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elusivity's review against another edition
3.0
PART I: The Ancient World
The Locked Tomb Mystery - Elizabeth Peters
An Egyptian Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Amenhotep the eagle-nosed detective and his helper, the scribe Wadjsen.
The thief vs King Rhampsinitus - Herodotus
A familiar folktale.
Socrates Solves a Murder - Breni James
A pastiche of Socratic dialogue-style, a la Plato. Clever.
Mightier Than the Sword - John Maddox Roberts
An urbane, witty, man of Rome, solving crime while going about his business.
The Treasury Thefts - Wallace Nichols
Lovely story of Sollius the slave, solving the mystery theft from Marcus Aurellius' Treasury. Apparently there are more than 60 of these stories.. a pity they have fallen out of favor.
A Byzantine Mystery - Mary Reed & Eric Mayer
Emperor Justinian required his Chamberlain to find his sacred relic. Nice twist to the story.
He Came with the Rain - Robert van Gulik
Judge Dee solves the murder of a pawnbroker by understanding the victim's true nature.
The High King's Sword - Peter Tremayne
Sister Fidelma, a nun and "lawyer", is summoned to find a missing sword required for the next High King to be anointed, in Ireland before the Norman invasion.
Part II: The Middle Ages
The Price of Light - Ellis Peters
A Brother Cadfael story, involving a bad-tempered Scrooge of a rich man and a pair of beautiful silver candlesticks.
The Confession of Brother Athelstan - Paul Harding
Brother Athelstan is a Benedictine friar, and amanuensis to the Coroner Sir John. This story involves knights jousting and an inadvertent death that turns out to be murder.
The Witch's Tale - Margaret Frazer
A much-abused wife seems to kill her husband with witchcraft. Sister Frivesse investigates.
Father Hugh & the Deadly Scythe - Mary Monica Pulver
From the haughty perspective of an abbess, Father Hugh the village monk solves the death of the village gossip /blackmailer.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Detective - Theodore Mathieson
During the last years of his life, the French Queen challenges Leondardo to solve the seemingly-impossible death of her not-so-secret lover.
A Sad & Bloody Hour - Joe Gores
Written using 300+ lines of dialogue from Shakespeare plays. High creativity, but alas, makes for overly melodramatic story.
PART III: Regency & Gaslight
The Christmas Masque - S. S. Rafferty
Captain Cork called to deal with murder of a wealthy heiress at a Christmas Ball in New York City, in the 1700s.
Murder Lock'd In - Lillian de la Torre
Dr. Johnson meets up with his faithful diarist Boswell for the first, and gets involved in a locked-room triple murder.
Captain Nash & the Wroth Inheritance - Raymond Butler
A long and convoluted novel, featuring Captain Nash almost as a hardboiled detective in 1700s, following people, impetuously kicking snakes' nests without much forethought, and more complex than the mystery itself warrants. More of a thriller..
The Doomdorf Mystery - Melville Davisson Post
An Uncle Abner mystery, full of dread & doom & high falutin' language & strange characters.
Murder in the Rue Royale - Michael Harrison
A pastiche a la Poe, where August Dupin solves a locked-room mystery, with a most dreadful murder method.
The Gentleman from Paris - John Dickson Carr
This time, the detective IS Poe. A young man from Paris come to New York City, trying to find an old woman's will. Overly melodramatic.
The Golden Nugget Poker Game - Edward D. Hoch
In the wildness of Canada, a sharpshooter stumbles into a plot to steal prospector's gold.
Part IV: Holmes & Beyond
The Case of the Deptford Horror - Adrian Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Very similar to THE SPECKLED BAND. A family that seem to die off one by one, until only the niece is left, and an overly-solicitous uncle.
Five Rings in Reno - R. L. Stevens
Arthur Conan Doyle went to Reno, NV to solve the death of a journalist.
The Locked Tomb Mystery - Elizabeth Peters
An Egyptian Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Amenhotep the eagle-nosed detective and his helper, the scribe Wadjsen.
