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The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries
Edgar Award-winning editor Otto Penzler returns with a new anthology assembling Victorian society's lords and ladies and most miserable miscreants in these exhilarating mysteries. A VINTAGE CRIME/BLACK LIZARD ORIGINAL.
Behind the velvet curtains of horsedrawn carriages and amid the soft glow of the gaslights are the detectives and bobbies sniffing out the safecrackers and petty purloiners who plague everything from the soot-covered side streets of London to the opulent manors of the countryside. With his latest title in the Big Book series, Otto Penzler is cracking cases and serving up the most thrilling, suspenseful Victorian mysteries.
This collection brings together incredible stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Guy de Maupassant among other legendary writers of the grand era of the British Empire. So brush off your dinner jackets and straighten out your ball gowns for these exciting, glitzy mysteries.
Behind the velvet curtains of horsedrawn carriages and amid the soft glow of the gaslights are the detectives and bobbies sniffing out the safecrackers and petty purloiners who plague everything from the soot-covered side streets of London to the opulent manors of the countryside. With his latest title in the Big Book series, Otto Penzler is cracking cases and serving up the most thrilling, suspenseful Victorian mysteries.
This collection brings together incredible stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Guy de Maupassant among other legendary writers of the grand era of the British Empire. So brush off your dinner jackets and straighten out your ball gowns for these exciting, glitzy mysteries.
640 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2021
208 people are currently reading
878 people want to read
About the author
Otto Penzler
374 books537 followersOtto Penzler is an editor of mystery fiction in the United States, and proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, where he lives.
Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.
Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.
Otto Penzler founded The Mysteriour Press in 1975 and was the publisher of The Armchair Detective, the Edgar-winning quarterly journal devoted to the study of mystery and suspense fiction, for seventeen years.
Penzler has won two Edgar Awards, for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection in 1977, and The Lineup in 2010. The Mystery Writers of America awarded him the prestigious Ellery Queen Award in 1994, and the Raven--the group's highest non-writing award--in 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 8, 2022
Otto Penzler did a good job of selecting and introducing representative Victorian mysteries from a wide range of authors. Even when I knew an author or series, Penzler often chose one I hadn't read before. Very enjoyable.
October 11, 2021
This book includes many favorite authors, and that’s what grabbed my attention initially. The comments by the editor, Otto Penzler, contributed to the value of the tome. While he acknowledges that some of the stories are more Edwardian in their composition, it is because the Victorian era style developed when the queen was a bit older. This work contains only pieces written during “her time on this side of the grass.”
Before each tale, Penzler gives brief detail about the circumstances of the publication and background of the author and their works. As the title says, this is a big book, and it is full of mysteries. I read several of the mysteries, but I didn't do well with the Edwardian writing style. Overall, if you like Mysteries, you will enjoy these stories. This is the kind of book that is best read in chunks, and not continuously.
A copy of The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries was provided to me by NetGalley and Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, for an honest review.
Before each tale, Penzler gives brief detail about the circumstances of the publication and background of the author and their works. As the title says, this is a big book, and it is full of mysteries. I read several of the mysteries, but I didn't do well with the Edwardian writing style. Overall, if you like Mysteries, you will enjoy these stories. This is the kind of book that is best read in chunks, and not continuously.
A copy of The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries was provided to me by NetGalley and Vintage Crime/Black Lizard Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, for an honest review.
January 1, 2022
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries is another well curated anthology of classic Victorian crime short fiction edited by Otto Penzler. Released 19th Oct 2021 by Penguin Random House on their Vintage Crime / Black Lizard imprint, it's 640 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is an eclectic and broad collection of stories from disparate authors both famous and lesser known from the Victorian era. The stories are grouped roughly thematically: Detective Stories, Crime Stories, International Stories, and American Stories. There are (by my count) 49 stories from a varied stable of authors which includes Oscar Wilde, Poe, Doyle, H.G. Wells, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and other titans of English literature. Some of the stories will be familiar to most readers (The Lady, or the Tiger and The Purloined Letter make an appearance) but there were many which were delightfully unfamiliar to me.
As always, Mr Penzler's erudite introductions and background history are one of my main delights with these collections - there are more than a dozen such at this point. I enjoyed quite a lot of these and even enjoyed reading a few of them aloud together (fun road trip activity, passengers read, drivers drives:).
Four and a half stars. Diverting and worthwhile. This would be also be a superb choice for library acquisition, gifting, or for the home library.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries is another well curated anthology of classic Victorian crime short fiction edited by Otto Penzler. Released 19th Oct 2021 by Penguin Random House on their Vintage Crime / Black Lizard imprint, it's 640 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is an eclectic and broad collection of stories from disparate authors both famous and lesser known from the Victorian era. The stories are grouped roughly thematically: Detective Stories, Crime Stories, International Stories, and American Stories. There are (by my count) 49 stories from a varied stable of authors which includes Oscar Wilde, Poe, Doyle, H.G. Wells, Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens, and other titans of English literature. Some of the stories will be familiar to most readers (The Lady, or the Tiger and The Purloined Letter make an appearance) but there were many which were delightfully unfamiliar to me.
