The Night People and Other Stories

by Edward D. Hoch

Book by Hoch, Edward D.

286 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Edward D. Hoch is one of the most honored mystery writers of all time.

* 1968 Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America): "The Oblong Room", The Saint Mystery Magazine, July 1967
* 1998 Anthony Award (Bouchercon World Mystery Convention): "One Bag of Coconuts", EQMM, November 1997
* 2001 Anthony Award (Bouchercon): "The Problem of the Potting Shed", EQMM, July 2000
* 2007 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award (awarded 2008): "The Theft of the Ostracized Ostrich", EQMM, June 2007
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 2000
* Grand Master (Mystery Writers of America), 2001
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Bouchercon), 2001

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains twenty crisply written crime stories. Instead of mysteries, almost all of them are noir tales full of bleak men and women stumbling across dark landscapes to uncertain fates marked by cruelty, deception, treachery, and death.
Only few tales showed the master's touch when he went for mysteries. Those, which I would certainly remember for a long time, were~
1. Inspector Fleming's Last Case;
2. I'd Know You Anywhere;
3. The Impossible "Impossible Crime";
4. The Man at the Top.
These are NOT Hoch's best works. But they are good indeed.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Twilight Zone-ish. Nothing earth shattering, but a perfect rainy day read. Highly recommend each and every one of these little gems.

[Jyoti Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked most of the stories - we'll written. I am biased because I like reading the old writers. A world where things and people moved slowly and savoured the simple life.
These stories are rather predictable but interesting nonetheless.

[Theunis Snyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoch was the master of the short story form. He was amazingly creative in the range of his stories and covered many themes. This collection deviates from his puzzle detection stories. Every one ends with a surprise, often an unpleasant surprise. I prefer his detection stories, however. That’s just the way my brain works. I am more logical in my preferences. That’s my problem and not Hoch’s.

[Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good mystery short stories. No duds, but nothing amazing either. Time-killing stuff.

[Whistler's Mom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short story writer who gave O'Henry a run for his money.

OK, O'Henry wrote some good stuff, but he was writing at a time when many Americans read magazines and the short story was a respected literary form. Edward D. Hoch started writing after WWII, when the short story had become the red-headed step-child of the literary world. He swam against the tide and concentrated on the amazing one thousand short stories that earned him a good income and a large number of fans.

His stories also won critical acclaim. In 2001, he was the first short story writer to be named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America. He created a number of detectives - ranging from cops to Gypsy kings to doctors to dead-and-resurrected types, but he also wrote stand-alone stories and (if this collection is indicative) those stories were some of his very best.

These stories are ones that he hand-picked from his decades of writing. As he says in the introduction, he wrote in a number of genres, from straight detective stories to noir domestic dramas. Even more impressive, he wrote well in all of those genres.

Reading these stories made me wonder again where a writer gets his/her material. Many modern writers excuse their bad behavior by claiming "It's all material." Hoch lived a quiet life, yet he demonstrates knowledge of a wide variety of human (mis)behavior. His military service was stateside, yet several of these stories involve men returning from war with a blood lust that must be satisfied in peace time.

He was a family man with a long, happy marriage, but the treachery his husbands and wives (and girlfriends) get up to show that he was familiar with the darker side of human relationships. A couple are stories of people thrilled to find a peaceful, bucolic setting for a short vacation, only to discover that the "friendly" natives are shockingly unfriendly. Either of them compares favorably with Shirley Jackson's best efforts.

When I review a story collection, I normally list a few favorites and maybe a few I didn't care for. Incredibly, every story in this collection is first-rate. Maybe that's not so incredible, considering that the author had a huge body of work to choose from.

These stories could with very few alterations be published as new stories today. Sure, you'd have to add cell phones and computers, but wives still cheat on husbands and husbands still cheat on wives. It's still possible to love and trust someone completely and be fooled just as completely. Some people still yearn for excitement, even if it's illegal and dangerous. It's still possible that a respectable neighbor or co-worker has a blood-thirsty hobby.

Stories that hold up for forty to almost seventy years are rare. This collection was intended as a companion book to "The Night My Friend" another outstanding collection. Hoch was a talented writer and I'm happy his stories are available in Kindle editions. For those of us who love the short story form, these books are a find.

[Craig]

Classic crime stories from a master. I’d heard a lot about him, and now wish I’d started reading him sooner.