The thief vs King Rhampsinitus - Herodotus
A familiar folktale.
Socrates Solves a Murder - Breni James
A pastiche of Socratic dialogue-style, a la Plato. Clever.
Mightier Than the Sword - John Maddox Roberts
An urbane, witty, man of Rome, solving crime while going about his business.
The Treasury Thefts - Wallace Nichols
Lovely story of Sollius the slave, solving the mystery theft from Marcus Aurellius' Treasury.
Spoiler
It's the arrogant, corrupt Emperor-in-waiting, Commodus.A Byzantine Mystery - Mary Reed & Eric Mayer
Emperor Justinian required his Chamberlain to find his sacred relic. Nice twist to the story.
He Came with the Rain - Robert van Gulik
Judge Dee solves the murder of a pawnbroker by understanding the victim's true nature.
The High King's Sword - Peter Tremayne
Sister Fidelma, a nun and "lawyer", is summoned to find a missing sword required for the next High King to be anointed, in Ireland before the Norman invasion.
Part II: The Middle Ages
The Price of Light - Ellis Peters
A Brother Cadfael story, involving a bad-tempered Scrooge of a rich man and a pair of beautiful silver candlesticks.
The Confession of Brother Athelstan - Paul Harding
Brother Athelstan is a Benedictine friar, and amanuensis to the Coroner Sir John. This story involves knights jousting and an inadvertent death that turns out to be murder.
The Witch's Tale - Margaret Frazer
A much-abused wife seems to kill her husband with witchcraft. Sister Frivesse investigates.
Father Hugh & the Deadly Scythe - Mary Monica Pulver
From the haughty perspective of an abbess, Father Hugh the village monk solves the death of the village gossip /blackmailer.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Detective - Theodore Mathieson
During the last years of his life, the French Queen challenges Leondardo to solve the seemingly-impossible death of her not-so-secret lover.
A Sad & Bloody Hour - Joe Gores
Written using 300+ lines of dialogue from Shakespeare plays. High creativity, but alas, makes for overly melodramatic story.
PART III: Regency & Gaslight
The Christmas Masque - S. S. Rafferty
Captain Cork called to deal with murder of a wealthy heiress at a Christmas Ball in New York City, in the 1700s.
Spoiler
Puzzle and clues laid out step by step, but the murderer came seemingly from nowhere. How I tire of stories where, oops, insanity runs in the family, so of course the insane murderer wants to kill without a real reason yet with amazing insane-people cunning. Ugh.Murder Lock'd In - Lillian de la Torre
Dr. Johnson meets up with his faithful diarist Boswell for the first, and gets involved in a locked-room triple murder.
Captain Nash & the Wroth Inheritance - Raymond Butler
A long and convoluted novel, featuring Captain Nash almost as a hardboiled detective in 1700s, following people, impetuously kicking snakes' nests without much forethought, and more complex than the mystery itself warrants. More of a thriller..
The Doomdorf Mystery - Melville Davisson Post
An Uncle Abner mystery, full of dread & doom & high falutin' language & strange characters.
Murder in the Rue Royale - Michael Harrison
A pastiche a la Poe, where August Dupin solves a locked-room mystery, with a most dreadful murder method.
The Gentleman from Paris - John Dickson Carr
This time, the detective IS Poe. A young man from Paris come to New York City, trying to find an old woman's will. Overly melodramatic.
The Golden Nugget Poker Game - Edward D. Hoch
In the wildness of Canada, a sharpshooter stumbles into a plot to steal prospector's gold.
Part IV: Holmes & Beyond
The Case of the Deptford Horror - Adrian Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Very similar to THE SPECKLED BAND. A family that seem to die off one by one, until only the niece is left, and an overly-solicitous uncle.
