Murder on the Menu

by Peter Haining

Fatal food and drink served with an insidious smile to unsuspecting husbands, dinner guests, and gourmands feature in a banquet of stories from the golden age of crime fiction by P. D. James, Georges Simenon, Michael Gilbert, and others.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Crime, Anthologies

415 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Peter Alexander Haining was an English journalist, author and anthologist who lived and worked in Suffolk. Born in Enfield, Middlesex, he began his career as a reporter in Essex and then moved to London where he worked on a trade magazine before joining the publishing house of New English Library.

Haining achieved the position of Editorial Director before becoming a full time writer in the early Seventies. He edited a large number of anthologies, predominantly of horror and fantasy short stories, wrote non-fiction books on a variety of topics from the Channel Tunnel to Sweeney Todd and also used the pen names "Ric Alexander" and "Richard Peyton" on a number of crime story anthologies. In the Seventies he wrote three novels, including The Hero (1973), which was optioned for filming.

In two controversial books, Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800, was tried in December 1801, and was hanged in January 1802. However, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A check of the website Old Bailey at for "Associated Records 1674-1834" for an alleged trial in December 1801 and hanging of Sweeney Todd for January 1802 show no reference; in fact the only murder trial for this period is that of a Governor/Lt Col. Joseph Wall who was hanged 28 January 1802 for killing a Benjamin Armstrong 10 July 1782 in "Goree" Africa and the discharge of a Humphrey White in January 1802. Strong reservations have also been expressed regarding the reliability of another of Haining's influential non-fiction works, The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack.
He wrote several reference books on Doctor Who, including the 20th anniversary special Doctor Who: A Celebration Two Decades Through Time and Space (1983), and also wrote the definitive study of Sherlock Holmes on the screen, The Television Sherlock Holmes (1991) and several other television tie-ins featuring famous literary characters, including Maigret, Poirot and James Bond. Peter Haining's most recent project was a series of World War Two stories based on extensive research and personal interviews: The Jail That Went To Sea (2003), The Mystery of Rommel's Gold (2004), Where The Eagle Landed (2004), The Chianti Raiders (2005) and The Banzai Hunters (2007).

He won the British Fantasy Awards Karl Edward Wagner Award in 2001.

Reviews

[Barb Peterson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories. I actually did not read all of them, but about half of them. The stories are all from "the old world". That is to say they were for the most part written in the early 1900's or even earlier. Although from many different authors, they all seemed to me to be of the same "style" - which I believe is just due to the times in which they were written. The stories themselves frequently leave quite a bit to the imagination.

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first section, mystery stories by well-known authors, is predictably much better than the following two sections, mystery stories by genre/pulp authors. The latter two sections, in fact, do not contain any stories worth reading, at least as far as I could tell. From the first section, I enjoyed “Chef d’Oeuvre” by Paul Gallico and especially “A Very Commonplace Murder” by PD James, which has a wicked ending.

[N Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection of food-related short murder stories. The stories included seem to vary from edition to edition judging by other reviews. For me, stories such as "Four-and-twenty Blackbirds" by Agatha Christie are brilliant, but tales such as "The Man Who Couldn't Taste Pepper" by G.B. Stern are a (fortunately very short) waste of time.

[Donna Heard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like all books of short stories there are some that are really good and some that are just not the reader's cup of tea. Each short story revolves around food and some of them are very quick reads, there are a few that are a little longer.

[Charles Belvideer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This truly was one of the best anthology series I’ve read. There wasn’t a single story that was bad. I will gladly go back and read them again. Several would be fantastic Halloween and Christmas reads.

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was the perfect companion piece to the new "the storied life of A. J. Frickey". what a great pairing!

[Lindsay Cornette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dit boek is een verzameling van verhalen over dood en diner. Ik hou van lekker eten en vind moord spannend, dus een prima boek voor mij.

[Dee · Rating 1 out of 5]

It just didn't peak my interest after giving it another chance. I guess the book's not for me.

[Vrinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved every story in this book.

