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Seven Great Detective Stories
Cooper, C. R. Suspect unknown.
Chesterton, G. K. The blast of the book.
Wade, H. The missing undergraduate.
Futrelle, J. The problem of cell 13.
Doyle, A. C. Silver blaze.
Kemelman, H. The nine-mile walk.
Prince, H. and Prince, J. The man in the velvet hat.
Chesterton, G. K. The blast of the book.
Wade, H. The missing undergraduate.
Futrelle, J. The problem of cell 13.
Doyle, A. C. Silver blaze.
Kemelman, H. The nine-mile walk.
Prince, H. and Prince, J. The man in the velvet hat.
210 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 6, 2025
One should be careful when choosing titles for books. For instance, if you're going to say that you've got seven Great detective stories, then you ought to be sure that the majority of readers are going to agree with you that all seven really are great...and really are detective stories. As in, there is actually some detecting going on. Of the seven stories in this collection, I'd agree that three are great (the Wade, Futrelle, and Doyle) and one is almost, but not quite (the Chesterton). And I'd agree that most, but not all, are detective stories. The Cooper story has a detective--but we really don't see him detecting. Here we see him trapping the guilty man, but we don't the gathering of clues. Futrelle's story, while be a great look at how Van Dusen thinks, also isn't really a story about detection. And neither is the Kemelman. In fact, Kemelman's story doesn't really hang together all that well. I'm not buying that the professor could just string together all those "logical" inferences and, hey, presto, actually solve a crime he didn't even know had been committed.
My favorite story of the bunch (on this reading) is "The Missing Undergraduate." It was the first short story I've read by Wade (although I have enjoyed several of his novel-length mysteries) and I'm always happy to find a good academic mystery. I've read both the Futrelle and Doyle stories so many times over the years that I know them pretty well backwards and forwards. So, they don't make quite the impression they did when I first discovered them. ★★★ for a decent collection.
"Suspect Unknown" by Courtney Ryley Cooper: The FBI Inspector was certain he knew the identity of the man responsible for the Tilliver murder. But there is no hard evidence. How can he get the man to reveal himself as the suspect unknown?
"The Blast of the Book" by G. K. Chesterton: Father Brown teaches a scientist interested in the paranormal and psychic phenomena how to distinguish between what is really there and what isn't when a clergyman comes along with a story about a cursed book which makes people disappear.
"The Missing Undergraduate" by Henry Wade: Inspector Poole is called back to Oxford, his alma mater, to look into the disappearance of an undergraduate known for his practical jokes. The solution is a bit macabre--reminding me of an Edgar Allan Poe story or two....
"The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle: Futrelle's most famous story. Professor Van Dusen insists that nothing is impossible to a thinking man. His friends wager that he can't think his way out of a prison cell...but he proceeds to do just that.
"Silver Blaze" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson are off to Dartmoor to investigate the disappearance of a famous race horse and the murder of the horse's trainer. Inspector Gregory & company have been on the case, but have made no headway. Holmes is in the area for a mere afternoon and soon has all the threads in his hand.
"The Nine-Mile Walk" by Harry Kemelman: Our narrator, a candidate for district attorney, is challenged to provide a sentence of ten words or so to his professorial friend and the professor guarantees that he can come up with a logical chain of inferences that are correct--even if they aren't the true inference the narrator intended. What begins as an pedantic exercise soon turns into the solution of a daring murder on a train.
"The Man in the Velvet Hat" by Jerome & Harold Prince: Reynolds, a journalist, spurs Inspector Magruder to hunt an apparent serial killer who targets victims from all social classes in deaths that pass as accidental. The culprit is said to be a man in a velvet hat and a brown overcoat. Magruder just wants to be sure he finds the one really responsible....
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
My favorite story of the bunch (on this reading) is "The Missing Undergraduate." It was the first short story I've read by Wade (although I have enjoyed several of his novel-length mysteries) and I'm always happy to find a good academic mystery. I've read both the Futrelle and Doyle stories so many times over the years that I know them pretty well backwards and forwards. So, they don't make quite the impression they did when I first discovered them. ★★★ for a decent collection.
"Suspect Unknown" by Courtney Ryley Cooper: The FBI Inspector was certain he knew the identity of the man responsible for the Tilliver murder. But there is no hard evidence. How can he get the man to reveal himself as the suspect unknown?
"The Blast of the Book" by G. K. Chesterton: Father Brown teaches a scientist interested in the paranormal and psychic phenomena how to distinguish between what is really there and what isn't when a clergyman comes along with a story about a cursed book which makes people disappear.
"The Missing Undergraduate" by Henry Wade: Inspector Poole is called back to Oxford, his alma mater, to look into the disappearance of an undergraduate known for his practical jokes. The solution is a bit macabre--reminding me of an Edgar Allan Poe story or two....
