In the House of Secret Enemies

Mongo #9

by George C. Chesbro

Ten stories depict the cases of Dr. Robert Frederickson, private detective, criminology professor, martial arts expert, ex-circus acrobat, and dwarf

Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Fiction

234 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

George C. Chesbro was an American author of detective fiction. His most notable works feature Dr. Robert "Mongo the Magnificent" Fredrickson, a private detective with dwarfism. He also wrote the novelization of The Golden Child, a movie of the same name starring Eddie Murphy.

Chesbro was born in Washington, D.C. He worked as a special education teacher at Pearl River and later at rockland Psychiatric Center, where he worked with trouble teens. Chebro was married and had one daughter and two step-daughters.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good when judged solely as short stories, not so good for expanding on the character of Mongo since half of them were cannibalized into plot points for the novels.

[Nanci · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent Little Free Library find! We still own my old hardcover of Chesbro’s An Affair Of Sorcerers which I may have to reread after having devoured these 10 related short stories about “Mongo the Magnificent”, the former circus dwarf tumbler turned P.I. & college professor Dr. Robert Fredrickson. I also like the author’s 1989 preface which explains his creation of his Perverse Notion in the 1970s “when ‘handicapped’ detectives were in vogue on television” and the subsequent success of his tales and novels about Mongo, plus his intros to each tale. They hold up pretty well; he’s an intriguing brilliant-but-flawed character who uses all of his talents to their best advantage, I enjoy the supernatural elements included in many plots, and the narratives flow nicely. This site says there are 14 novels about Mongo plus other works by the author before he passed away in 2002. https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/ge...

[Cary Enlow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any collection of short stories, some are good and some are ok.

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

My relationship to this series is complicated. I can't recommend it, generally, but I am very fond of it and of the positive role it played in my life as a confused and provincial teenager.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a collection of his early short stories. Interesting as you can see how he develops and changes as a writer, and which themes recur to him again and again