Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
The Dime Museum Murders (Harry Houdini Mysteries #2)
In 1897, New York City teems with hustlers and freshly made millionaires, fine artists and con artists, criminals and immigrants. Among them is a rabbi's son who calls himself Houdini. He is struggling to make it in the brutal entertainment business when detectives call on him to attempt the most amazing feat of his fledgling career: solve the mystery of a toy tycoon murde...more
Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages
Published
December 1st 2000
by Avon Books
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
191)
This is the first book in a series introducing the famous Harry Houdini as an investigator of crimes.
The year is 1897 and Harry Houdini is still a struggling magician in New York. While he is determined to become a world-famous escapologist, New York and the world are not yet ready to accept him as such or give him a chance to prove himself.
With the help of his brother, Dash and his wife Bess, Harry is just about making a living in a Dime Museum, performing a three minute trick as part of a huma...more
The year is 1897 and Harry Houdini is still a struggling magician in New York. While he is determined to become a world-famous escapologist, New York and the world are not yet ready to accept him as such or give him a chance to prove himself.
With the help of his brother, Dash and his wife Bess, Harry is just about making a living in a Dime Museum, performing a three minute trick as part of a huma...more
view all 9 comments
Mar 10, 2012
Mallory Anne-Marie Forbes
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Mallory Anne-Marie by:
Hearts On Fire Reviews
Shelves:
march-2012-reads
Daniel Stashower is an accomplished author who has written prolifically on the 19th and early 20th century eras. A magician himself, it is perhaps natural that he writes of Harry Houdini, the acclaimed stage magician and escapist of the early 20th century. Houdini is perhaps best known for his promise to his wife Bess that he would if at all possible send her a sign after his demise. Bess was his stage partner, and in “The Dime Museum Murders,” his younger brother, “Dash” Hardeen-now in his eigh...more
This got better as it went along. At first, Houdini quoted Sherlock Holmes so much that it was hard to get a handle on his character. He came across as a mere Holmes pastiche. Luckily, things got better. Strange title, though. While Houdini works at a Dime Museum during the first section of the book, the murders don't take place there. My main trouble with the book, though, was the character of Houdini. He was vain and thoroughly unpleasant. I don't know much about Houdini, but I'm sure it was a...more
Daniel Stashower's first foray in fiction involving Harry Houdini had been included in an anthology dealing with Sherlock Holmes pastiches. This book is NOT a pastiche. It describes an extraordinary adventure, which had touched the lives of the struggling Harry Houdini and his extremely competent but highly underrated brother Hardeen, and had placed them directly into the vortex of the world of ruthless greed and human tragedies. I would not summarise the story, since that would be rather unfair...more
A quick read with interesting characters. For some reason Goodreads lists this book as the second in the series, but it is really the first of three books about the magician Houdini solving mysteries along with his younger brother Dash. I find the characterization of Houdini, Dash, and Houdini's wife Bess to be really entertaining, and I like the backdrop of turn-of-the-century New York City. I've read the second book as well, and enjoyed it even more than this one (it has better pacing). I'm lo...more
This book was very disappointing. I think the main problem I had with it was that the title of the book is very misleading. This book has nothing to do with a "dime museum", no murders occur in one, and Houdini ends up quitting the museum half way through the book (after hardly ever making an appearance there). Also, the sub-title of this book should be 'A HARRY HOUDINI'S SMARTER BROTHER MYSTERY', as his brother Dash not only narrates the story, but truly is the main protagonist.
The murder (sing...more
The murder (sing...more
A wealthy toy magnate is murdered in a locked, windowless study and the only one to blame is a animatronic toy. Harry Houdini and his brother, Theo, fall into the role of private investigator when they are called to offer their opinion into the card trick playing toy.
Worth the read!
4 STARS...really about 3 1/2 but I rounded up!
Worth the read!
4 STARS...really about 3 1/2 but I rounded up!
Mysteries that turn real life people into detectives is a genre of genres and this isn`t bad. Houdini is a character so larger than life that I suspect it is inevitable that he becomes the stuff of fiction.
Hmm....this book seemed to show Houdini's brother Theo as the main character. Houdini came off as a pompous and impulsive secondary character.
I will not be finishing this. It 's boring. I was excited when I got it. I mean, Harry Houdini? Effin YAY! But Im on page 96 and I find myself pinching myself every few sentences just to stay awake. Not the book for me.
Harry Houdini Mystery series #1. Harry & his brother, Dash, are called to a murder scene due to Harry's knowledge of automotons (sp?).
Mar 17, 2012
Hearts On Fire Reviews
added it
Reviewed by: Mallory
Genre: M/F Mystery
Rated: 5 stars
Check out the review on http://heartsonfirereviews.com/
Genre: M/F Mystery
Rated: 5 stars
Check out the review on http://heartsonfirereviews.com/
May 23, 2012
Pages Of Note
added it
See review here: http://pagesofnote.com/the-harry-houd...
A typical whodunit for mystery lovers.
IT was between 2 and 3 stars.
You can pretty much judge this book by its title. "The Harry Houdini Mysteries: The Dime Museum Murders." I mean, you either want to read that or you don't.
I got to page 49 and stopped. There are too many good books out there to read. Time to move on.
Fun romp with Harry Houdini and his brother Hardeen solving a puzzling murder mystery near the turn of the century, when Houdini was an unknown. Sherlock Holmes fans will enjoy this.
Great little book. Wonderfully crafted and written, an absolute pleasure to read.
Fun read. Enjoyable mystery with a sense of humor. Highly recommended.
May 06, 2013
Kimberly Hon
marked it as to-read
Mar 29, 2013
Kai Uu
marked it as to-read
Mar 24, 2013
Cindy
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Daniel Stashower is the author of The Boy Genius and The Mogul as well as the Edgar Award-winning Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle. He is also the author of five mystery novels, the most recent of which is The Houdini Specter. Stashower is a recipient of The Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in Detective and Crime Fiction Writing, and spent a year as a Visiting Fellow at Wadham...more
More about Daniel Stashower...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