[Jeff Hobbs]

Read so far:

The speciality of the house / by Stanley Ellin --2
Bribery and corruption / by Ruth Rendell --3
*Chef d'Oeuvre / by Paul Gallico --
La specialite de M Duclos / by Oliver La Farge --
Three, or four, for dinner / by L.P. Hartley --2
A terrible tale / by Gaston Leroux --
*So you won't talk! / by Damon Runyon --
Sauce for the goose / by Patricia Highsmith --3
A very commonplace murder / by P.D. James --3
A dinner at Imola / by August Derleth --
The feast in the abbey / by Robert Bloch --2
The three low masses / by Alphonse Daudet --2
The coffin-maker / by Alexander Pushkin --3
Guests from Gibbet Island / by Washington Irving --2
The compleat housewife / by Richard Dehan --
*The case of Mr. Lucraft / by Walter Besant and James Rice --
The man who couldn't taste pepper / by G.B. Stern --
Final dining / by Roger Zelazny --
Four-and-twenty blackbirds / by Agatha Christie --3
The long dinner / by H.C. Bailey --3
The assassins' club / by Nicholas Blake --2
Dinner for two / by Roy Vickers --3
A case for gourmets / by Michael Gilbert --2
Rum for dinner / by Lawrence G. Blochman --2
Under the hammer / by Georges Simenon --2
*Poison a la carte / by Rex Stout --
Lamb to the slaughter / by Roald Dahl--3

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection of stories - as collections so often tend to be. Some great, some good and some not so good.
Part of these were also quite old short stories which made them... at least less scary.

There were some detective stories, some historical ones and a couple which could be classified as ghost stories. All related to dining and food somehow; a couple of those very very loosely though.

27 seven short stories all and all, each and every one from a different writer from Pushkin to Christie, including writers like Ruth Rendell, P.D.James, Robert Bloch, Patricia Highsmith, Georges Simenon, Rex Stout and Roald Dahl.

I don't try to evaluate them all, I leave it to you. As said there was pearls and marbles. But even the less excellent were short enough to read - and there's always someone who likes them all. At least Peter Haining, I suppose.

Murha á la carte
Gummerus 2005

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite of the Peter Haining anthologies I've read (since I've only read a handful, I'm not sure if this is as good a compliment as I mean.) There are lots of interesting stories and only a couple of duds.



However, many of these stories are ghost stories and not really mystery stories. The third section is devoted to whodunnits. I happen to dig horror or creepy stories (especially "The Case of Mr. Lucraft") but if you are hoping for all mysteries, you may be disappointed.

The Nero Wolfe short story can be found in at least one Nero Wolf book. But if you've never read a Nero Wolf story before, this is a great introduction, although a cold one.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was really...not good. The stories are wildly uneven in tone and execution, aren't organized in a way that lends to continued reading, and most of them have next to nothing to do with the core concept.

The presentation is small text, dense spacing, blown out to the margins and otherwise gives the whole book a feeling of ponderousness. That I don't normally comment on something like the text presentation tells you how clear its impact was.

If Hanning had picked half these stories and presented them in a better way this might have been fun reading. Instead it was a chore.

[Kate K. F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of culinary mysteries collects stories from many eras to present an interesting anthology of how many ways can you kill someone over dinner. The tales range from the almost grisly to chilling and will please a lover of older mysteries. Sadly not all the mysteries are fantastic reads but for someone who enjoys reading about food and cozy mysteries, this collection will be an enjoyable read.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although there were some quite good stories here (and the occasional one that was very not good), once again, for no reason I could discern, the stories suggested by the title are rarely to be found between the covers. Very often there is no murder, and very often food is, at the most, a quite incidental player. Oh well........

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever title for a clever series of short stories all tied to food and dining. Always a treat when the writers are good and these 27 are great at their art. From Agatha Christie and Georges Simenon to Rex Stout, Roald Dahl and Robert Bloch, these masters of mysteries have created short tasty treats to ponder, to savor and to relish. Fine dining!

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful compilation of classics topically organized: scary story of a husband and wife who expected to be poisoned by each other; a murder at a mystery writer's dinner; several with cannibalistic themes of course! A good read and completes both the culinary narrative and mystery compulsions!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

All stories did not include murder and/or food. Not sure what the criteria was for selection. Some stories were good reads.