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Murder & Other Acts of Literature: Twenty-Four Unforgettable and Chilling Stories by Some of the World's Best-Loved, Most Celebrated Writers
A collection of mysteries that go beyond the usual whodunit formula includes writings by Louisa May Alcott, T.H. White, John Cheever, Isabel Allende, and Edith Wharton
345 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 15, 2009
What a terrific and witty collection of stories by (mostly)well-known writers! They are thinly linked by a death and/or murder but are not murder or detective genre. More typically, they appear to be selected for their wonderful use of language and absurd or gripping plot. Thoroughly entertaining and good for many laughs out loud. If you co-habitate, you will be overwhelmingly tempted to read bits aloud! You could do much worse...
June 24, 2025
Not your usual murder mystery collection--not least because none of the authors included are known for their crime fiction. Slung has put together a collection of "crime" stories by authors more comfortable on the fiction shelves than in they mystery section. And, honestly, it shows. There are few genuine mysteries here--Paul Theroux comes closest with A. A. Milne of Winnie-the-Pooh fame a close second. Nearly all of the other stories are more concerned with examining social conventions or personal relationships or psychological consequences than they are with the actual crime or the detection thereof. So, if you're looking for mystery puzzles, these stories are not for you. And, mostly, they're not for me, either. The writing is excellent, as one would expect from writers of this caliber. The themes are interesting. But this is definitely not what I'm looking for when I sit down for a good mystery. The best of the bunch are the previously mentioned Theroux and Milne stories ("The Johore Murders" and In Vino Veritas"). I also recommend "By a Person Unknown," "The Widow & the Parrot: A True Story," and "The Portobello Road." ★★★
"Montraldo" by John Cheever: A man steals a diamond ring from Tiffany's and uses the proceeds to go to Italy. There he witnesses a strange relationship between an elderly Italian woman and her servant--who is emboldened to treat her badly.
"The Hitch-Hikers" by Eudora Welty: A traveling salesman by the name of Harris picks up two hitchhikers--one of which has a guitar. The two try to steal his car and one winds up dead.
"Success or Failure" by T. H. White: A childless couple imagine themselves a son. But when their fantasies take an unexpected turn, the proud father can't bear what his wife has imagined.
"By a Person Unknown" by Naguib Mahfouz: Police office Muhsin feels his reputation is at stake when a killer repeatedly gets away with murder--strangling people indiscriminately and leaving no clues behind. But he should be worried about more than his reputation.
"How Did I Get Away With Killing One of the Biggest Lawyers in the State? It Was Easy." by Alice Walker: A young black woman tells how she got away with shooting the lawyer who seduced her.
"The Hotel of the Idle Moon" by William Trevor: A couple looking for an easy target impose themselves on the elderly Sir Giles Marston, his wife, and elderly butler. Soon they've taken over the place.
"Aaron Trowe" by Anthony Trollope: Aaron Trowe was a convicted killer in Bermuda who managed to break jail and escape capture (even though he never left the island). But then he messes with the wrong woman...
"The Fat Man" by Isak Dinesen: A young girl is murdered and the only clue to her killer is the fact that she was last seen in the company of a fat man. A college student who moonlights as a bartender comes up with a plan to find out if one of the regulars in the bar is the fat man in question.
"Mr. Loveday's Outing" by Evelyn Waugh: A young woman visits her father, an inmate at an asylum, and takes pity on the fellow inmate who is serving as her father's secretary. He seems to be completely cured and so she lobbies to have him released. There's something he's wanted to to do ever since he was sent to the asylum--and as soon as he does it, he comes right back.
"The Johore Murders" by Paul Theroux: The closest to a traditional mystery story to be found in this collection. An embassy official gets to the bottom of the murders of two expatriots--one British and one American--when the local Malaysian police can't.
"A Journey" by Edith Wharton: A young woman is traveling home by train with her terminally ill husband. But will they both make it to the last stop?
"Miss Forbes Summer of Happiness" by Gabriel García Márquez : Two young boys are left in the charge of a strict German governess. But they soon learn that she holds herself to a much lower standard and they plot to poison her. But someone else beats them to it.
"The Macbeth Murder Mystery" by James Thurber: Just read this in the last collection--so here's an encore. A crime fiction fiend mistakenly picks up Shakespeare's Macbeth and decides that William has pulled the wool over his audience's eyes. She knows who really killed the king.
