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Old Tin Sorrows

(Garrett Files #4)

Glen Cook

4.13 · Rating details · 2,733 ratings · 111 reviews

When his old friend Blake Peters calls in some overdue favors. Garrett feels like he’s committed himself to a corps of corpses. Someone is trying to kill Blake’s wealthy, retired General Stantnor, in a most lingering, painful, and maybe poisonous way. Can Garrett keep the general above ground?

But Stantnor’s mansion holds a host of surprises for a human detective who thou ...more

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Mass Market Paperback, 256 pages

Published June 15th 1989 by Roc, Signet (first published June 6th 1989)

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Start your review of Old Tin Sorrows (Garrett Files, #4)

Oct 10, 2020 Gene rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

A group read with Sarah and Choko (if she will ever join us, but I have faith in her).

Garrett was sitting pretty doing nothing when his sergeant Blake Peters from his army days came to collect on his debt: it seems at one point Peters carried wounded Garrett to safety for a long distance risking his own life. Currently Peters was working in a household of his (and Garrett's) former commander: General Stantnor.
General

It seemed to Peters that somebody was slowly poisoning his boss. Garrett was to invest A group read with Sarah and Choko (if she will ever join us, but I have faith in her).

Garrett was sitting pretty doing nothing when his sergeant Blake Peters from his army days came to collect on his debt: it seems at one point Peters carried wounded Garrett to safety for a long distance risking his own life. Currently Peters was working in a household of his (and Garrett's) former commander: General Stantnor.
General

It seemed to Peters that somebody was slowly poisoning his boss. Garrett was to investigate.

Upon arriving at Stantnor's mansion Garrett realized the situation is much more complicated than this. Yes, the General was showing some symptoms of being poisoned, however he refused to see any doctors and equally refused to believe his old army veterans making up his household tried to do him any harm. So officially Garrett was supposed to conduct investigation of some petty thefts that indeed took place from time to time. Also Garrett noticed the household people died regularly from similarly innocent causes, but the regularity of the deaths was highly suspicious.

Our hero had to conduct investigations of three seemingly unrelated crimes. Not only this, but he had to do it trying to dodge numerous attempts on his own life while living in General's spooky mansion.

Speaking about a spooky mansion, the atmosphere in there was good enough (and atmospheric enough - bad pun totally intended) to qualify this book for a good Halloween read - considering the month it was the great timing.

Add a great mystery to the great spooky overall setting. A mystery good enough not to put Agatha Christie to shame - in fact at one point Garrett pays a homage to the Queen of Mystery. Let me speak about the characters. We get to see other sides of a colorful regular of the series - Morley Dotes. There was a cameo of another colorful regular: Saucerhead Tharpe. Groll triplets were finally back. Not to mention the debut of Dr. Doom's Carnival.

In other words, there were plenty of interesting characters.

It is fitting that the ending of such a great mystery was absolutely unexpected (and somewhat gloomy). Referring to Agatha Christie once again, she would be proud. Strictly speaking the book is worth around 4.5 stars, but I feel 5 stars is more appropriate than 4 in this case. Thus this is the final rating. ...more

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Sep 28, 2020 ✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-awesome-bunch, poof-gone-harem, 2020, glen-cook-is-a-god, fantasy, reviewing-backlog-of-doom, darker-is-cooler, ghosts-and-ghouls-and-stuff, welcome-to-the-zoo, br-2020

Actual rating: 4.5 stars.

Review to come in another life. Hopefully.

· Book 1: Sweet Silver Blues ★★★★
· Book 2: Bitter Gold Hearts ★★★★
· Book 3: Cold Copper Tears ★★★★
· Book 5: Dread Brass Shadows ★★★★
· Book 6: Red Iron Nights ★★★★★
· Book 7: Deadly Quicksilver Lies ★★★★★
· Book 8: Petty Pewter Gods ★★★
· Book 9: Faded Steel Heat ★★★
· Book 10: Angry Lead Skies ★★★★
· Book 11: Whispering Nickel Idols ★★★★
· Book 12: Cruel Zinc Melodies ★★★★
· Book 13: Gilded Latten Bones ★★★★
· Book 14: Wicked Bronze Ambi ...more

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Oct 30, 2020 Choko rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Short, but with a punch 👊!

