Until his death in 1992, author Isaac Asimov would write more than 120 ingenious tales of detection and deduction, and in 66 of them he would prese...
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reviews
Apr 20, 2011
Jessica
rated it: 
Awhile ago, something someone did or said sparked a memory for me of a Black Widowerer story. It goes like this: A man lives on a street of outwardly identical houses, one night comes home dead drunk, and enters the wrong house, wherein he busts in on a counterfeiting ring mid-illegal-operation. When he is woken up lying in the street the next morning by his wife, he can't remember which house it was: He was fortunately unharmed by the counterfeiters but is now unfortunately haunted by the quest
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Jan 22, 2010
Rachel
rated it:
A very nice break from what I have been reading. These mystery stories are about 10 pages each, presented as problems or questions to a men's group called the Black Widowers (made up of 7 people, including the incredible waiter Henry). Each problem is presented with all the facts and the group then tries to reason out the answer. In the end Henry is ALWAYS the one to figure out the answer. Since all the information is given to you these are straightforward mind games that are delightful to puzzl
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Oct 26, 2008
The primary draw of this book is the final set of Black Widowers mysteries written by Asimov before his death which had not yet otherwise been published in a collection. The book also contains additional "best of" stories and a pair of stories written by other authors in honor of Asimov's Black Widowers stories (one actually being a Black Widowers story).
For those who've never read them, the basic concept is that a small group of men meet for dinner at the same restaurant o More...
For those who've never read them, the basic concept is that a small group of men meet for dinner at the same restaurant o More...
Nov 03, 2011
Alex
rated it: 
Worth reading for Asimov's mind-tickling use of language, if not necessarily for the mysteries themselves, which I found about average. And for Harlan Ellison's beautiful homage of an introduction.
Jun 20, 2011
Tracey
rated it:
So glad I found this! I have all the other Black Widowers stories, so this completes my collection.
The Forward by Harlan Ellison was pretty funny where he's ranting at the book's editor. His comments about how much he misses Isaac were touching.
And, yay me, I got one of the answers before Henry explained it! That's only happened once or twice before.
The Forward by Harlan Ellison was pretty funny where he's ranting at the book's editor. His comments about how much he misses Isaac were touching.
And, yay me, I got one of the answers before Henry explained it! That's only happened once or twice before.
Apr 19, 2008
Karin
rated it:
Entertaining but light read. Outdated and amusing reminder of an era when men ate steak every night in men's clubs and never considered that anyone but educated upperclass white men could make interesting conversation. The puzzles they solve are easy and each story follows basically the sme format, but somehow they are not boring. Maybe the predictability is part of the fun: how will Asimov introduce the puzzle this time, what subtle difference will there be. The characters are comfortably predi
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Nov 25, 2008
Barbara
rated it: 
My rating probably reflects more on my appreciation of short stories than these specific short stories. I love Asimov! But I really have never developed affection for "the short story." And that opinion certainly plays into this review/rating.
Dec 28, 2007
Hil
rated it:
This book came to me highly recommended from my husband, Anibal. I love mystery books. Before this book I had never even heard of Issac Asimov. This book contains 20 short stories. All very cleverly written and entertaining. Anibal had to force me to go to sleep, I never wanted to put the book down. I will totally read all the other Black Widowers books and Issac other book sense he has written so many.
Mar 01, 2009
Ange
rated it:
It's really 3.5 stars. It's just a series of very short stories or chapters of a dinner group that discusses and solves little, everyday-type mysteries. I gave my copy to someone on the cruise. The library on board didn't often have the librarian there & the books seemed to remain locked up. He later thanked me and said that he & now his wife were enjoying the book.
Aug 11, 2011
Not bad. A compilation of Asimov's lesser known "Black Windowers" short stories. They remind me of some of the old Agatha Christie mysteries of the 1940's era, only these were surprisingly some of the last stories Asimov wrote in the 80's and 90's.
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