The Ripper of Storyville

Ben Snow

by Edward D. Hoch, Marvin Lachman

GUNSLINGING AND HISTORICAL DETECTION

Probably the most honored of all current mystery short story writers, Edward D. Hoch combines ingenious plotting with a strong sense of time and place. The Ripper of Storyville is the first book collection of one of Hoch’s most imaginative creations, Ben Snow, the nineteenth century gunman who wanders through the West—and occasionally the East as well. The book begins with seven rare stories about Ben Snow published more than thirty years ago in The Saint Mystery Magazine and continues with seven more recent tales. Ben solves such mysteries as— The steamboat that vanishes as it leaves Vicksburg, Mississippi; The stallion that can be seen only by the victim; Crime in a Sacramento waxworks; The patent medicine man who claims to be able to stop time itself; Serial killings in old New Orleans; A mysterious death near a temple in Yucatan; and The killing of The Flying Man.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories

212 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Edward D. Hoch is one of the most honored mystery writers of all time.

* 1968 Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America): "The Oblong Room", The Saint Mystery Magazine, July 1967
* 1998 Anthony Award (Bouchercon World Mystery Convention): "One Bag of Coconuts", EQMM, November 1997
* 2001 Anthony Award (Bouchercon): "The Problem of the Potting Shed", EQMM, July 2000
* 2007 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award (awarded 2008): "The Theft of the Ostracized Ostrich", EQMM, June 2007
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 2000
* Grand Master (Mystery Writers of America), 2001
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Bouchercon), 2001

Reviews

[Riju Ganguly]

Edward Hoch has been a mainstay of several Mystery & Crime magazines. He has been not only prolific but also superlative in terms of quality. C & L have assembled here a set of his stories of puzzle & detection, all against the backdrop of Wild West, that showcase the cases of an unwilling gunslinger named Ben Snow.
Ben Snow is a very interesting character. Perpetually trying to remove the shadow of people confusing him with his infamous contemporary Billy the Kid, he moves from one place to another like a wanderer. In the process he comes across problems involving life & death. His wits, and rarely his gun, helps in the uncovering of truth.
His adventures described in this book have a genuine sense of geography as well as history, along-with all the prejudice, belief and bitterness that had drawn the contour lines across the American landscape during that period.
The book contains Fourteen stories. They are followed by a brief essay from Marvin Lachman, who has tried to place the stories chrnologically and geographically. But it's the stories that immediately draw you in with their languid prose and intricate observations.
In the process we also got to meet several 'impossible crime' types, which are the specialiy of Hoch.
Overall, an excellent collection which I would whole-heartedly recommend to all lovers of crime & mystery.

[Sem]

I kept thinking that these stories were never meant to be collected, that they would be more appealing in their original mystery magazine setting. The occasional French cruller rather than an entire box of French crullers all at once. There's not enough substance to Ben Snow - or to the characters who cross his path and end up dead - to make the reader care. I agree with the reviewer who said that the Billy the Kid schtick is tiresome but it wasn't the repeated iteration in itself that bothered me. The only interesting thing about Snow is that he might be Billy the Kid - not that people believe he is but that he really might be - and since the stories make it plain that he isn't I ended up feeling that there was no point to any of it.

[Kris]

The stories are nicely crafted mysteries, for the most part, taking place in the Western US and turn of the 20th century. They're a pleasant look into a disappeared past and the people who made up the "wild" west.

[Lisa T. Ungerer]

Hoch short stories have character

Ben Snow is a gun man with a sense of justice. His manner is closer to Holmes than to Dr. Sam. But he marches through late 19th and early 20th century history which should also appeal to fans of historical novels. Recommended

[Stephen C Meisel]

Hoch is the best

I used to subscribe to EQ magazine mostly for Hoch's stories. I really like this character even if the Billy the Kid thing gets annoying after a while. Love the idea of a guy that's good with a gun AND his mind.

[Mark Mckenna]

Great series

Ed Hoch’s stories were the first ones I read when a new issue of EQMM arrived. So glad C&L is rereleasing these anthologies

[Jeff J.]

A collection of stories featuring Wild West gunslinger Ben Snow.