Ms. Mysteries

by Arthur Liebman (Editor), Phyllis Bottome, Gladys Cluff

Female sleuths do dazzling detective work that rivals even that of Sherlock Holmes. Startling turns of plot and unnerving endings make the short, suspenseful Ms. Mysteries a pleasure to read. You'll find this volume impossible to put down! Works by the best female mystery writers, Charlotte Armstrong, Dorothy Sayers, Ursula Curtiss, Phyllis Bottome, Agatha Christie, Dana Lyon, Elsin Ann Gardner, Charlotte Gilman, Gladys Cluff, Mary Barrett, Celia Fremlin, Lael J. Littke, Lilian Jackson Braun, Elaine Slater, Ann Petry, Mollie Pearce McKibbon, Virginia Long, Betty Ren Wright and Pauline C. Smith.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

255 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1976

Reviews

[Claire Guiney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of these were more thriller than mystery but this is still my best free little library find to date.

[J Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This editor of this book has chosen 19 tales of mystery by women. There are stories by Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Charlotte Armstrong, Ursula Curtiss- but I had never read any of them before. Ant then many many are stories by reviewers, critics, young adult fiction, who are not well known as mystery novelists or short story writers, as in the case of Mary Barrett who I searched everywhere for & found that she wrote for "The Saturday Review" & published only a handful of short stories, those for "Ellery Queen". Almost all the authors are contemporary, (1960s-1975) & there is only one antique story & that is "The Yellow Wallpaper".
There are no gruesome scenes or sordid CSI details & many of these stories are whimsical, deal with the mystery of the human psyche & are set among ordinary people in in the everyday. Have you ever read "Mr.Loveday's Little Outing" by Evelyn Waugh? Too bad the author is male or this story would have fit in well. The surprise in the selection is that Dr. Liebman didn't include a Shirley Jackson story.