As always, Mr Penzler's erudite introductions and background history are one of my main delights with these collections - there are more than a dozen such at this point. I enjoyed quite a lot of these and even enjoyed reading a few of them aloud together (fun road trip activity, passengers read, drivers drives:).
Four and a half stars. Diverting and worthwhile. This would be also be a superb choice for library acquisition, gifting, or for the home library.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
January 19, 2022
This book felt exceptionally long and repetitive. Many of the stories within were basically the same retelling of the basic theme of the section. It was a lot.
March 24, 2025
Mystery and detective fiction was in its infancy when Queen Victoria first took the throne. Over the next sixty years, many talented authors created mysteries with interesting plots, memorable characters, and detailed scenes depicting life during that era in many different settings. The stories gathered in this volume will take you beyond Sherlock Holmes and introduce you to many authors who’s work is worth savoring.
October 31, 2021
The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries is a comprehensive reference to the detective short stories published during the Victorian and Edwardian Eras. While some of these stories were published earlier, the massive success of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes' adventures kicked off a bumper crop of authors trying to match his success. In the Big Book, we see such literary luminaries as Charles Dickens, WilkieCollins, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, and Guy de Maupassant trying their hands at the detective short story, to greater or lesser success. Most of the other authors were not so familiar, at least to me. Many are unknown to today's reader.
Otto Penzler has written a brief introduction to each story with helpful background on the story and author. I was delighted to find the first mystery stories featuring the female detective, much different from today's market! It's impossible to pinpoint a favorite story in such a massive collection, but these display the panoply of British society from high to low and a considerable degree of inventiveness. It struck me that the authors and the British reading public must have had a fascination with all things "exotic," from fine jewels (usually from foreign lands) and unusual detectives with unusual methods. One even used an Indian snake-charmer to aid him in his investigations. I expect this fascination can be attributed to the immense expansion of the British Empire in the era.
The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries is an invaluable addition to the shelf of the scholar, collector, and readers of detective stories. I highly recommend it as a "bedtime" book as well. Thanks to NetGalley and Black Lizard for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
Otto Penzler has written a brief introduction to each story with helpful background on the story and author. I was delighted to find the first mystery stories featuring the female detective, much different from today's market! It's impossible to pinpoint a favorite story in such a massive collection, but these display the panoply of British society from high to low and a considerable degree of inventiveness. It struck me that the authors and the British reading public must have had a fascination with all things "exotic," from fine jewels (usually from foreign lands) and unusual detectives with unusual methods. One even used an Indian snake-charmer to aid him in his investigations. I expect this fascination can be attributed to the immense expansion of the British Empire in the era.
The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries is an invaluable addition to the shelf of the scholar, collector, and readers of detective stories. I highly recommend it as a "bedtime" book as well. Thanks to NetGalley and Black Lizard for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.
January 7, 2022
When editor Otto Penzler describes a book as big, he means it! This collection clocks in at over 600 pages. Those who are interested in the evolution of mystery and detective fiction will find much to explore and enjoy here.
The tales are organized into sections entitled Detective, Crime, International and American stories. Read in order or browse widely. Some choices seem unsurprising as, for example, Poe in the American section. More surprising was finding a tale by L Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz fame) included here.
International stories will send readers to France, Russia and Italy for some thrills. Just some of the other authors are Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde.
So, dive in readers. There is loads to while away a winter night.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
The tales are organized into sections entitled Detective, Crime, International and American stories. Read in order or browse widely. Some choices seem unsurprising as, for example, Poe in the American section. More surprising was finding a tale by L Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz fame) included here.
International stories will send readers to France, Russia and Italy for some thrills. Just some of the other authors are Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde.
So, dive in readers. There is loads to while away a winter night.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.
December 24, 2024
A complete and utter slog. I’ve read many Victorian authors and many mysteries but this was a tedious, boring collection. Not a one made me go search out their author’s other author’s other works. I really feel like I wasted my time.
March 27, 2023
There were some good stories in here and some that were just okay, but that's typical with short stories.
December 12, 2021
The selection was just okay.
March 5, 2023
Better edited than many Penzler collections!
I enjoyed the UK stories more than the others.
I enjoyed the UK stories more than the others.
June 21, 2023
While stories that could be considered “mysteries” in some sense have existed as long as writing, and perhaps a bit before, the short story mystery came into its own during the lifetime of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This volume collects forty-nine notable stories from this period, some by famous authors, others mostly forgotten. The book is divided into four sections, Detective Stories, Crime Stories, International (European) Stories and American Stories. Each story is prefaced with a biography of the author and perhaps a bit about the importance of the story to the genre.