"A Double Tragedy: An Actor's Story" by Louisa May Alcott: A story of jealousy and revenge among the Shakespearean actors who play star-crossed lovers.
"Un Crime Maternel" by Fay Weldon: A woman tries to convince the psychiatrist sent to evaluate her mental competency that she is neither insane nor truly guilty of the crime of murder.
"Mary Postgate" by Rudyard Kipling: Mary Postgate, always thought to be like Winnie-the-Pooh (a bear with little brain), manages to do her bit for the World War I homefront.
"The Walker" by Patrick O'Brien: A man plays avenging angel in the murder of a priest.
"Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer: A young black girl and a young white boy grow up together in South Africa during apartheid. Tragedy strikes when she becomes pregnant and marries someone else.
"Monk" by William Faulkner: Our narrator tries to piece together the life and death of the man named Monk, who went to prison for murder.
"The Widow & the Parrot: A True Story" by Virginia Woolf: The poor Mrs. Gage inherits a cottage and a parrot named James from her miserly brother. She learns that it pays to be kind to animals.
"My Maiden Brief" by W. S. Gilbert: A humorous look at our narrator's first, last, and only brief as a solicitor at the Old Bailey.
"An Act of Vengeance" by Isabelle Allende: A lesson in vengeance--be careful when vowing to avenge someone. It may lead to your own destruction.
"In Vino Veritas" by A. A. Milne: A writer of mystery stories and his friend, a police inspector find themselves discussing what seemed to be the perfect murder by poison. But is the murderer finished?
"The Portobello Road" by Muriel Spark: A ghost story told by the ghost herself. A group of four friends who grew up together go there separate ways, despite one of them insisting that they "must stick together." Our narrator is entrusted with a secret--but when she decides that she can't keep it any longer, she's killed. She haunts her killer on the Portobello Road.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
"Montraldo" by John Cheever: A man steals a diamond ring from Tiffany's and uses the proceeds to go to Italy. There he witnesses a strange relationship between an elderly Italian woman and her servant--who is emboldened to treat her badly.
"The Hitch-Hikers" by Eudora Welty: A traveling salesman by the name of Harris picks up two hitchhikers--one of which has a guitar. The two try to steal his car and one winds up dead.
"Success or Failure" by T. H. White: A childless couple imagine themselves a son. But when their fantasies take an unexpected turn, the proud father can't bear what his wife has imagined.
"By a Person Unknown" by Naguib Mahfouz: Police office Muhsin feels his reputation is at stake when a killer repeatedly gets away with murder--strangling people indiscriminately and leaving no clues behind. But he should be worried about more than his reputation.
"How Did I Get Away With Killing One of the Biggest Lawyers in the State? It Was Easy." by Alice Walker: A young black woman tells how she got away with shooting the lawyer who seduced her.
"The Hotel of the Idle Moon" by William Trevor: A couple looking for an easy target impose themselves on the elderly Sir Giles Marston, his wife, and elderly butler. Soon they've taken over the place.
"Aaron Trowe" by Anthony Trollope: Aaron Trowe was a convicted killer in Bermuda who managed to break jail and escape capture (even though he never left the island). But then he messes with the wrong woman...
"The Fat Man" by Isak Dinesen: A young girl is murdered and the only clue to her killer is the fact that she was last seen in the company of a fat man. A college student who moonlights as a bartender comes up with a plan to find out if one of the regulars in the bar is the fat man in question.
"Mr. Loveday's Outing" by Evelyn Waugh: A young woman visits her father, an inmate at an asylum, and takes pity on the fellow inmate who is serving as her father's secretary. He seems to be completely cured and so she lobbies to have him released. There's something he's wanted to to do ever since he was sent to the asylum--and as soon as he does it, he comes right back.
"The Johore Murders" by Paul Theroux: The closest to a traditional mystery story to be found in this collection. An embassy official gets to the bottom of the murders of two expatriots--one British and one American--when the local Malaysian police can't.
"A Journey" by Edith Wharton: A young woman is traveling home by train with her terminally ill husband. But will they both make it to the last stop?
"Miss Forbes Summer of Happiness" by Gabriel García Márquez : Two young boys are left in the charge of a strict German governess. But they soon learn that she holds herself to a much lower standard and they plot to poison her. But someone else beats them to it.