*** 4.65

Another awesome addition to the series! This time we have an in-house who-done-it and everyone is a suspect. None of the previously prevalent vampires, forgotten g-ds or killer wizards. A more traditional and cosy mystery, but we get a more contemplative Garrett, who as always, gets roped into repaying a favor to an old comrade in arms, and gets in the middle of a murder spree...

I love this series and it is always a pleasure getting back into Garrett's head. Hi ...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Bookwraiths rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

A creepy house, a dying General, his strange but beautiful daughter, and a series of petty theft. Just the place our favorite fantasy P.I. for hire finds himself having to visit to pay off a debt owed to his old army sergeant. But naturally, once Garrett arrives, the small favor turns into a major job, because the simple investigation takes a turn for the worst with a hauntingly, beautiful spirit appearing and a series of unexplained murders breaking out. And the worst part is Garrett didn't get ...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Kevin rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, mystery, hard-boiled, noir

Not a nero wolfe homage as the Dead Man stays dead to the world until the final scenes, this one's all Garrett and Morely in a country manor like Christie's "And Then There Were None". Of course it's a fantasy so there is a lot more going on then would in a normal mystery.

This fourth volume in the series is where Cook really starts to shine, this is by far my favorite volume so far, I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

reread 8/1/17 Just as good as the first time I read it. ...more

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Jun 25, 2020 Elena Linville rated it it was amazing

Shelves: badass-protagonist, great-worldbuilding, read-2022, favorites, murder-mystery, absolutely-loved, dark-fantasy

This is just as good on second read as it was the first time, though the story is a bit different than the previous three books. We have a bit of a closed room mystery here, since the story is set in a remote house with only a limited number people living in it, thus limiting the number of suspects... or at least that's how it would work in theory, but with Garrett's luck, it's never that simple.

This book is also darker and more gruesome than the previous installments, even though Garrett's tra This is just as good on second read as it was the first time, though the story is a bit different than the previous three books. We have a bit of a closed room mystery here, since the story is set in a remote house with only a limited number people living in it, thus limiting the number of suspects... or at least that's how it would work in theory, but with Garrett's luck, it's never that simple.

This book is also darker and more gruesome than the previous installments, even though Garrett's trademark sarcastic humor is still present. I think it's just the bleak atmosphere of the house and the grounds around it that contributed to this hopelessness that permeates the story. Everything and everybody seems washed out like an old photograph, like they are already part of the past with no place in the present and no future at all. And kudos to Mr. Cook for creating this atmosphere with his descriptions, because I really felt it - the permanent chill, the hopelessness, the regret, even the hint of madness that permeates this place.

In habitual Garrett fashion, he is hired to find a thief and maybe a poisoner, and ends up unraveling some pretty ugly family secrets. There are no saints in this story, and most characters have rather ugly sides. Honestly, the only one I really mourned the loss of is Brandon Snake, the unfortunate soul who had the talent to see beneath the veil of the ordinary and capture the very essence of people. Ultimately, this talent got him killed, and the world is a little dimmer for it.

I'm glad Morley was in for the ride on this one, because reading their dialogue is pure delight. And even though some really gruesome things happen in this book, the mystery itself was very fun to follow. Watching Garrett's bull in a China shop approach is always amusing.

I would have to add that I had guessed pretty early on who the killer was, but I guess I can understand Garrett's selective blindness in this case. Oh, and it would have been fun to introduce Cook to Dean.

Anyway, on to the next book in the series, since my goal is to re-read them all by the end of 2022! ...more

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Jul 01, 2008 Dan rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-detective

Garrett gets hired by the aid of an aging millionaire general to find out who's poisoning him and gets a lot more than he bargained for. The general's heirs keep dropping like flies and what part, if any, does a mysterious woman in white only Garrett can see play in things?

While I enjoyed this entry in the Garrett Files, it's not as good as the previous two. The first third of the story moves really slowly and most of the general's heirs are little more than cardboard targets for the killer. I d ...more

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Dec 24, 2019 Nighteye rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-ve-borrowed

Good, more intresting along the way as the plot deepened.

