Tales Of Mystery

by Bill Pronzini

A collection of detective fiction from the pulp magazines of the 1940s and 1950s, with contributions from writers such as Dashiell Hammett, John D. MacDonald, John Jakes, Cornell Woolrich, and Paul Cain

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

320 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1983

About the author

Mystery Writers of America Awards "Grand Master" 2008
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1999) for Boobytrap
Edgar Awards Best Novel nominee (1998) for A Wasteland of Strangers
Shamus Awards Best Novel nominee (1997) for Sentinels
Shamus Awards "The Eye" (Lifetime achievment award) 1987
Shamus Awards Best Novel winner (1982) for Hoodwink

Married to author Marcia Muller.

Pseudonyms:
Robert Hart Davis (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Jack Foxx
William Jeffrey (collaboration with Jeffrey M. Wallmann)
Alex Saxon

Reviews

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read one story in this collection, Cornell Woolrich's "The Living Lie Down With The Dead". It's a fun little crime piece, without the anguish and cynicism of his later work. After a rich old eccentric woman dies, her will declares that her fortune in diamonds will be placed in her mausoleum with her. Two enterprising crooks plan on nabbing the jewels in an unexpected way - by swapping one of themselves with the woman's body and being interred in her place (a real "inside job"). As might be expected, things do not go as planned. This would have made a nice episode of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS back in the day, and Woolrich has a great handle on the crooks' voices. AND we finally get an appearance by Revolving Larry - the drug dealer whose name, at least for me, links the works of Woolrich and William S. Burroughs!

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good book. Picked up at local library discard sale and didn't expect much. But this anthology of 1930s detective fiction is excellent. Not the hardboiled in-your-face stories that I expected but rather subtle, clever plots and rich character development. I was very pleasantly surprised. Bill Pronzini, a prolific writer in his own right, did a masterful job in selecting these 14 stories and provides an insightful introduction to each.

[Rona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was good for my literary education. I heard about pulp fiction, but didn’t read any. Now I have. Some of the stories were horribly dated with sexist tropes. Some were disagreeably macho. Some were deep and psychological. The good thing about short stories is the not finishing one or two did not ruin the experience.

So much has changed in our culture, but some human truths remain the same. These stories told of human striving and the high emotions the lead to violence.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

BOTTOM-LINE:
Solid collection
.
PLOT OR PREMISE:
A collection of decent stories
.
WHAT I LIKED:
Two stories stand out. Fatal Accident deals with a cop on vacation who sees a car wreck in front of him where the wife dies. When he tries to follow up with the hospitalized driver, the driver is more worried about people looking at the car than the wife. The cop's instincts say murder. Not quite as solid but memorable is Crime of Omission, where a man consumed by jealousy is trying to convince himself to kill his best friend/wife's lover while up at the cottage in the winter. Can he do it? Will he have to? Nice twist ending, although kind of campy.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Nothing bad stands out.
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him / her on social media.

[Brett]

Mystery

[Cws]

M Pro