"The Macbeth Murder Mystery" by James Thurber: Just read this in the last collection--so here's an encore. A crime fiction fiend mistakenly picks up Shakespeare's Macbeth and decides that William has pulled the wool over his audience's eyes. She knows who really killed the king.
"A Double Tragedy: An Actor's Story" by Louisa May Alcott: A story of jealousy and revenge among the Shakespearean actors who play star-crossed lovers.
"Un Crime Maternel" by Fay Weldon: A woman tries to convince the psychiatrist sent to evaluate her mental competency that she is neither insane nor truly guilty of the crime of murder.
"Mary Postgate" by Rudyard Kipling: Mary Postgate, always thought to be like Winnie-the-Pooh (a bear with little brain), manages to do her bit for the World War I homefront.
"The Walker" by Patrick O'Brien: A man plays avenging angel in the murder of a priest.
"Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer: A young black girl and a young white boy grow up together in South Africa during apartheid. Tragedy strikes when she becomes pregnant and marries someone else.
"Monk" by William Faulkner: Our narrator tries to piece together the life and death of the man named Monk, who went to prison for murder.
"The Widow & the Parrot: A True Story" by Virginia Woolf: The poor Mrs. Gage inherits a cottage and a parrot named James from her miserly brother. She learns that it pays to be kind to animals.
"My Maiden Brief" by W. S. Gilbert: A humorous look at our narrator's first, last, and only brief as a solicitor at the Old Bailey.
"An Act of Vengeance" by Isabelle Allende: A lesson in vengeance--be careful when vowing to avenge someone. It may lead to your own destruction.
"In Vino Veritas" by A. A. Milne: A writer of mystery stories and his friend, a police inspector find themselves discussing what seemed to be the perfect murder by poison. But is the murderer finished?
"The Portobello Road" by Muriel Spark: A ghost story told by the ghost herself. A group of four friends who grew up together go there separate ways, despite one of them insisting that they "must stick together." Our narrator is entrusted with a secret--but when she decides that she can't keep it any longer, she's killed. She haunts her killer on the Portobello Road.
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
March 5, 2024
Far better than your usual mystery anthology. The premise here is murder mystery stories written by literary authors. This is the book's strength and also its weakness. The best stories are written by renowned authors (Gabriel Garcia Marquez), but then so are the worst stories here, including stories I found virtually unreadable by the likes of William Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, Edith Wharton, and Eudora Welty: lesser mystery stories included only because their authors were famous.
Still, the standard of writing is far higher than in most other mystery anthologies, and it has an unusually high proportion of well-written and interesting stories. Here are my ratings:
1. John Cheever, "Montraldo" - 5/5
2. Eudora Welty, "The Hitch-Hikers" - 2/5
3. T.H. White, "Success or Failure" - 4/5
4. Naguib Mahfouz, "By a Person Unknown" - 4/5
5. Alice Walker, "How Did I Get Away with Killing One of the Biggest Lawyers in the State? It Was Easy" - 4/5
6. William Trevor, "The Hotel of the Idle Moon" - 4/5
7. Anthony Trollope, "Aaron Trow" - 2/5
8. Isak Dinesen, "The Fat Man" - 2/5
9. Evelyn Waugh, "Mr Loveday's Little Outing" - 2/5
10. Paul Theroux, "The Johore Murders" - 4/5
11. Edith Wharton, "A Journey" - 2/5
***12. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Miss Forbes's Summer of Happiness" - 6/5 - Far and away the best story here, and easily one of the best short stories I've ever read, in any genre. I gave the entire book a whole additional star simply because of this one story.
13. James Thurber, "The Macbeth Murder Mystery" - 3/5
14. Louisa May Alcott, "A Double Tragedy" - 3/5
15. Fay Weldon, "Un Crime Maternal" - 4/5
16. Rudyard Kipling, "Mary Postgate" - 3/5
***17. Patrick O'Brian, "The Walker" - 5/5 - an excellent story, quite surprising from the author of the Aubrey novels; a masterclass in how language reflects a character's inner state.
