Murder by the Tale

Lieutenant Luis Mendoza #38

by Dell Shannon

This collection of short crime fiction includes eight new Lt. Luis Mendoza mysteries and six additional, widely diverse mysteries

Genres: Mystery

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Pseudonym of Elizabeth Linington.

Barbara "Elizabeth" Linington (March 11, 1921 – April 5, 1988) was an American novelist. She was awarded runner-up scrolls for best first mystery novel from the Mystery Writers of America for her 1960 novel, Case Pending, which introduced her most popular series character, LAPD Homicide Lieutenant Luis Mendoza. Her 1961 book, Nightmare, and her 1962 novel, Knave of Hearts, another entry in the Mendoza series, were both nominated for Edgars in the Best Novel category. Regarded as the "Queen of the Procedurals," she was one of the first women to write police procedurals — a male-dominated genre of police-story writing.

Besides crime, Linington also took interest in archaeology, the occult, gemstones, antique weapons and languages. Linington was also a conservative political activist who was an active member of the John Birch Society

Reviews

[Louise Pledge]

Never expected to see a day when I would only give Dell Shannon four stars, but I didn't care for the last few tales in the book. Loved revisiting Luis Mendoza and his cohorts, which covered the first 2/3 of the book, but felt like it went downhill from there.

[Sep]

This is a collection of short stories. About half are about Luis Mendoza both before and after "The Knave of Hearts." My favorite quote is, "He might have murdered his wife . . .but he'd never have killed the cat."

[Susan]

Picked this up to read while waiting at the hairdresser, and got engrossed immediately. I've had this book for ages, as well as other in the Luis Mendoza series, and they are all great. I think it helps to read the regular novels in order, as his life progresses. This one is a series of short stories. Part I is all Mendoza stories and I loved it. Part II is a mix of non-Mendoza stories, all more or less related to murders. Some are almost funny; some are downright eerie; others are just so-so. I liked Part I best, of course.