“One Night in a Gaming-House” by “Waters” starts off the volume with what purports to be the real-life memoir of an early police detective. A young man, formerly of some social standing until ruined by gambling debts, finds that one of the few vaguely respectable jobs open to him is of police officer. He’s assigned to go undercover to assist a wealthy fellow break free of the card shark gang he’s gotten involved with. This is made much easier as Waters knew one of the gang during his own profligate days, and pretends he doesn’t know that the man was cheating him. Waters is able to save the target’s fortune and bring the entire gang under arrest, earning praise and promotion.
“The Suicide of Kiaros” by L. Frank Baum has an embezzling cashier (gambling debts again) needing a large sum of money to correct the books before he marries the boss’ daughter and becomes a partner in the firm. As it happens, the Greek moneylender Kiaros has such a sum of money. By moneylender standards, Kiaros is a pretty decent fellow, but he’s not generous enough to fix the cashier’s problem. This is a very dark story from the creator of the Oz series.
Other standouts include:
“The Biter Bit” by Wilkie Collins. A parody of the sort of story penned by “Waters” and his imitators, a young man who had to leave his previous job in a hurry is foisted off on the police department. He thinks he’s a master detective, but no one else in the story buys it, especially the Chief Inspector who assigns him to a burglary. This one’s told in letters and reports, and is hilarious in a dry way.
“The Vanishing Diamonds” by M. McDonnell Bodkin. A man places a diamond necklace in a jewelry case, sees it wrapped, takes it home, and his bride to be opens it–the case is empty! The great detective Mr. Beck arrives to investigate, and then as soon as he’s gone out, Mr. Beck arrives to investigate for the first time! Confusing, no? I’ve read this before in an issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine reviewed on this blog, still an ingenious story.
“Hagar of the Pawn-Shop” by Fergus Hume concerns a Roma (called “gypsy” in the text) woman who comes to her uncle’s pawn shop to escape an unwanted marriage. Hagar takes over the shop after her uncle’s death only to hold it for his estranged son. Then she assists a young man in finding a lost treasure in a volume of Dante he wants to pawn. There’s a twist, and perhaps the real treasure is spiting those who covet your wealth.
There’s an undercurrent of antisemitism in many of these stories, I should mention. In this case, it’s mentioned that despite fitting the negative stereotype of pawnbrokers in other ways, Hagar’s uncle Jacob is not in fact Jewish. On the other hand, this is a pretty good treatment of a Roma woman for literature of the time.
“Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” by J. Sheridan le Fanu is a lurid tale of a young woman lured to an isolated castle by her wicked uncle and his lustful son. There’s no stalwart hero to get her out of this murderous mess, and she must save herself on her own. The ending is a bit of a letdown as it uses the “villains escape but then are killed horribly offstage leaving the heroine’s hands clean” cliche. (The one Sherlock Holmes story included, “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter”, ends similarly.)
“Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime” by Oscar Wilde posits that palmistry actually works, though the fortuneteller in question also obviously pads out his predictions with cold reading and ambiguous statements to fill his pockets. The title character learns that he is soon to commit murder, and decides to steal a march by killing someone who won’t cause too great a burden on his conscience. But things just keep going wrong, or is that right?
“The Ides of March” by E.W. Hornug is the first tale of respectable cricketer and master burglar Raffles. His old school chum Bunny reveals that the checks he wrote for gambling debts are worthless, and since Raffles also needs money, he invites Bunny along to rob a jeweler.
“The Invisible Eye” by Erckmann-Chatrian is a chiller set in Munich. Every guest that takes a certain room in the inn hangs himself. Or is it murder? The solution doesn’t quite commit to being supernatural, but raises a lot of questions as to how the villain learned the trick.
“Sleepy” by Anton Chekhov is a shock-short about a servant girl suffering from sleep deprivation. It was partially designed to call attention to the abuse of servants in Russian society.
“The Corpus Delicti” by Melville Davisson Post is the first story about evil lawyer Randolph Mason. He’s consulted by a man who is being blackmailed by his old lover for a previous murder. Mason wants to call attention to a particularly stupid clause in New York law, so comes up with a plan to have the man commit a new murder and get away with it scot-free in court. The technicality was real, and this story helped change that.
Plus stories by luminaries like Edgar Allan Poe, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and Leo Tolstoy. Some stories are lesser than others, but there’s no real clunkers.
Content notes: Murder, death of children, death of animals, suicide, period sexism, racism and ethnic prejudice.
These stories are all in the public domain, and many have been collected in other volumes. But it’s fun to have them all in one place. Recommended for mystery buffs who enjoy the Victorian Era–especially good as a gift for long winter nights.
“One Night in a Gaming-House” by “Waters” starts off the volume with what purports to be the real-life memoir of an early police detective. A young man, formerly of some social standing until ruined by gambling debts, finds that one of the few vaguely respectable jobs open to him is of police officer. He’s assigned to go undercover to assist a wealthy fellow break free of the card shark gang he’s gotten involved with. This is made much easier as Waters knew one of the gang during his own profligate days, and pretends he doesn’t know that the man was cheating him. Waters is able to save the target’s fortune and bring the entire gang under arrest, earning praise and promotion.
“The Suicide of Kiaros” by L. Frank Baum has an embezzling cashier (gambling debts again) needing a large sum of money to correct the books before he marries the boss’ daughter and becomes a partner in the firm. As it happens, the Greek moneylender Kiaros has such a sum of money. By moneylender standards, Kiaros is a pretty decent fellow, but he’s not generous enough to fix the cashier’s problem. This is a very dark story from the creator of the Oz series.
Other standouts include:
“The Biter Bit” by Wilkie Collins. A parody of the sort of story penned by “Waters” and his imitators, a young man who had to leave his previous job in a hurry is foisted off on the police department. He thinks he’s a master detective, but no one else in the story buys it, especially the Chief Inspector who assigns him to a burglary. This one’s told in letters and reports, and is hilarious in a dry way.
“The Vanishing Diamonds” by M. McDonnell Bodkin. A man places a diamond necklace in a jewelry case, sees it wrapped, takes it home, and his bride to be opens it–the case is empty! The great detective Mr. Beck arrives to investigate, and then as soon as he’s gone out, Mr. Beck arrives to investigate for the first time! Confusing, no? I’ve read this before in an issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine reviewed on this blog, still an ingenious story.
“Hagar of the Pawn-Shop” by Fergus Hume concerns a Roma (called “gypsy” in the text) woman who comes to her uncle’s pawn shop to escape an unwanted marriage. Hagar takes over the shop after her uncle’s death only to hold it for his estranged son. Then she assists a young man in finding a lost treasure in a volume of Dante he wants to pawn. There’s a twist, and perhaps the real treasure is spiting those who covet your wealth.
There’s an undercurrent of antisemitism in many of these stories, I should mention. In this case, it’s mentioned that despite fitting the negative stereotype of pawnbrokers in other ways, Hagar’s uncle Jacob is not in fact Jewish. On the other hand, this is a pretty good treatment of a Roma woman for literature of the time.
“Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” by J. Sheridan le Fanu is a lurid tale of a young woman lured to an isolated castle by her wicked uncle and his lustful son. There’s no stalwart hero to get her out of this murderous mess, and she must save herself on her own. The ending is a bit of a letdown as it uses the “villains escape but then are killed horribly offstage leaving the heroine’s hands clean” cliche. (The one Sherlock Holmes story included, “The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter”, ends similarly.)
“Lord Arthur Saville’s Crime” by Oscar Wilde posits that palmistry actually works, though the fortuneteller in question also obviously pads out his predictions with cold reading and ambiguous statements to fill his pockets. The title character learns that he is soon to commit murder, and decides to steal a march by killing someone who won’t cause too great a burden on his conscience. But things just keep going wrong, or is that right?
“The Ides of March” by E.W. Hornug is the first tale of respectable cricketer and master burglar Raffles. His old school chum Bunny reveals that the checks he wrote for gambling debts are worthless, and since Raffles also needs money, he invites Bunny along to rob a jeweler.
“The Invisible Eye” by Erckmann-Chatrian is a chiller set in Munich. Every guest that takes a certain room in the inn hangs himself. Or is it murder? The solution doesn’t quite commit to being supernatural, but raises a lot of questions as to how the villain learned the trick.
“Sleepy” by Anton Chekhov is a shock-short about a servant girl suffering from sleep deprivation. It was partially designed to call attention to the abuse of servants in Russian society.
“The Corpus Delicti” by Melville Davisson Post is the first story about evil lawyer Randolph Mason. He’s consulted by a man who is being blackmailed by his old lover for a previous murder. Mason wants to call attention to a particularly stupid clause in New York law, so comes up with a plan to have the man commit a new murder and get away with it scot-free in court. The technicality was real, and this story helped change that.
Plus stories by luminaries like Edgar Allan Poe, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, and Leo Tolstoy. Some stories are lesser than others, but there’s no real clunkers.
Content notes: Murder, death of children, death of animals, suicide, period sexism, racism and ethnic prejudice.
These stories are all in the public domain, and many have been collected in other volumes. But it’s fun to have them all in one place. Recommended for mystery buffs who enjoy the Victorian Era–especially good as a gift for long winter nights.
Currently reading
November 11, 2025I picked this book up in the gift shop at one of the historic mansions in Galveston when I visited in February with girlfriends. I actually started reading it a while ago, but as I'm reading a short story or two at a time in between full length books, I'm going to be at it a while.
I was an English major as an undergraduate and my favorite was Victorian British literature. I'm enjoying revisiting it in short story form. I also appreciate the editor's sense of humor that comes through in his introduction and some of the short story intros as well.
I was an English major as an undergraduate and my favorite was Victorian British literature. I'm enjoying revisiting it in short story form. I also appreciate the editor's sense of humor that comes through in his introduction and some of the short story intros as well.
May 20, 2024
📖 𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝟻 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚜. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝙿𝙶-𝟷𝟹.
“There is a mystery and a romance behind it—a tangled skein which a Lecoq or a Sherlock Holmes would have been proud to unravel—and I think I have a clue.” —George Robert Sims, ‘The Diamond Lizard’ (from Dorcas Dene, Detective)
💜 𝙾𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 💜
What a brilliant collection! There's really not much to say apart from the fact that it is a perfectly good collection with stories that are expertly picked. It's separated into detective stories, crime stories, international stories (written by non-British authors), and American stories. It features the stories of some well-known detectives like Sherlock Holmes and C. Auguste Dupin, and the stories of many well-known classic authors who I had no idea even wrote mystery, but I can guarantee you that will find loads of stories that you've never heard of from authors you've never heard of. It's the perfect blend of familiarity and obscurity.
It features every aspect of the Victorian era (1837 – 1901) that you could imagine, from armchair detectives to dark, gaslit alleys to intense sequences. If you are looking for that lovely aesthetic of Victoriana that's dark and gritty, THIS IS IT.
One of my favorite things about this collection is that they really do save the best stories for last. I was already very much enjoying it at the beginning and even more so by the middle, but by the end, I was as hooked as a trout.
📚 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙼𝚈 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 📚
Since I sha'n't even attempt to rate ALL the stories in this collection (there are a great deal), I'll just list my top favorites.
1. “The Greek Interpreter” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (obviously ;) XD)
2. “The Corpus Delicti” by Melville Davisson Post
3. “The Mystery of the Strong-Room” by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace
4. “The Little Old Man of Batignolles” by Émile Gaboriau
5. “Sleepy” by Anton Chekhov
6. “The Ides of March” by E. W. Hornung
7. “Hagar of the Pawn-shop” and “The First Customer and the Florentine Dante” by Fergus Hume
8. “The Pavilion on the Links” by Robert Louis Stevenson
9. “The Invisible Eye” by Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian
10. “A Prince of Swindlers” by Guy Boothby
11. “The Three Strangers” by Thomas Hardy
12. “Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
13. “A Difficult Problem” by Anna Katharine Green
14. “Lord Arthur Savile's Crime” by Oscar Wilde
15. “The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allan Poe
16. “The Lost Special” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
17. “My Favorite Murder” by Ambrose Bierce
18. “Levison's Victim” by M. E. Braddon
19. “The Advocate's Wedding-Day” by Catherine Crowe
20. “My Adventure in the Flying Scotsman” by Eden Philipotts
21. “The Wife-Killer” by James M’Govan
22. “The Confession of a Woman” by Guy de Maupassant
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 ⚠️
I rate this collection PG-13 for violence, suicide, murder, burglary, and all the normal content that comes with the mystery genre. There is one use of sl*t, some uses of n*gro in one particular story (not derogatory, though), and some scattered uses of d*** and God's name in vain.
💜 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽 💜
Altogether, I have nothing but good things to say about this collection. Highly recommended!
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: 𝙿𝙶-𝟷𝟹.
“There is a mystery and a romance behind it—a tangled skein which a Lecoq or a Sherlock Holmes would have been proud to unravel—and I think I have a clue.” —George Robert Sims, ‘The Diamond Lizard’ (from Dorcas Dene, Detective)
💜 𝙾𝙿𝙸𝙽𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 💜
What a brilliant collection! There's really not much to say apart from the fact that it is a perfectly good collection with stories that are expertly picked. It's separated into detective stories, crime stories, international stories (written by non-British authors), and American stories. It features the stories of some well-known detectives like Sherlock Holmes and C. Auguste Dupin, and the stories of many well-known classic authors who I had no idea even wrote mystery, but I can guarantee you that will find loads of stories that you've never heard of from authors you've never heard of. It's the perfect blend of familiarity and obscurity.
It features every aspect of the Victorian era (1837 – 1901) that you could imagine, from armchair detectives to dark, gaslit alleys to intense sequences. If you are looking for that lovely aesthetic of Victoriana that's dark and gritty, THIS IS IT.
One of my favorite things about this collection is that they really do save the best stories for last. I was already very much enjoying it at the beginning and even more so by the middle, but by the end, I was as hooked as a trout.
📚 𝚂𝙾𝙼𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙼𝚈 𝙵𝙰𝚅𝙾𝚁𝙸𝚃𝙴 𝚂𝚃𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 📚
Since I sha'n't even attempt to rate ALL the stories in this collection (there are a great deal), I'll just list my top favorites.