18. Nadine Gordimer, "Country Lovers" - 3/5
19. William Faulkner, "Monk" - 2/5
20. Virginia Woolf, "The Widow and the Parrot" - 1/5
21. W.S. Gilbert, "My Maiden Brief" - 3/5
22. Isabel Allende, "An Act of Vengeance" - 3/5
23. A.A. Milne, "In Vino Veritas" - 3/5
24. Muriel Spark, "The Portobello Road"
The average story score was 3.2: quite a bit higher than most anthologies I've read. Recommended particularly for the two stories highlighted above.
Still, the standard of writing is far higher than in most other mystery anthologies, and it has an unusually high proportion of well-written and interesting stories. Here are my ratings:
1. John Cheever, "Montraldo" - 5/5
2. Eudora Welty, "The Hitch-Hikers" - 2/5
3. T.H. White, "Success or Failure" - 4/5
4. Naguib Mahfouz, "By a Person Unknown" - 4/5
5. Alice Walker, "How Did I Get Away with Killing One of the Biggest Lawyers in the State? It Was Easy" - 4/5
6. William Trevor, "The Hotel of the Idle Moon" - 4/5
7. Anthony Trollope, "Aaron Trow" - 2/5
8. Isak Dinesen, "The Fat Man" - 2/5
9. Evelyn Waugh, "Mr Loveday's Little Outing" - 2/5
10. Paul Theroux, "The Johore Murders" - 4/5
11. Edith Wharton, "A Journey" - 2/5
***12. Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Miss Forbes's Summer of Happiness" - 6/5 - Far and away the best story here, and easily one of the best short stories I've ever read, in any genre. I gave the entire book a whole additional star simply because of this one story.
13. James Thurber, "The Macbeth Murder Mystery" - 3/5
14. Louisa May Alcott, "A Double Tragedy" - 3/5
15. Fay Weldon, "Un Crime Maternal" - 4/5
16. Rudyard Kipling, "Mary Postgate" - 3/5
***17. Patrick O'Brian, "The Walker" - 5/5 - an excellent story, quite surprising from the author of the Aubrey novels; a masterclass in how language reflects a character's inner state.
18. Nadine Gordimer, "Country Lovers" - 3/5
19. William Faulkner, "Monk" - 2/5
20. Virginia Woolf, "The Widow and the Parrot" - 1/5
21. W.S. Gilbert, "My Maiden Brief" - 3/5
22. Isabel Allende, "An Act of Vengeance" - 3/5
23. A.A. Milne, "In Vino Veritas" - 3/5
24. Muriel Spark, "The Portobello Road"
The average story score was 3.2: quite a bit higher than most anthologies I've read. Recommended particularly for the two stories highlighted above.
September 30, 2023
I love short stories, but I have to admit that some of these were just too much, so I skipped around a bit. Having said that, the one by A.A. Milne was great as was the Trollope (surprising that I finished it however--the man needed an editor). They were all pretty twisty and unexpected, or at least those I read. The conceit, of course, is that "real" "literary" authors have written some pretty good mystery stories.
January 6, 2025
24 short mysteries written by people we don't consider to be mystery writers like Louise May Alcott, Rudyard Kipling, Alice Walker, Eudora Welty, Isak Dinesen, Edith Wharton, James Thurber and many more. Great book!
December 29, 2018
Hit and Miss
January 27, 2024
A bit uneven, as is typical for anthologies. My favorite is "In vino veritas" by A. A. Milne.
August 31, 2025
The variety is so great this short story collection feels impossible to review.
