The Mystery Hall of Fame: An Anthology of Classic Mystery and Suspense Stories Selected by Mystery Writers of America

by Bill Pronzini (Editor), Martin H. Greenberg (Editor), Charles G. Waugh (Editor)

Contents:

The purloined letter / Edgar Allen Poe
The adventure of the speckeled band / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The oracle of the dog / G.K. Chesterton
The monkey's paw / W.W. Jacobs
The problem of cell 13 / Jacques Futrelle
The hands of Mr. Otermole / Thomas Burke
The two bottles of relish / Lord Dunsany
The gutting og Couffignal / Dashiell Hammett
Accident / Agatha Christie
Red wind / Raymond Chandler
Rear window / Cornell Woolrich
The house in Goblin Wood / John Dickson Carr
Don't look behind you / Fredric Brown
The nine mile walk / Harry Kemelman
The specialty of the house / Stanley Ellin
Love lies bleeding / Philip MacDonald
Lamb to the slaughter / Roald Dahl
No parking / Ellery Queen
The oblong room / Edward D. Hoch
Sweet fever / Bill Pronzini

Genres: Mystery

467 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1984

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

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know...seemed to me like they could've gotten better stories, to put it up there with the Science Fiction Hall Of Fame; it seems like I've come across better stories. "Purloined Letter" putrid--Poe at his smug, belaboring worst. "The Monkey's Paw" of course great fun and a hardy perennial; Burke's "Mr Ottermole" an ancient artifact--although I suppose having the murderer be a cop must've been revolutionary in its time (when dinosaurs roamed the earth). "Two Bottles Of Relish"--God, there must be better Dunsany than that (though I'm as big a fan of cannibalism as the next guy). Dashiell Hammett's "Couffignal" lame--well, maybe I should just say what I liked. Liked "Red Wind" and "Rear Window"--and of course "Lamb To the Slaughter." And "Oblong Room" had a certain piquance--or is that poignance? "Don't Look Behind You" (Fredric Brown) good--although a little overdone; and the threat of murdering the reader, while a good gimmick, seemed contrived and (worse) superfluous, kind of irrelevant. Hard to believe "Specialty Of the House" came in first in votes--another victory for the Cannibal Party (of course, it is cool that it doesn't end with some "Lottery"-like struggle; subtle and Dahlishly dry). Guess I'm not really much for straight detection stories--they kinda bore me. To me that stuff's like a magician; once you find out how they do it it just seems tawdry. And they always seem sort of contrived and arbitrary--no matter how neat the wrap-up.

[Richard Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This distinguished book is the result of the Mystery Writers of America's early 1980s effort to collect all the Very, Very Best mystery stories in history. They took a poll of the MWA membership, asking them to list their five favorite stories and authors in the field. The result is this anthology, containing the stories most popular among the professional writers in the field. For any reader or fan mystery stories, the stories and authors are instantly familiar. In fact, as I have been reading mystery anthologies almost exclusively for the last four years. In that process, I had already read all but two of these stories in other books. And those two are also in several other anthologies; but I just hadn't gotten to those books. One of these stories, Jacques Futrelle's "The Problem of Cell 13," appears in 15 -- yes fifteen! -- other books in my collection. Thomas Burke's "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" appears in 11 of my other books. Fredric Brown's "Don't Look Behind You" is in 9 other books. Poe's "The Purloined Letter" is in 18 other books. The rest are similar, with the average being 7 or 8 other appearances each. You won't find a better book than this.

[John Boyda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent anthology featuring twenty stories from various eras. The book was published in 1984, so there are no contempory writers included. I had previously read approximately half the stories. I thought that the editor Bill Pronzini demonstrated a remarkable amount of chutzpah to include one of his stories in the volume. Granted, he has won many awards for various works but I didn’t think that the sample incuded here was of the same quality as some of the other classics. Overall, I enjoyed the stories and would recommend the book.

[R. David · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in all collections of stories, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. These were mostly good. However, I've always wondered how much time and thought is placed in selecting such collections. This one has a good story entitled "Look Behind You" that, without doubt only works as the author intends if it is the last story in a book of stories. Sadly, lack of thought is evidenced by this story showing up well before the end of the book. Shame on the editors.