1. “The Greek Interpreter” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (obviously ;) XD)
2. “The Corpus Delicti” by Melville Davisson Post
3. “The Mystery of the Strong-Room” by L. T. Meade and Robert Eustace
4. “The Little Old Man of Batignolles” by Émile Gaboriau
5. “Sleepy” by Anton Chekhov
6. “The Ides of March” by E. W. Hornung
7. “Hagar of the Pawn-shop” and “The First Customer and the Florentine Dante” by Fergus Hume
8. “The Pavilion on the Links” by Robert Louis Stevenson
9. “The Invisible Eye” by Émile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian
10. “A Prince of Swindlers” by Guy Boothby
11. “The Three Strangers” by Thomas Hardy
12. “Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess” by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
13. “A Difficult Problem” by Anna Katharine Green
14. “Lord Arthur Savile's Crime” by Oscar Wilde
15. “The Purloined Letter” by Edgar Allan Poe
16. “The Lost Special” by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
17. “My Favorite Murder” by Ambrose Bierce
18. “Levison's Victim” by M. E. Braddon
19. “The Advocate's Wedding-Day” by Catherine Crowe
20. “My Adventure in the Flying Scotsman” by Eden Philipotts
21. “The Wife-Killer” by James M’Govan
22. “The Confession of a Woman” by Guy de Maupassant
⚠️ 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙴𝙽𝚃 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶𝚂 ⚠️
I rate this collection PG-13 for violence, suicide, murder, burglary, and all the normal content that comes with the mystery genre. There is one use of sl*t, some uses of n*gro in one particular story (not derogatory, though), and some scattered uses of d*** and God's name in vain.
💜 𝙲𝙾𝙽𝙲𝙻𝚄𝚂𝙸𝙾𝙽 💜
Altogether, I have nothing but good things to say about this collection. Highly recommended!
June 30, 2023
This book showcases a good range of Victorian fiction. Featured in these pages are many types of story, including serious, dramatic, macabre, and humorous. Here, you'll find romance, infidelity, grudges, vengeance, hard-working detectives, unflinching criminals, secrets, money, jewels, theft, and—of course—murder. You'll read stories in the third person and the first, and which are told from the points of view of the detectives, of neutral observers, and even (in a couple of the stories) of the killers themselves. The stories represent a strong mix of countries and authors, and the editors of this volume have provided for each tale a short introduction that grounds it and the author in context. Through these intros, readers can learn about different popular motifs of Victorian mysteries, and then they can read the tale that inspired or epitomized these various trends. Not all the stories herein can be strictly considered mysteries; some of them might more accurately be called "Crime Fiction." A few tales show each step of the crime and its aftermath, and one focuses more on the killer's defense in court than on the detective who arranged his arrest. As with any anthology, some of the stories are better than others, but together, they offer a glimpse into the vast body of crime fiction of this era, with its many different styles and voices.
September 18, 2023
One of Penzler’s best anthologies!
This collection contains stories from every great during The Victorian Era. The thing I loved most about this book is not all of the stories in this collection are private eye, or detective stories. Yes, they all are mysteries, but all of the mysteries have different elements to them that will keep the reader entertained for hours.
Ranking all of Penzler’s anthology books is hard to do but I will testify my two favorites are still THE BIG BOOK OF ROGUES AND VILLAINS and THE BIG BOOK OF CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES. This is a close third. It ranks right up there with THE BIG BOOK OF ESPIONAGE.
Still I hope you enjoy it and I hope you consider adding it to your collection
This collection contains stories from every great during The Victorian Era. The thing I loved most about this book is not all of the stories in this collection are private eye, or detective stories. Yes, they all are mysteries, but all of the mysteries have different elements to them that will keep the reader entertained for hours.
Ranking all of Penzler’s anthology books is hard to do but I will testify my two favorites are still THE BIG BOOK OF ROGUES AND VILLAINS and THE BIG BOOK OF CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES. This is a close third. It ranks right up there with THE BIG BOOK OF ESPIONAGE.
Still I hope you enjoy it and I hope you consider adding it to your collection
July 31, 2025
I am torn about rating this book. The editor did an absolutely fantastic job of collecting interesting historical short mysteries—many by well-known writers. He also describes each author’s relevance and body of work before their story. And the mysteries/stories themselves are generally interesting, and surprisingly readable for often being 100-140 years old.
It is just a difficult format. I like the Victorian time period, and mysteries are my favorite genre. But somehow reading about 100+ short ones in a row…. There’s not much time to get a feel for the characters before it is over. On to the next. I should have used this as a “car book.” That is, one i keep in my car to read in bits over the course of a year or so if i find myself waiting somewhere.
It is just a difficult format. I like the Victorian time period, and mysteries are my favorite genre. But somehow reading about 100+ short ones in a row…. There’s not much time to get a feel for the characters before it is over. On to the next. I should have used this as a “car book.” That is, one i keep in my car to read in bits over the course of a year or so if i find myself waiting somewhere.
