The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives

John the Eunuch #0.2

by Mike Ashley

Stories from all over the world and all historical periods including Brother Cadfael, Brother Athelstan, Decius Metellus, Sister Frevisse as well as some newcomers including detective Hans Christian Anderson's first case.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Anthologies, Crime, Short Stories, Fiction, Historical

532 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Michael Raymond Donald Ashley is the author and editor of over sixty books that in total have sold over a million copies worldwide. He lives in Chatham, Kent.

Reviews

[Melisende]

Nice series of short mysteries with a variety of different historical detectives.

[Saad Yousaf]

While the stories chosen did appeal immensely for my taste of traditional who-dun-its, there is an immense gap in the narrative in the shape of Non-White, Non-Christian or Non-Western writers and stories. The stories that traditionally and geographically contain colored characters have been white-washed especially those based in the Land of Cannan. Furthermore, most ofthe stories are based in the western world, as history passes through the dark ages and the rise and fall of Rome and the Aborginal people in Australia while the only stories that are based in the east are from one era in Chinese history. Quite a dissapointing compilation, despite the well written prose.

[Diane]

Mike Ashley has edited a LOT of these volumes - historical mysteries ranging from Ancient Egypt through the Roaring Twenties. "The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives" is divided in five sections - "The Ancient World," "The Middle Ages," "The Age of Discovery," "Regency and Gaslight," and "Holmes and Beyond." It's a good place to look for authors you might be interested in. Some of my personal favorites are "Death Wears a Mask" (Gordianus the Finder - Ancient Rome) by Steven Saylor, "The King of Sacrifices" (Decius - Ancient Rome again) by John Maddox Roberts, "Abbey Sinister" (Sister Fidelma - Dark Age Ireland) by Peter Tremayne, "The Two Beggars" (Judge Dee - China) by Robert van Gulik, and "The Inn of the Black Crow" (18th century Britain) by William Hope Hodgson.

Very recommended. I also recommend several other volumes in the series, including "The Mammoth Book of Historical Crime Fiction," "The Mammoth Book of New Historical Whodunits," "The Mammoth Book of Jacobean Whodunnits," and the original, "Historical Whodunits."

[Robert Hepple]

The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives is a 1995 collection of 29 short stories. The stories are grouped into the historical eras of their setting. Nearly half are written specially for the collection, whilst the remainder have been written mostly during the preceding decades. Most of the stories are competently written, and few stand out above the others whilst some didn't appeal to me at all. I was particularly impressed by Peter Tremayne's 'Abbey Sinister' and William Hope Hodgson's 'The Inn of the Black Crow', whilst being oddly disappointed by Edith Pargeter's 'The Duchess and the Doll' and Lillian de la Torre's 'The Spirit of the '76'. The editor harped on about the earliest locked-room mystery, F Gwynplaine MacIntyre's 'Death in the Dawntime', because it is set in circa 35,000 BC but I thought this a little misleading insomuch as the era is not relevant to the plot and is therefore incidental. All in all, an enjoyable and varied collection.

[WhatShouldIRead]

Fine assortment of stories written in different time periods. Some I liked better than others, and some I just didn't read because I wasn't interested in either the characters or when/where it took place. Still, that left a good amount to get through which helped to fill in gaps here in there between other books.

[Kate]

This is a very large anthology with stories set in pre-history Australia to the 1920's. The stories ranked from 3 to 5 stars.

[Serena]

stars

PART I: THE ANCIENT WORLD
Death in the Dawntime by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre
the Judgement of Daniel by the New Jerusalem Bible
Gordianus the Finder] Death Wears a Mask by Steven Saylor
SPQR] the King of Sacrifices by John Maddox Roberts
the Three Travellers by R. L. Stevens
the Case of the Murdered Senator by Wallace Nichols
John the Eunuch 00.2 A Mithraic Mystery by Mary Reed
Sister Fidelma] Abbey Sinister by Peter Tremayne
Judge Dee] the Two Beggers by Robert van Gulik

PART II: THE MIDDLE AGES
the Investigation of Things by Charles Ardai
Sister Frevisse 19 the Midwife's Tale by Margaret Frazer
the Duchess and the Doll by Edith Pargeter
Ordeal by Fire by Mary Monica Pulver
Roger the Chapman] the Chapman and the Tree of Doom by Kate Sedley

PART III: THE AGE OF DISCOVERY
The Murder of Innocence by P.C. Doherty
Cassandra's Castle by J. F. Peirce
Man's Inherited Death by Keith Heller
the Curse of the Connecticut Clock by S. S. Rafferty
the Scent of Murder by Theodore Mathieson
the Inn of the Black Crow by William Hope Hodgson
Dr Sam Johnson] the Spirit of '76 by Lillian de la Torre

PART IV: REGENCY AND GASLIGHT
Harrison Hull] Deadly Will and Testament by Ron Burns
Uncle Abner] the God of the Hills by Melville Davisson Post
the Admiral's Lady by Jane Aiken
the Eye of Shiva by Peter MacAlan
Ben Snow] the Trail of the Bells by Edward D. Hoch
Auguste Didier] Murdering Mr. Boodle by Amy Myers

PART V: HOLMES AND BEYOND
the Phantom Pistol by Jack Adrian
Solar Pons] the Adventure of the Frightened Governess by Basil Copper

[sheofseidhr]

It took me a while to finish this collection, mainly because I found most of the stories included immensely uninteresting. I only liked three which were Peter MacAlan's "The Eye of Shiva", Edward D. Hoch's "The Trail of the Bells", and my favorite, Keith Heller's "Man's Inherited Death". It didn't help that these stories were found in the latter part of the book. I guess if you're a die-hard sucker for this type of material you'll find it more enjoyable than I did. Will probably only pick it up again to re-read the ones I liked.

[Kathy Sebesta]

As always with a compendium, there were some great stories and some that didn't appeal.