, have dinner with Mom in the Bronx every Friday evening. Between the chicken soup and the schnecken, Dave talks about his current cases. Mom is not interested in what she describes as sophie-ological analysis and psycho-annihilating the suspects, but her long experience in dealing with scheming butchers, nosey neighbors, and eccentric relatives leads her to a logical solution to all Dave's mysteries. -- By yourself, you should've guessed it -- Mom says, but it takes Mom's insight into personality to unravel the crime. Witty, wise, and filled with warmth, the Mom tales are some of the finest armchair detective stories ever written. This new edition includes a previously uncollected "Mom" story.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 18, 2017

About the author

Since 1968 member of the Department of English, currently professor of English, and since 1981 Director of General Studies, Colorado College, Colorado Springs.

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Armchair detection by an amateur is a lost art. One entire book full of such cases can also be boring— as I found out after reading Baroness Orczy's 'Old Man in the Corner' stories. But this book, where 'Mom' solves murder mysteries while entertaining her guests, are full of humour and warmth, wit and astute observations. In short, it is a treasure.
Following a heartfelt 'Introduction' it contains nine stories. Except the last one, all these stories had been published in EQMM between 1952 & 1968. The stories reflected changing times as well as the eternal emotions and human drama. Last one was specially commisioned and had a simpler, more linear narrative. But Mom's detection in some of the previous cases could have made the Great Detective proud.
C & L get my wholehearted thanks for reviving these tales. The collection is highly recommended to anyone who likes mysteries with a touch of wit and a large helping of character-studies.

[Julie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered these stories via The Big Book of Female Detectives and was so happy that I could borrow them free on my Kindle. There is nothing like a Jewish mother schooling her police detective son over Friday night's roast chicken dinner for a fun detective story. How can she do it? Like Miss Marple. She's been around a while and knows human nature. These are entertaining.

[Gowri N. · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is Miss Marple were an American Jewish mother living in New York? She would be James Yaffe's armchair detective 'Mom' who helps her homicide detective son solve cases every Friday night when he drops in for a dinner of roast chicken and noodle soup.

Yaffe began his career as a writer with six stories published in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine at the age of 15, making him their youngest author yet. He also wrote 4 novels later in life featuring Mom but they don't seem to have the same kind of rave reviews, at least here on Goodreads.

These stories are very similar in structure to the puzzles Miss Marple solves in The Tuesday Club Murders, except that the narrator (the son David) is the same in each story. Read his narrative closely to spot the red herrings and missing pieces before Mom figures it out.

At the end of his narrative, Mom asks three to four questions that are seemingly irrelevant and his answers to these help her figure out the murderer with ease. Like Miss Marple, Mom is also fond of drawing parallels to the people in her life: the butcher, the neighbour, the uncle and the sister-in-law.

There's also some social comedy in the snarky exchanges between Mom and Davie's wife, the Wellesley psychology graduate Shirley. This book has around ten stories and all of them score between 6 and 10 on 10, which is pretty good for a collection! Give this a try if you are a fan of Miss Marple.

[Lu Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine Miss Marple and The Tuesday Night Murder Club taking place in the Bronx with a homicide detective's mother solving his cases for him and you have a pretty good idea of Dave's mother. What Miss Marple learned from living in a village his mom learned from struggles with dishonest butchers and sleazy landlords. Human nature stays the same and I just wish the two ladies could have met. I think they would have liked each other.
I first came across these stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and they seem to get better each time I read them.
There is an expanded edition of the book which contains a ninth story.

[Shutawang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy Mystery或日常推理，这个可比日系的好太多了。如果你和我一样是《银色白额马》的粉丝，应该可以get到这本书的点了。今年看到的COZY类能力者目前top 1。

[Macel Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was sad when it ended.

[Xiaolink · Rating 4 out of 5]

比想象中的有趣。

[Lula · Rating 4 out of 5]

看到中文版出了才找来原版书看，每一篇都很短但是很有意思，好适合改成迷你剧啊，每个都是概述案情，妈妈提问，谜底解答，悬念和揭晓都设置的很好，妈妈的黑暗吐槽也都很有意思。

[Gowri N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish James Yaffe had written more! I read one Mother detective story in a Martin Edwards anthology and then looked up Yaffe. These are pithy armchair mysteries in the tradition of Miss Marple's Tuesday Club mysteries and make for very interesting reading. As in any anthology, some stories are better than the others.

[Gabriela Galescu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty cool mystery solving strategy, but not a good book

Chesterton it is *not*, although this collection did remind me of Father Brown. Unfortunately I found Yaffe’s writing style quite stiff, repetitive and unimaginative.

The poor quality of the book itself is another big issue. Lots of misspellings, typos, formatting errors.

[Jeff Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mom knows best --3
Mom makes a bet --3
Mom in the spring --2
Mom sheds a tear --3
Mom makes a wish --3
Mom sings an aria --3
Mom and the haunted mink --3
Mom remembers --4
Mom lights a candle --3