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Sep 22, 2021 Keith rated it really liked it

Garrett's sergeant from the war calls in a blood debt owed to him. Someone is stealing from his employer and they may be doing worse things. Madness, hauntings, supernatural undead beings and incredible plot twists comprise a very good, but very sad in the end, story. This one left a little darkness behind. It was quite moving. In the end, well, Garrett was happier. ...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Melissa McShane rated it it was amazing

Shelves: own, favorites, fantasy, detective-stories

I was going to go into the details of why I chose to re-read this when I have a huge pile of never-before-read books on my bedside cabinet, but it's too long a story and probably not interesting. Enough to say I picked it up because it intersected with the book I'm currently writing and went from being a passing reference to something more intrinsic to the plot. Today I took a break from writing to finish it--and found I couldn't go back to writing immediately. That's how good it is.

On the surfa I was going to go into the details of why I chose to re-read this when I have a huge pile of never-before-read books on my bedside cabinet, but it's too long a story and probably not interesting. Enough to say I picked it up because it intersected with the book I'm currently writing and went from being a passing reference to something more intrinsic to the plot. Today I took a break from writing to finish it--and found I couldn't go back to writing immediately. That's how good it is.

On the surface, this is a simple hard-boiled detective/murder mystery story. Garrett, long-suffering P.I. in the fantasy city of TunFaire, gets a visit from his old Marine sergeant Peters. Peters works for a general who's been ill for a long time; Peters suspects someone is trying to kill the old man, who is not a very nice person, but the General hates doctors and won't even let one near him. So Peters wants Garrett to investigate, secretly, under the guise of trying to find out who's been stealing from the estate. When Garrett arrives, he discovers a couple of things, chief among them the fact that the General's will splits his fortune among his retainers. But what no one's seemed to figure out is that those retainers are mysteriously disappearing or turning up dead. So that's three crimes, all of which may be interrelated, most of which Garrett didn't count on.

That's all on the surface. Boiling beneath it is a stew of resentment, anger, betrayal, vengeance, and thwarted hopes, and that's where the story gets really good. Garrett's method is to charge in like a bull and stomp around until the villain screws up. That doesn't work here. In fact, of all fourteen Garrett novels, this is arguably the only one in which Garrett fails to solve the mystery in time for it to matter at all. This gives the novel a feel of desperation and fear that intensifies as more characters die and more mysteries become apparent. As I approached the end, even though I knew what was coming, tension was still my constant companion. It's an ending that takes several sequels to finally come to terms with.

It's fair to ask why this is my second favorite of the series (after Wicked Bronze Ambition, which is similarly tense and emotionally overwhelming) when it is so unbelievably bleak. I think some of that is how true it all feels. People staying staunchly loyal to a rotten old man even when they know better. A daughter so screwed up by her father's choices she (view spoiler). The secret of the old man's dead wife (view spoiler). The characters' actions are really extreme--not the sort of thing that ordinary people do--but within this story, it all feels reasonable and right. And some of it is simply that the ending is the more cathartic for coming after so many horrors. But overall I'd say that I love it because it's heartbreaking.

It is a little weird to read the ending and know that (view spoiler). And there's no way the story can end cheerfully. But it's a satisfying ending to a book that never fails to stick with me.
...more

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Feb 26, 2019 Gilbert Stack rated it really liked it

Garrett’s old sergeant calls in a favor to make everyone’s favorite fantasy detective find out who’s trying to murder an already dying General Stanton. Stanton’s a lot like General Sternwood in The Big Sleep. He’s tough but likable in his final days of life, sitting next to a roaring fire because he doesn’t generate enough heat to keep his body warm on its own. He looks like he’s mere days from croaking on his own but is his poor health the result of a rare tropical disease caught in the service Garrett’s old sergeant calls in a favor to make everyone’s favorite fantasy detective find out who’s trying to murder an already dying General Stanton. Stanton’s a lot like General Sternwood in The Big Sleep. He’s tough but likable in his final days of life, sitting next to a roaring fire because he doesn’t generate enough heat to keep his body warm on its own. He looks like he’s mere days from croaking on his own but is his poor health the result of a rare tropical disease caught in the service or an exotic poison? It doesn’t help that the General doesn’t like doctors and won’t cooperate in trying to save his life.

As to motive? There’s a will that gives half of the General’s estate to his daughter and splits the remaining half between several long term retainers most of whom served under the General in the war. Suspicions that someone is trying to knock the General off are strengthened by the growing number of his retainers that have met an unexpected end—shrinking the pool of inheritors and growing everyone’s share of the estate. There’s also a woman (isn’t there always a woman in a Garrett novel) who is sneaking around the General’s home and nobody but Garrett admits to being able to see her. The only thing really going for Garrett as he tries to investigate this tight-mouthed group of suspects is that the pool of potential killers is diminishing so rapidly.

Old Tin Sorrows shows us a different aspect of Garrett. He’s ten miles outside of the city for almost the entire book so he has to depend on his own wits and a little bit of help from his friend, Morley Dotes, to solve the crime. The Dead Man is simply not available to make connections or suggest courses of action. As the story progresses and the tension grows tauter it begins to look like Garrett isn’t up to the task.

It’s always hard to evaluate the mystery of a novel you’ve read a couple of times before but I think Cook does a pretty good job with this one. At times Garrett seems to be a little slow, but if we recall he’s getting no sleep and is under a lot of strain, I’m not sure it’s fair to hold that against him. There are a couple of nice surprises toward the end and the portrait of Eleanor becomes a fixture in later novels, so this is not a book that is forgotten as the series progresses.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Michael rated it it was amazing

Glen Cook is one of my favorite authors. Old Tin Sorrows is a great read. Old Tin Sorrows is the fourth book in the Garrett Files collection. Garrett is a tough ex-marine, private investigator in the mold of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. The series is set in a fantasy world that has faeries, trolls, sorcerers, wizards,elves and humans living in one city. Garrett's adviser is "the Dead Man" who is really not a man at all and isn't exactly dead. Old Tin Sorrows is arguably the darkest volume in G ...more

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Mar 19, 2011 Bryan Thomas Schmidt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoyed my first Glen Cook. Which is good, since he's a friend of mine. This was not what I expected from a PI book, which is because it's original but the one struggle was the world building. The author obviously established this world in prior books but his assumption that we'd pick it up was a bit ambitious. I found it confusing because I never got a real sense of the world at large. The story is set on a large estate and thus, we never see the world outside of it. So that's partly t ...more

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Jul 16, 2013 HBalikov rated it really liked it

This is, for me, one of Cook's best Garrett novels. Why? It begins with a wonderful homage to Chandler's classic, the Big Sleep. That book, if you recall, begins with Marlowe entering the Sternwood mansion and being taken to the greenhouse where General Sternwood resides. Chandler captures (and foreshadows) in a few sentences the desperation and decay that has permeated the Sternwood clan. Garrett is much like Marlowe, a knight errant and a soldier in battle against lost causes. He is called to ...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Algernon (Darth Anyan) rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011

I loved the nod to Raymond Chandler with the introduction of the old and sick general with a heat penchant, a huge house and a wayward daughter. Later , Cook goes his own way , weaving the noir atitude with the high fantasy / supernatural setting.
Garrett remains in top form with his snarky remarks, a bunch of his friends put in cameo roles, the ladies exert the same fatal attraction.
The series lost a little steam in the investigative department, where Garrett is more clueless than usual and the ...more

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Apr 19, 2019 Pye Josephus Joestar rated it it was amazing

phenomenal book, I enjoyed everything in this one. This one reminded me of those old tropes of the rich family sends out invitations to everybody to come to the mansion and is offered a ton of money if they stay one night in the mansion, of course it's a bit more complicated than that. The fact that the Dead Man isn't really in this book to help Garrett along made it more enticing to read for some reason. And the end definitely gave me some feels as the mystery unfolds. some interesting and humo ...more

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May 19, 2019 Ben Truong rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, magic, mystery, paranormal

Old Tin Sorrows is the fourth book in the Garrett P.I. series written by Glen Cook and centered on the adventures of private investigator Garrett.

Garrett is approached by his old marine sergeant, Blake Peters, who calls in an old Marine Corps debt to get Garrett to investigate the mysterious illness afflicting his current employer, General Stantnor. Garrett moves into the Stantnor mansion, to find that only a handful of individuals still inhabit the property and keep it from crumbling into ruin. ...more

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May 12, 2020 PyranopterinMo rated it it was ok

Shelves: fantasy

Two stars. One for the cover art. The only interesting character is the half troll cook and she is more interesting on the cover. Half a star for the writing and half for the museum grade sexist jokes because it can be a bit surprising what people though was funny in the late eighties.
This is a murder mystery of the kind where all the suspects get murdered one at a time. The setting is a fantasy world. Neither is interesting. There are plenty of interesting mysteries and imaginative fantasy wri ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Natalia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy

So... yeah, there were lots of corpses. But in a good kind of way, you know? it made sense. It added a good rhythm to the story and at some point you just roll with it.