"The Problem of Cell 13" by Jacques Futrelle: Futrelle's most famous story. Professor Van Dusen insists that nothing is impossible to a thinking man. His friends wager that he can't think his way out of a prison cell...but he proceeds to do just that.
"Silver Blaze" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson are off to Dartmoor to investigate the disappearance of a famous race horse and the murder of the horse's trainer. Inspector Gregory & company have been on the case, but have made no headway. Holmes is in the area for a mere afternoon and soon has all the threads in his hand.
"The Nine-Mile Walk" by Harry Kemelman: Our narrator, a candidate for district attorney, is challenged to provide a sentence of ten words or so to his professorial friend and the professor guarantees that he can come up with a logical chain of inferences that are correct--even if they aren't the true inference the narrator intended. What begins as an pedantic exercise soon turns into the solution of a daring murder on a train.
"The Man in the Velvet Hat" by Jerome & Harold Prince: Reynolds, a journalist, spurs Inspector Magruder to hunt an apparent serial killer who targets victims from all social classes in deaths that pass as accidental. The culprit is said to be a man in a velvet hat and a brown overcoat. Magruder just wants to be sure he finds the one really responsible....
First posted on my blog My Reader's Block.
January 14, 2013
From a volume with a mundane title like Seven Great Detective Stories, one is not entitled to expect great things. In fact, I picked it up from the "free book" bin outside my favorite used book store, which had closed moments before I got there.
In fact, we ended up with a pretty good haul for a family with kids, including something by Jonathan Kozol, something by Iris Murdoch, and four abridged "Illustrated Classics" for our ten-year-old.
And then there was this collection, which turns out to be much better than we could have hoped. Everyone knows "Silver Blaze" by Arthur Conan Doyle, the original source of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," but I was not familiar with "The Nine-Mile Walk" by Harry Kemelman, which is surely unique among detective stories, as it begins with no crime and no facts.
Both of these are very good, but the prize of the collection is "The Blast of the Book," from The Scandal of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton. Not only was this an excellent mystery, but it may have supplied the new epigraph for my syllabi in second-semester calculus: "Men believe the oddest things if they are in a series...."
In fact, we ended up with a pretty good haul for a family with kids, including something by Jonathan Kozol, something by Iris Murdoch, and four abridged "Illustrated Classics" for our ten-year-old.
And then there was this collection, which turns out to be much better than we could have hoped. Everyone knows "Silver Blaze" by Arthur Conan Doyle, the original source of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," but I was not familiar with "The Nine-Mile Walk" by Harry Kemelman, which is surely unique among detective stories, as it begins with no crime and no facts.
Both of these are very good, but the prize of the collection is "The Blast of the Book," from The Scandal of Father Brown by G.K. Chesterton. Not only was this an excellent mystery, but it may have supplied the new epigraph for my syllabi in second-semester calculus: "Men believe the oddest things if they are in a series...."
February 18, 2016
The cover and layout of this book made me think it was a collection of children's mystery stories. Perhaps for that reason I didn't pick it up for a very long time (as in, I've had this book for over 20 years and hadn't ever so much as cracked the cover).
What I found delighted me. The stories are old and dated, even at the time of publishing. Most come from the 30's and 40's although Sherlock Holmes is of course older than those. At the same time, I found I rather enjoyed all of them. The logic employed made for interesting reads, and the style of the last one in particular was striking and interesting enough to make me want to find more stories by the authors.
Overall this was an enjoyable read and a fun way to be introduced to several authors that I have been meaning to read, but haven't yet such as G. K. Chersterton and Harry Kemelman who wrote my favorite of them (outside of Sherlock, who is always a favorite no matter what) - "The Nine-Mile Walk."
What I found delighted me. The stories are old and dated, even at the time of publishing. Most come from the 30's and 40's although Sherlock Holmes is of course older than those. At the same time, I found I rather enjoyed all of them. The logic employed made for interesting reads, and the style of the last one in particular was striking and interesting enough to make me want to find more stories by the authors.
Overall this was an enjoyable read and a fun way to be introduced to several authors that I have been meaning to read, but haven't yet such as G. K. Chersterton and Harry Kemelman who wrote my favorite of them (outside of Sherlock, who is always a favorite no matter what) - "The Nine-Mile Walk."
March 10, 2025
I probably got this book at 10-14 as a scholastic reader...I picked it up again last month and read it once more, having forgotten the stories, and now older, probably understanding the stories better.
However, there was one story that I didn't forget, and it is one of my favorite stories - "The Problem of Cell 13". It teaches one that if you can think, you can get out of almost any situation. Without giving away spoilers, I love what Professor Van Dusen says at the end.