December 8, 2025
Montraldo / John Cheever --2
The hitch-hikers / Eudora Welty --1
Success or failure / T.H. White --3
By a person unknown / Naguib Mahfouz --2
How did I get away with killing one of the biggest lawyers in the state? It was easy / Alice Walker --3
The hotel of the Idle Moon / William Trevor --3
Aaron Trow / Anthony Trollope --2
The fat man / Isak Dinesen --3
Mr. Loveday's little outing / Evelyn Waugh --3
The Johore murders / Paul Theroux --3
A journey / Edith Wharton --2
Miss Forbes's summer of happiness / Gabriel García Márquez --3
The Macbeth murder mystery / James Thurber --3
A double tragedy : an actor's story / Louisa May Alcott --3
Un crime maternel / Fay Weldon --2
Mary Postgate / Rudyard Kipling --4
The walker / Patrick O'Brian --2
Country lovers / Nadine Gordimer --2
Monk / William Faulkner --2
The widow and the parrot : a true story / Virginia Woolf --3
My maiden brief / W.S. Gilbert --3
An act of vengeance / Isabel Allende --2
In vino veritas / A.A. Milne --3
The Portobello Road / Muriel Spark--4
The hitch-hikers / Eudora Welty --1
Success or failure / T.H. White --3
By a person unknown / Naguib Mahfouz --2
How did I get away with killing one of the biggest lawyers in the state? It was easy / Alice Walker --3
The hotel of the Idle Moon / William Trevor --3
Aaron Trow / Anthony Trollope --2
The fat man / Isak Dinesen --3
Mr. Loveday's little outing / Evelyn Waugh --3
The Johore murders / Paul Theroux --3
A journey / Edith Wharton --2
Miss Forbes's summer of happiness / Gabriel García Márquez --3
The Macbeth murder mystery / James Thurber --3
A double tragedy : an actor's story / Louisa May Alcott --3
Un crime maternel / Fay Weldon --2
Mary Postgate / Rudyard Kipling --4
The walker / Patrick O'Brian --2
Country lovers / Nadine Gordimer --2
Monk / William Faulkner --2
The widow and the parrot : a true story / Virginia Woolf --3
My maiden brief / W.S. Gilbert --3
An act of vengeance / Isabel Allende --2
In vino veritas / A.A. Milne --3
The Portobello Road / Muriel Spark--4
May 29, 2008
Well I didn't quite make it through this book. It happened somewhere around story # 4 or 5, I realized I was finding ways to avoid reading this. When I found I preferred hand-washing dishes and polishing furniture to sitting down with this book, I understood that I just wasn't that into it. There were a lot of authors' names that I recognized, but I'm thinking now that I must have remembered them from a stuffy English-class textbook. These were the kinds of stories that begin, seem to be going somewhere, but abruptly end on the next page, leaving me wondering how I missed the point. Similar to looking at an odd piece of art and wondering what the motivation was, only these tales didn't pique my interest even to that point. But to be fair, I didn't even read half of them. Maybe the better stories were toward the end (but I doubt it!)
May 3, 2018
Completely entertaining. Some stories are fun, some intensely serious. I didn't necessarily enjoy every story--I don't have an affinity for some of these authors (e.g., Cheever, Trollope, Faulkner)--but all of the stories were well chosen for this anthology. My favorites were:
1. The Fat Man by Isak Dinesen (the most affecting)
2. The Macbeth Murder Mystery by James Thurber (the funniest, of course)
3. The Widow and the Parrot: A True Story by Virginia Woolf (the happiest, most satisfying ending, and a surprise, since Woolf normally makes my eye twitch)
4. In Vino Veritas by A. A. Milne (excellent surprise ending)
#ReadICT category 8: Essay or short story collection
1. The Fat Man by Isak Dinesen (the most affecting)
2. The Macbeth Murder Mystery by James Thurber (the funniest, of course)
3. The Widow and the Parrot: A True Story by Virginia Woolf (the happiest, most satisfying ending, and a surprise, since Woolf normally makes my eye twitch)
4. In Vino Veritas by A. A. Milne (excellent surprise ending)
#ReadICT category 8: Essay or short story collection
February 1, 2019
Pretty interesting. Light reading but still murder mysteries.
February 3, 2009
Very impressive collection of stories. My favorite is the one by James Thurber, 'The Macbeth Murder Mystery.' I also enjoyed the ones by Rudyard Kipling, W. S. Gilbert, and A. A. Milne.
What was interesting about this collection was that none of the stories were written by people considered mystery writers. It just shows that everyone loves a good crime.
Great collection for mystery lovers, those who love short stories, and those who love good writing.
What was interesting about this collection was that none of the stories were written by people considered mystery writers. It just shows that everyone loves a good crime.
Great collection for mystery lovers, those who love short stories, and those who love good writing.
October 21, 2016
A solid anthology. Some of the stories were fantastic and others were quite dull. My favorites were the selections by James Thurber and Muriel Spark. My least favorites were the offerings by Rudyard Kipling and William Faulkner.
January 17, 2010
Excellent middle of the night book by writers you wouldn't link to mystery and suspense.
August 4, 2010
My favorite story was "The Widow And The Parrot," but I liked the whole anthology.
March 18, 2011
The stories were boring and didn't really have a point
November 10, 2012
Great for short periods of time...you can finish a whole story in a short period of time.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews