Mary, Mary, Shut the Door and Other Stories

by Benjamin M. Schutz

Shamus & Edgar Award-winning author Mary, Mary, Shut the Door and Other Stories collects all of Benjamin M. Schutz's short fiction. It includes the title story, winner of both the Shamus and Edgar Allan Poe awards, and his other Leo Haggerty stories, "What Goes Around" and "Lost and Found." His newest private investigators, the Ellis Brothers, are represented by "Whatever it Takes" and a story written for this "Til Death Do Us Part." Schutz's most recent novel, the acclaimed thriller, "The Mongol Reply" has as its protagonist a forensic psychologist. The collection also includes his earlier forensic psychology tales starring Dr. Ransom Triplett, "Not Enough Monkeys" and "Expert Opinion."Schutz's short stories have been translated into many foreign languages and reprinted in a number of distinguished anthologies.They bear the same hallmarks as his airtight plotting, relentless suspense, and surprise endings conveyed in a style that is rich with memorable metaphors and dialogue. Benjamin M. Schutz is the author of the acclaimed psychological thriller, The Mongol Reply . He is a forensic psychologist and lives in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

327 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Benjamin M. Schutz is the author of the acclaimed psychological thriller, The Mongol Reply. He is a forensic psychologist and lives in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Reviews

[Dan Downing · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Schutz was a clinical psychologist who had extensive experience in child custody cases. His professional experiences showed strongly in his fiction. In fact, back when I was reading his Leo Haggerty books, I became convinced he was writing fiction in an effort to reach more people and show them, via fiction, what the reality was.
By some slight of shelf "Mary, Mary, Shut the Door" has nestled here since it was published in 2005. While I was overjoyed to discover it, and wholly pleased to read it, I was saddened to learn of Benjamin's death, in 2008. The short stories, and invaluable Introduction, which discusses his writing process, confirmed, for me, my theory about his writing goals.
The book itself is handsome, with a pictograph cover as well as a dust jacket, fine paper and sturdy binding. My copy, at least, came with three CDs of readings from the book.
By the way, he also wrote professional articles and the book, "Solomon's Sword", an insightful, informative and well-written examination of child custody evaluations. If I were reading it now, I'd give it 4-5 Stars, too.
Recommended.

[Mrs. Read · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was unimpressed with the title story of Benjamin M. Schutz’s anthology Mary, Mary, Shut the Door, which goes to show that Edgar and I see things differently. Probably he too admired one of its very well-put lines (“getting married shouldn’t be the first decision you ever make”), but overall, I found most of the stories pedestrian. However, there were exceptions, and “Expert Opinion,” “Open and Shut, and “Meeting of the Minds” were good enough to make the book worth recommending.

[Carole Asbury · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting collection

I usually approach short story collections by a single little known (to me) author with a jaundiced eye. I figure if there are one or two good stories it was worth reading. This book was a lovely surprise. There was not a bad story in the lot, and Mr. Schultz had some unique storylines which deserved some mental applause. Thus is well worth the read.