Spoiler
I suppose it is rather amusing that even Sherlock Holmes is terrified of spiders, albeit, a giant one the size of a dinner plate!Five Rings in Reno - R. L. Stevens
Arthur Conan Doyle went to Reno, NV to solve the death of a journalist.
marilynsaul's review against another edition
4.0
Only a few "meh" stories, which, in and of itself, is amazing for a compendium of mystery stories. I was quite impressed!
elusivity's review
3.0
His Master's Servant - Philip Boast
Sir Roger, a Knights Templar of great faith, is summoned by Saladin to Jerusalem to solve the murder of his cousin and the theft of Saladin's favorite jewel. Poetic more for the journey to Jerusalem and Sir Roger fighting his demons of temptation, than the mystery itself. A lovely story.
Death in the Desert - Jean Davidson
The Queen of Sheba, on her journey to King Solomon, was beset by bandits. A story that seemed all over the place..
The Judgment of the Gods - Rob Reginald
The Great King Sennacherib of Assyria was killed by a statue of the god falling over him as he prayed. His son allowed two Greek merchants to solve this mystery, in return for favorable trade relations. Lovely.
The Oracle of Amun - Mary Reed & Eric Mayer
Herodotus solves the death of a rich man in Egypt.
Cupid's Arrow - Marilyn Todd
Again, more than a tinge of romance. A young robber is killed in broad daylight, right before wealthy widow Claudia's eyes. It seems too blatant to be real..
The Spiteful Shadow - Peter Tremayne
Sister Fidelma encounters a young woman who hears voices, and accused of murder because her voices told her to act.
Catherine and the Sybil - Sharan Newman
Hildegarde von bingen is trying to set up a priory of her own. Yet, the construction has been full of setbacks, and even a death.
The Jester and the Mathematician - Alan R. Gordon
The Fool's Guild--a medieval MI6, but composed of clowns and jesters--solves a murder in Pisa that involved the young Fibonacci, famous for the mathematic series.
The Duke's Tale - Cherith Baldry
Chaucer catches up to the English Duke Lionel in the Italian city of Alba, just as he lies dying of poison.
Sea of Darkness - Sarah A. Hoyt
Prince Henry of Portugal, deep lover of the ocean and its navigation, investigates the death of a young man on the islands of Madeira where he'd set up colonies for education in navigation. His personal secretary at first feared he might be suspected, as he'd scheduled to secretly meet with the now-dead young man, but of course it all comes down to a woman in the end.
The Stone-Worker's Tale - Margaret Frazer
Dame Frivesse investigates the vanishing of a young lady and a talented stonemason from the site of St Mary's church at Ewelme. They were in love and planned to marry; did they ran away to do so, or was there some other plot at play?
The Witching Hour - Martin Edwards
SKIPPED.
The Dutchman and the Wrongful Heir - Maan Meyers
Novella set in the times just after New-York was overtaken by the English from the Dutch. Tonneman, the Dutch sheriff, sets about investigating the death of a maid who was the sole inheritor of a wealthy widow's assets, and the bodies piled on from there.
If Serpents Envious - Clayton Emery
INTENSE and atmospheric. I like this one a lot.
An ex-divinity student, abducted and raised by Indians then returned to English settlement, travels to laid-back New Hampshire, just as one slave had been tarred and hanged and another awaits to be burned at the stake, for the accused crime of killing their master with a poisoned snake.
The Uninvited Guest - Edward D. Hoch
George Washington's secretary, Alexander Swift, attends a wedding in his stead, and at the wedding, a stranger falls dead of poison.
Benjamin's Trap - Richard Moquist
Benjamin Franklin investigates the mysterious deaths of 3 merchants".
The Serpent's Back - Ian Rankin
Cullender is a caddy -- equivalent to one-man concierge service today -- in the growing city of Edinburgh. He receives a commission from a mysterious lady, and at the same time, begin to dodge assassination attempts.
Botanist at Bay - Edward Marston
Convicts sent to Australia -- some made good, some remained convicts, and some only seem to discard their past.
