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From The Shadows - Volume II: 11 Hidden Gems from the Golden Age of Detective Writing
"They say that writers are really divided into two types; which exactly corresponds to cut-throats and poisoners. The cut-throats are those who, realising that the murder story must cut short the life, decide also to cut the story short. It is their pride as artists to deal in daggers; and startle the unfortunate reader with the stab of the short story." - G. K. Chesterton
Here lie 11 daggers that go straight to the heart of the matter; will the villain get away with it, or will the detective at hand, be they a young journalist, a lady-sleuth or simply a nearby policeman, unveil them?
Here lie 11 daggers that go straight to the heart of the matter; will the villain get away with it, or will the detective at hand, be they a young journalist, a lady-sleuth or simply a nearby policeman, unveil them?
415 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 19, 2023
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 28, 2023
Eleven detectives mainly from the 1920s
J S Fletcher “From Behind the Barrier”(1907)A rich twin has a “psychic” feeling that his brother is dead.
HS Harrison-“Miss Hinch”(1911) This New York tale of murder by an impersonator would have benefitted from being shorter as the solution became more obvious the longer it continued.
F A Kummer-“Pigs Feet”(1924)A mysterious young man consults a lawyer with the skills to free him of criminal charges.
Mrs Henry Wood-”Abel Crew”(1880)A long story, almost a novella, written in a slightly arch style and depicting country folk in the cringeworthy way peculiar to a certain type of Victorian writer. There is a mystery but no detection. A bit of a curiosity.
J D Beresford-”The Artificial Mole”(1927)Neatly told tale of a detective deceived.
R Austin Freeman-“The Case of the White Footprints “(1923)Middling example of the medico-legal expert’s abilities from “Dr Thorndyke’s Casebook “.
Earl Derr Biggers-“The Dollar Chasers”(1924) Novella-length entertainment about a reporter turned detective tracking down a lost dollar. Every character is a cliché.Amusing but overlong.
Nellie Tom-Gallon &Calder Wilson-“The Middle Dozen”(1923)A familiar theme of stories of the 1920s, with a crook taking on the bank at Monte Carlo
.
Hulbert Footner-“The Sealed House(1923) Slight tale in which Madame Storey intuits the solution to a murder.
Ernest Bramah-“The Secret of Headlam Height”(1925)Mildly interesting spy story involving Max Carrados.
Gilbert Frankau “Who Killed Castelvetri?”(1928)It is probably my lack of knowledge of the French judicial system which made this story incomprehensible despite two attempts.
I have given the dates of first publication of each of the stories. Biographies of all the authors are readily available online. The editor’s introductory information to the individual items is brief .As with the previous volume, all of the stories may be found ( more expensively) elsewhere.
3.5 stars.
J S Fletcher “From Behind the Barrier”(1907)A rich twin has a “psychic” feeling that his brother is dead.
HS Harrison-“Miss Hinch”(1911) This New York tale of murder by an impersonator would have benefitted from being shorter as the solution became more obvious the longer it continued.
F A Kummer-“Pigs Feet”(1924)A mysterious young man consults a lawyer with the skills to free him of criminal charges.
Mrs Henry Wood-”Abel Crew”(1880)A long story, almost a novella, written in a slightly arch style and depicting country folk in the cringeworthy way peculiar to a certain type of Victorian writer. There is a mystery but no detection. A bit of a curiosity.
J D Beresford-”The Artificial Mole”(1927)Neatly told tale of a detective deceived.
R Austin Freeman-“The Case of the White Footprints “(1923)Middling example of the medico-legal expert’s abilities from “Dr Thorndyke’s Casebook “.
Earl Derr Biggers-“The Dollar Chasers”(1924) Novella-length entertainment about a reporter turned detective tracking down a lost dollar. Every character is a cliché.Amusing but overlong.
Nellie Tom-Gallon &Calder Wilson-“The Middle Dozen”(1923)A familiar theme of stories of the 1920s, with a crook taking on the bank at Monte Carlo
.
Hulbert Footner-“The Sealed House(1923) Slight tale in which Madame Storey intuits the solution to a murder.
Ernest Bramah-“The Secret of Headlam Height”(1925)Mildly interesting spy story involving Max Carrados.
Gilbert Frankau “Who Killed Castelvetri?”(1928)It is probably my lack of knowledge of the French judicial system which made this story incomprehensible despite two attempts.
I have given the dates of first publication of each of the stories. Biographies of all the authors are readily available online. The editor’s introductory information to the individual items is brief .As with the previous volume, all of the stories may be found ( more expensively) elsewhere.
3.5 stars.
Displaying 1 of 1 review