July 16, 2024
I thought this book would be an anthology of current writers who wrote Victorian-era mysteries. What a wonderful surprise to learn that it's an anthology of Victorian Mysteries, with writers who created the genre. Many of the writers I was familiar with and had read were totally new to me. I know I have a source of writers to explore, most long gone, some quite famous in their day, but excitingly new to me.
November 5, 2022
This was a great book! It has a great mix of famous authors and authors you have never heard of before. The stories are very entertaining and generally easy to read although 19th century vocabulary can be a challenge. I particularly enjoyed a very dark tale from L. Frank Baum, definitely not an Oz story.
November 30, 2022
I thought this was really fun, and I enjoyed getting to read stories from authors I’d never heard of before, as well as lesser known stories from authors more famous. A very nice collection, good for cozy fall reading.
Want to read
June 5, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
February 14, 2022
Otto penz
February 28, 2024
This has several examples of Victorian mysteries, and in most cases the writing is out-of fashion. BUT they are good stories, and are educative of the times.
Read
August 29, 2024Very, very, very good and interesting and instructive.
Loved it.
Loved it.
December 16, 2024
I enjoyed listening to these victorian mysteries as presented by Audible.
August 12, 2025
A good collection of stories. As a note, Victorian refers to the time period, the stories come from many countries.
I used the Audible version which is not listed on GoodReads
I used the Audible version which is not listed on GoodReads
April 24, 2024
I like reading anthologies curated by Otto Penzler, he usually provides a brief introduction of the author, the year in which they wrote the story and where else it was featured, so the context usually helps with understanding the zeitgeist of the story itself. His anthologies are well presented and well selected.
This one has stories from authors a lot of readers are already familiar with, and it's a pleasure to read their (unexpected for some) forays into the mystery genre. A mystery short story isn't easy to write and some do it with better ease than others.
Here are my favourites from the list, which has all the heavyweights of the times in the mystery genre - Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, HG Wells, Sheridan Le Fanu, Dickens, Anna Katharine Green, Fergus Hume, RL Stevenson, Poe and the masters in short story - Maupassant, Chekov, Wilde and Twain. Also includes a couple of rare stories by a mysterious Australian author with the pen-name Moll Bourne, one by Frank L Baum, Ambrose Bierce (enjoyed his style of writing a lot) and several noted authors from the era who wrote for magazines like the Strand.
The mystery of a handsome cad / Moll. Bourne --
An oak coffin / L. T. Meade & Clifford Halifax --
Hagar of the pawn-shop / Fergus Hume --
Levison's victim / M. E. Braddon --
The three strangers / Thomas Hardy --
The ides of March / E. W. Hornung
Vendetta / Guy de Maupassant --
The confession of a woman / Guy de Maupassant --
The Swedish match / Anton Chekhov --
Sleepy / Anton Chekhov --
My favorite murder / Ambrose Bierce --
A difficult problem / Anna Katharine Green --
The narration by Rachael Beresford, Stephen Bowlby and Dan Calley is excellent, very easy to listen to.
This one has stories from authors a lot of readers are already familiar with, and it's a pleasure to read their (unexpected for some) forays into the mystery genre. A mystery short story isn't easy to write and some do it with better ease than others.
Here are my favourites from the list, which has all the heavyweights of the times in the mystery genre - Arthur Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, HG Wells, Sheridan Le Fanu, Dickens, Anna Katharine Green, Fergus Hume, RL Stevenson, Poe and the masters in short story - Maupassant, Chekov, Wilde and Twain. Also includes a couple of rare stories by a mysterious Australian author with the pen-name Moll Bourne, one by Frank L Baum, Ambrose Bierce (enjoyed his style of writing a lot) and several noted authors from the era who wrote for magazines like the Strand.
The mystery of a handsome cad / Moll. Bourne --
An oak coffin / L. T. Meade & Clifford Halifax --
Hagar of the pawn-shop / Fergus Hume --
Levison's victim / M. E. Braddon --
The three strangers / Thomas Hardy --
The ides of March / E. W. Hornung
Vendetta / Guy de Maupassant --
The confession of a woman / Guy de Maupassant --
The Swedish match / Anton Chekhov --
Sleepy / Anton Chekhov --
My favorite murder / Ambrose Bierce --
A difficult problem / Anna Katharine Green --
The narration by Rachael Beresford, Stephen Bowlby and Dan Calley is excellent, very easy to listen to.