The Living and the Dead - Judith Cutler
An intense, almost dark fairy tale or Scarlet Letter-esque story of love and inherited insanity and illegitimate children. 4 STARS
Footprints - Jeffery Farnol
An old-school story -- like, reminiscent of Wilkie Collin's THE MOONSTONE -- of a Bow Street running, called by a fainting lady to investigate the murder of her uncle, after the murder of her father one year previously.
Barely readable due to the author's attempt to render, verbatim, all the people's various accents. Ugh.
The Tenth Commandment - Melville Davisson Post
Uncle Abner discovers a booby-trap intended to murder a man, and goes a-visiting a "coward" of his acquaintance and dispenses justices.
Murder in Old Manhattan - Frank Bonham
Thomas Church, a police detective in 1857 NYC, investigates the death of a young milliner's assistant who had more money than she should have. He unravels a story of shipping and supply-demand and blackmail.
The Abolitionist - Lynda S. Robinson
On the eve of the American Civil War, a man goes visiting his Southern home, where his young cousin was wildly and ill-advisedly preaching abolitionism to an angry crowd. The young man gets beaten and escapes back home, but dies in his bed, poisoned..
Poisoned with Politeness - Gillian Linscott
A newspaper man goes to Buckinghamshire to investigate the death of a drunken, shrewish but wealthy woman, seemingly poisoned while she was on her coach going a-visiting. The clear suspect was the governess who had hid the woman's flask just before the trip, in an attempt to keep her sober. Yet no one in the entire county wants to indict her.
Threads of Scarlet - Claire Griffen
Toop the police detective delves into the affairs of a man who seems surrounded by frail, dying and dead people, the last one being his wife.
The Gentleman on the Titanic - John Lutz
Double-agent shenanigans and love-in-times-of-war on the TITANIC just before it sinks.
This one was more like a thriller than a mystery. I personally found it dull.
Sir Roger, a Knights Templar of great faith, is summoned by Saladin to Jerusalem to solve the murder of his cousin and the theft of Saladin's favorite jewel. Poetic more for the journey to Jerusalem and Sir Roger fighting his demons of temptation, than the mystery itself. A lovely story
Spoiler
and I like how he does NOT get the girl in the endDeath in the Desert - Jean Davidson
The Queen of Sheba, on her journey to King Solomon, was beset by bandits. A story that seemed all over the place..
The Judgment of the Gods - Rob Reginald
The Great King Sennacherib of Assyria was killed by a statue of the god falling over him as he prayed. His son allowed two Greek merchants to solve this mystery, in return for favorable trade relations. Lovely.
The Oracle of Amun - Mary Reed & Eric Mayer
Herodotus solves the death of a rich man in Egypt.
Cupid's Arrow - Marilyn Todd
Again, more than a tinge of romance. A young robber is killed in broad daylight, right before wealthy widow Claudia's eyes. It seems too blatant to be real..
The Spiteful Shadow - Peter Tremayne
Sister Fidelma encounters a young woman who hears voices, and accused of murder because her voices told her to act.
Catherine and the Sybil - Sharan Newman
Hildegarde von bingen is trying to set up a priory of her own. Yet, the construction has been full of setbacks, and even a death.
The Jester and the Mathematician - Alan R. Gordon
The Fool's Guild--a medieval MI6, but composed of clowns and jesters--solves a murder in Pisa that involved the young Fibonacci, famous for the mathematic series.
The Duke's Tale - Cherith Baldry
Chaucer catches up to the English Duke Lionel in the Italian city of Alba, just as he lies dying of poison.
Sea of Darkness - Sarah A. Hoyt
Prince Henry of Portugal, deep lover of the ocean and its navigation, investigates the death of a young man on the islands of Madeira where he'd set up colonies for education in navigation. His personal secretary at first feared he might be suspected, as he'd scheduled to secretly meet with the now-dead young man, but of course it all comes down to a woman in the end.