This is a great example of a fast-paced, engaging detective story -- and this is probably my favourite Garrett P.I. installment. It has basically anything you could dream of: ghosts, intrigues, unresolved stories from the past that will quite literally come back to bite the wrongdoers. Preferably with a pitchfork.
A classic revenge ...more

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Feb 20, 2018 Jane Mercer rated it liked it

Shelves: my-books

Cook has slowed pace for this the fourth of the Garrett books.
Hired by an old sergeant from Army days to investigate who is trying to kill his employer, using the cover of investigating the theft of trinkets at the same time.
Garrett goes to stay at the Stantnor Place to investigate, what he finds is confusing and perplexing to him.
(Once I got the cast of characters I had the murderer and something glaringly obvious but not the thief)
It is an entertaining case which Garrett solves with the help o ...more

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Jul 01, 2017 Scott Waldie rated it liked it · review of another edition

A little more of a straight whodunnit for the Garrett, P.I. series, but despite the solid writing and a few differences from the normal formula, I feel like the series is already wearing a little thin on me and I might not make it through. I just greatly prefer his Black Company and Instrumentalities stuff.

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Jul 17, 2018 Gio C rated it really liked it

This was another good one. I liked it a lot because Garret gets away from the usual scene. He's kind of stuck in one place and is forced to solve this mystery on his own. There is a fresh new set of characters and while the old ones are sill around they only make a short cameo. It was a short one but well worth the read. I look forward to see what is in stall for Garret next. ...more

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Nov 24, 2018 Kelly Stark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Bleak but Satisfying

You have to have read enough Garret to have developed an attachment for this to work. But for me, it worked very well. Both Garret and Morley are different in this one. But it’s a difference explained by the circumstances. Good read.

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Aug 05, 2019 Michael Brown rated it liked it

Shelves: series-reading

Catching up before cataract surgery. Such a fun series with sci-fi - fantasy - supernatural elements and an old style detective who is in trouble with his girlfriend / the mob / the dead and just about everyone else.

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Jul 21, 2020 Donnalee rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Okay; rather Jacobean-feeling tontine affair--the cover features a bigger version of the Linda Lavin type from a previous one, dressed in trashy clothes and staring at the protagonist man. She is almost too big for him, but it's an improvement on the odd-sized 'tomatoes' on previous covers ...more

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Jul 25, 2020 Alan Wisdom rated it it was amazing

Shelves: hard-cover

A very good read. It can be revised so that it could be a modern or distant human tale, not remain simply a fantasy novel. Very well written. Would make a great movie, in any genre! No spoilers. You need to read, and just it by and for yourself.

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Jan 14, 2021 Jon rated it really liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 06, 2021 Michael K. Skinner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another great installment in the Garrett P.I. series.

One of my favorites to date. This one had me guessing until the end. I am a huge fan of Glenn Cook. I first-time upon his writing in the late 70s in Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine. This latest tail does not disappoint.

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Aug 22, 2022 Emmalyn Renato rated it it was amazing

Garrett ends up having to solve three related mysteries here, one of which is a fantastical variant of manor house murder(s). This one I liked a lot better. Maybe because it was smaller scale (single location, less characters), or maybe because it didn't rely on the Dead Man.

(r/Fantasy 2022 Bingo squares: No Ifs, Ands, or Buts (HM)). ...more

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Sep 22, 2017 Ric rated it really liked it

Shelves: glen-cook

A good read. Moves along with lots of mystery for our characters. A sad but understand ending. A good read.

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About Glen Cook

Glen Cook

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Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with m ...more

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“Mistakes that cost lives aren’t easy to understand or forgive, but they happen. Despite what they want us mortals to believe, doctors are human. And where there are human beings, there’s human error. It’s inevitable. When doctors make mistakes, people hurt.” — 0 likes

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