Want to read
September 27, 2025Read so far:
One night in a gaming house/Waters
The biter bit/Wilkie Collins --3
Hunted down/Charles Dickens --3
The wife killer/James M'Govan
*My adventure in the Flying Scotsman/Eden Phillpotts
The mystery of a handsome cad/Moll Bourne
The jeweled skull/Dick Donovan --2
*The adventure of the Greek interpreter/Arthur Conan Doyle
The black bag left on a door step/CL Pirkis --3
*The opal of Carmalovitch/Max Pemberton
*An oak coffin/Meade & Eustace
*The Stanway cameo mystery/Arthur Morrison
The divination of the Zagury capsules --3
Five hundred carats/George Griffith
The vanishing diamonds/M. Mcdonnell Bodkin --3
Hagar of the pawn shop: the coming of Hagar/Fergus Hume --2
*The robbery in Phillimore Terrace/Baroness Orczy
*Passage in the secret history of an Irish countess/Joseph Sheridan le Fanu
*The advocate's wedding day/Catherine Crowe
Levison's victim/Mary Elizabeth Braddon --3
*The pavilion on the links/Robert Louis Stevenson
*The Knightsbridge mystery/Charles Reade
The three strangers/Thomas Hardy --3
Lord Arthur Savile's crime/Oscar Wilde --3
*The mystery of the strong room/Meade & Eustace
*The Hammerpark Pond burglary/HG Wells
The ides of March/EW Hornung --2
The story of the lost special/Arthur Conan Doyle --3
*The episode of the Tyrolean castle/Grant Allen
*The diamond lizard/George R. Sims
A prince of swindlers: the Duchess of Wiltshire's diamonds/Guy Boothby --3
The nail/Pedro de Alarcon --3
The invisible eye/Erckmann & Chatrian --2
God sees the truth but waits/Leo Tolstoy --2
*The Moscow theater plot/Alfredo Orin
The little old man of Batignolles/Emile Gaboriau --3
*The deposition/Luigi Capuana
Vendetta/Guy de Maupassant --3
*The confession of a woman/Guy de Maupassant
The Swedish match/Anton Chekhov --3
Sleepy/Anton Chekhov --3
Well-woven evidence/Dietrich Theden --2
The purloined letter/Edgar Allan Poe--4
A thumb print and what came of it/Mark Twain--3
My favorite murder/Ambrose Bierce --2
The lady or the tiger?/Frank Stockton --3
The corpus delicti/Melville Davisson Post --2
A difficult problem/Anna Katharine Green --2
The suicide of Kiaros/Frank L. Baum --3
One night in a gaming house/Waters
The biter bit/Wilkie Collins --3
Hunted down/Charles Dickens --3
The wife killer/James M'Govan
*My adventure in the Flying Scotsman/Eden Phillpotts
The mystery of a handsome cad/Moll Bourne
The jeweled skull/Dick Donovan --2
*The adventure of the Greek interpreter/Arthur Conan Doyle
The black bag left on a door step/CL Pirkis --3
*The opal of Carmalovitch/Max Pemberton
*An oak coffin/Meade & Eustace
*The Stanway cameo mystery/Arthur Morrison
The divination of the Zagury capsules --3
Five hundred carats/George Griffith
The vanishing diamonds/M. Mcdonnell Bodkin --3
Hagar of the pawn shop: the coming of Hagar/Fergus Hume --2
*The robbery in Phillimore Terrace/Baroness Orczy
*Passage in the secret history of an Irish countess/Joseph Sheridan le Fanu
*The advocate's wedding day/Catherine Crowe
Levison's victim/Mary Elizabeth Braddon --3
*The pavilion on the links/Robert Louis Stevenson
*The Knightsbridge mystery/Charles Reade
The three strangers/Thomas Hardy --3
Lord Arthur Savile's crime/Oscar Wilde --3
*The mystery of the strong room/Meade & Eustace
*The Hammerpark Pond burglary/HG Wells
The ides of March/EW Hornung --2
The story of the lost special/Arthur Conan Doyle --3
*The episode of the Tyrolean castle/Grant Allen
*The diamond lizard/George R. Sims
A prince of swindlers: the Duchess of Wiltshire's diamonds/Guy Boothby --3
The nail/Pedro de Alarcon --3
The invisible eye/Erckmann & Chatrian --2
God sees the truth but waits/Leo Tolstoy --2
*The Moscow theater plot/Alfredo Orin
The little old man of Batignolles/Emile Gaboriau --3
*The deposition/Luigi Capuana
Vendetta/Guy de Maupassant --3
*The confession of a woman/Guy de Maupassant
The Swedish match/Anton Chekhov --3
Sleepy/Anton Chekhov --3
Well-woven evidence/Dietrich Theden --2
The purloined letter/Edgar Allan Poe--4
A thumb print and what came of it/Mark Twain--3
My favorite murder/Ambrose Bierce --2
The lady or the tiger?/Frank Stockton --3
The corpus delicti/Melville Davisson Post --2
A difficult problem/Anna Katharine Green --2
The suicide of Kiaros/Frank L. Baum --3
December 14, 2023
Reading this in Oct. , will continue next year.
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