The Stone-Worker's Tale - Margaret Frazer
Dame Frivesse investigates the vanishing of a young lady and a talented stonemason from the site of St Mary's church at Ewelme. They were in love and planned to marry; did they ran away to do so, or was there some other plot at play?
The Witching Hour - Martin Edwards
SKIPPED.
The Dutchman and the Wrongful Heir - Maan Meyers
Novella set in the times just after New-York was overtaken by the English from the Dutch. Tonneman, the Dutch sheriff, sets about investigating the death of a maid who was the sole inheritor of a wealthy widow's assets, and the bodies piled on from there.
If Serpents Envious - Clayton Emery
INTENSE and atmospheric. I like this one a lot.
An ex-divinity student, abducted and raised by Indians then returned to English settlement, travels to laid-back New Hampshire, just as one slave had been tarred and hanged and another awaits to be burned at the stake, for the accused crime of killing their master with a poisoned snake.
The Uninvited Guest - Edward D. Hoch
George Washington's secretary, Alexander Swift, attends a wedding in his stead, and at the wedding, a stranger falls dead of poison.
Benjamin's Trap - Richard Moquist
Benjamin Franklin investigates the mysterious deaths of 3 merchants"
Spoiler
who were killed one by one, paralyzed with one hand cut off. They turned out to be ex-British soldiers who robbed an inn years ago, then hid their loot in Carpenter's Hall, and returned in secret to retrieve it. They were hunted down one by one by the innkeeper's daughterThe Serpent's Back - Ian Rankin
Cullender is a caddy -- equivalent to one-man concierge service today -- in the growing city of Edinburgh. He receives a commission from a mysterious lady, and at the same time, begin to dodge assassination attempts.
Botanist at Bay - Edward Marston
Convicts sent to Australia -- some made good, some remained convicts, and some only seem to discard their past.
Spoiler
These twist-ending stories where the narrator ends up being the killer always seem so obvious, because they always write so smugly well about themselves and their past. This one I called the ending 2 pages in.The Living and the Dead - Judith Cutler
An intense, almost dark fairy tale or Scarlet Letter-esque story of love and inherited insanity and illegitimate children. 4 STARS
Footprints - Jeffery Farnol
An old-school story -- like, reminiscent of Wilkie Collin's THE MOONSTONE -- of a Bow Street running, called by a fainting lady to investigate the murder of her uncle, after the murder of her father one year previously.
Barely readable due to the author's attempt to render, verbatim, all the people's various accents. Ugh.
The Tenth Commandment - Melville Davisson Post
Uncle Abner discovers a booby-trap intended to murder a man, and goes a-visiting a "coward" of his acquaintance and dispenses justices.
Murder in Old Manhattan - Frank Bonham
Thomas Church, a police detective in 1857 NYC, investigates the death of a young milliner's assistant who had more money than she should have. He unravels a story of shipping and supply-demand and blackmail.
The Abolitionist - Lynda S. Robinson
On the eve of the American Civil War, a man goes visiting his Southern home, where his young cousin was wildly and ill-advisedly preaching abolitionism to an angry crowd. The young man gets beaten and escapes back home, but dies in his bed, poisoned..
Poisoned with Politeness - Gillian Linscott
A newspaper man goes to Buckinghamshire to investigate the death of a drunken, shrewish but wealthy woman, seemingly poisoned while she was on her coach going a-visiting. The clear suspect was the governess who had hid the woman's flask just before the trip, in an attempt to keep her sober. Yet no one in the entire county wants to indict her.
Threads of Scarlet - Claire Griffen
Toop the police detective delves into the affairs of a man who seems surrounded by frail, dying and dead people, the last one being his wife.
Spoiler
A man who uses his good looks and wealth to convince two women to kill for him, whose comeuppance is this shall be known to the society he is trying to climb into.The Gentleman on the Titanic - John Lutz
Double-agent shenanigans and love-in-times-of-war on the TITANIC just before it sinks.
This one was more like a thriller than a mystery. I personally found it dull.
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