The Pocket Book of Mystery Stories

by Lee Wright (Editor), William Lyon Phelps (Introduction), Thomas Beer (Contributor)

Pocket Book No. 117. 1941 anthology of 18 mystery stories.

-Manner, Thomas Beer
-Back for Christmas, John Collier (1939)
-The Body of the Crime, Wilbur Daniel Steele (1930)
-The Dancing Stones, Edgar Wallace (1910)
-Seaton’s Aunt, Walter De La Mare (1923)
-A Jungle Graduate, James Francis Dwyer (1932)
-How Love Came to Professor Guildea, Robert Hitchens (1900)
-Casting the Runes, M. R. James (1911)
-The Inexperienced Ghost, H. G. Wells (1902)
-Lukundoo, Edward Lukas White (1927)
-The Ghost at Massingham Mansions, Ernest Bramah (1914)
-The Case of Jacob Heylyn, Leonard R. Gribble (1937)
-The Motive, Ronald Knox (1937)
-Prince Charlie’s Dirk, Eden Phillpotts (1926)
-The Fool’s Heart, Eugene Manlove Rhodes (1909)
-A. V. Laider, Max Beerbohm (1919)
-The Open Window, Saki (1911)
-Gemini, G. B. Stern (1929)

Genres: Anthologies, Mystery

439 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1941

Reviews

[Axel Barceló · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most collections, the quality varies from story to story, with some gems in the mix. “Mistery” is understood very broadly, so you have ghost stories, detective stories, fateful murders, etc. It is surprising how well most of these stories have held up a century later.