Allan Krummenacker's Blog - Posts Tagged "isaac-asimov"

Tales of the Black Widowers by Isaac Asimov

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Isaac Asimov was one of the most prolific of writers. Known mostly for his Robots and Foundation series and other science fiction classics, he was also a master of the short story mystery. In his Black Widowers series, he introduced us to a group of gentlemen who one night every month, leave their wives to themselves and gather to eat a wonderful meal together. Their waiter, an unassuming fellow named Henry, serves his 'gentlemen' with an easy professional manner.

These men all come from different business backgrounds and personalities, so they are hardly the type of people you'd expect to become a mystery solving team. But they do just that, all while never leaving their table.

Asimov outdoes himself in this series by presenting us with puzzles brought to the table by other guests that the 'Black Widowers' and their waiter Henry listen to and work out all the possible angles until only the solution is left. The stories are entertaining and the puzzles really difficult to solve at times. But he always plays fair by giving us all the clues we need to come up with the answer, if you know what to look for.

There are 6 books in this series and I highly recommend them all to anyone who enjoys a good short mystery to give the old brain a workout.



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