This book has 7 short mystery stories - all great, all thinkers. One is Sherlock Holmes, another Father Brown, and others, others that I do not know but may now read more of their books. These are period stories, the book being published in 1968, but I would hazard that all the stories may be occurring in the late 1800s.
The Father Brown story is great in a way the author may never intended it to be. It tells how much our managers really don't pay attention to their employees.
As well, The Nine-Mile Walk will cause many to reread or rethink what they have read. It did me, I missed it and it was there all the time.
The Man in the Velvet Hat...just when I thought I understood it and figured it out...there were four pages...I kept asking myself, "It just ended, why are there four more pages?" Well, the ending is not the ending and the second ending is better. You just have to read it, it will leave you thinking.
This is a fun little book...I wish they had made more like this...compilation of similar but good stories of the same theme. And by the way, at the time, I only paid 95 cents for the book...figure that mystery out and you may earn the title of Sherlock.
However, there was one story that I didn't forget, and it is one of my favorite stories - "The Problem of Cell 13". It teaches one that if you can think, you can get out of almost any situation. Without giving away spoilers, I love what Professor Van Dusen says at the end.
This book has 7 short mystery stories - all great, all thinkers. One is Sherlock Holmes, another Father Brown, and others, others that I do not know but may now read more of their books. These are period stories, the book being published in 1968, but I would hazard that all the stories may be occurring in the late 1800s.
The Father Brown story is great in a way the author may never intended it to be. It tells how much our managers really don't pay attention to their employees.
As well, The Nine-Mile Walk will cause many to reread or rethink what they have read. It did me, I missed it and it was there all the time.
The Man in the Velvet Hat...just when I thought I understood it and figured it out...there were four pages...I kept asking myself, "It just ended, why are there four more pages?" Well, the ending is not the ending and the second ending is better. You just have to read it, it will leave you thinking.
This is a fun little book...I wish they had made more like this...compilation of similar but good stories of the same theme. And by the way, at the time, I only paid 95 cents for the book...figure that mystery out and you may earn the title of Sherlock.
December 22, 2025
"Cooper, C. R. Suspect unknown.
Chesterton, G. K. The blast of the book.
Wade, H. The missing undergraduate.
Futrelle, J. The problem of cell 13.
Doyle, A. C. Silver blaze.
Kemelman, H. The nine-mile walk.
Prince, H. and Prince, J. The man in the velvet hat."
"ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON"
Elementary? You may not agree after you've matched wits with some of the greatest detectives in all literature.
"In these classic tales of mystery, such remarkable detectives as Father Brown, The Thinking Machine, and the incomparable Sherlock Holmes display their deductive skills in some very baffling cases."
"So sharpen your own deductive powers and plunge into this murky, mysterious world. But watch out! The murderer might be lurking around the next page . . ."
~back cover
I found this book definitely dated. The genre has changed since the late mid-1900s, and stories reflect that change. Ther stories were well enough, I suppose, but they've left no lasdting impression of this rader.
Chesterton, G. K. The blast of the book.
Wade, H. The missing undergraduate.
Futrelle, J. The problem of cell 13.
Doyle, A. C. Silver blaze.
Kemelman, H. The nine-mile walk.
Prince, H. and Prince, J. The man in the velvet hat."
"ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON"
Elementary? You may not agree after you've matched wits with some of the greatest detectives in all literature.
"In these classic tales of mystery, such remarkable detectives as Father Brown, The Thinking Machine, and the incomparable Sherlock Holmes display their deductive skills in some very baffling cases."
"So sharpen your own deductive powers and plunge into this murky, mysterious world. But watch out! The murderer might be lurking around the next page . . ."
~back cover
I found this book definitely dated. The genre has changed since the late mid-1900s, and stories reflect that change. Ther stories were well enough, I suppose, but they've left no lasdting impression of this rader.
December 16, 2025
Seven Great Detective Stories includes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, G. K. Chesterton, Henry Wade, Jacques Futrelle, Courtney Ryley Cooper, Harry Kemelman, Jerome and Harold Prince. I always like Sherlock Holmes, and I was fascinated by The Problem of Cell 13 by Futrelle. Those two stories made me decide to round up to 4 stars. The book also prompted me to read Father Brown stories.
Read
December 19, 2020I got this book back in 1977 for my birthday, and just read it. Not really detective stories (except Sherlock Holmes Silver Blaze), but not a bad read, finished in two days.
January 16, 2009
These seven stories were told quite well, and I have even since gone on to look up whole books by the writers, but I must complain that the title should have mentioned detective stories with a twist. Not one of them would qualify as a tried and true detective tale.
May 15, 2012
Some interesting ideas, but for the most part boring. Worth a single read I guess.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews