The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries

by Michael Sims (Introduction)

For classic murder mystery readers, a scintillating anthology of lost treasures to read alongside Edgar Allan Poe and Sherlock Holmes

A Penguin Classic

For The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries , writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outside the genre. This historical tour of one of our most popular literary categories includes stories never before reprinted, features rebellious early “lady detectives," and spotlights former stars of the crime field—Austrian novelist Auguste Groner and prolific American Geraldine Bonner among them. For twenty-first century connoisseurs of crime, The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries celebrates how the nineteenth century added a fierce modern twist to the ancient theme of bloody murder.

Genres: Mystery, Short Stories, Fiction, Classics, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Anthologies

352 pages, Paperback

Published November 21, 2023

About the author

Michael Sims is the author of the acclaimed "The Story of Charlotte's Web, Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination," "Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form," and editor of "Dracula's Guest: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Vampire Stories" and "The Dead Witness: A Connoisseur's Collection of Victorian Detective Stories." He lives in western Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

See my review on www.mysteryandsuspense.com

Expected publication date: Jan. 24, 2024

The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries by Michael Sims is an anthology of crime stories, most featuring a crime-fighting detective, with a dead body (or two) and a murderer on the loose. Most of the novels featured in Mysteries are from the nineteenth century, and all of the stories in the collection had authors who were relatively unknown to me.

There were thirteen stories in all, with male and female authors from England, Scotland, Ireland, the USA, and Canada, and Sims does an excellent job collecting and organizing them. Some of the stories are selected for obvious reasons (such as The Red Room by Canadian author Mary Fortune, being the first story featuring a female detective written by a female, and The Sheriff’s Children by American Charles W. Chestnutt, being the only novel in the collection written by a Black writer, for example) , but all of them have a few things in common – they are creative, engaging, and entertaining!

Mysteries features fiction stories, obviously, but to ensure due diligence, Sims includes a blurb to introduce each story with details on the author, country of origin, and any relevant facts about the author, the publications, or the story itself, which were extremely helpful in providing important background. The stories themselves are short, making them easy to read in one sitting!

Sims brings to light authors who have since vanished into history, and I appreciate his careful re-introduction. Some of the authors were inspired by Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and some were inspirations for the literary greats that are now household names.

Each story begins with a murder and, on average, features someone who has been unjustly charged for the crime. A detective, male or female, comes on the scene and tries to deduce the true murderer, and the story is generally (and satisfyingly) resolved within a handful of pages. The stories were similar in theme and in writing style, but they were unique enough to be identified as having different writers, and it was obvious why Sims picked this particular collection of writers as they play very well together.

The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries is perfect for fans of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, and for readers who enjoy the historical component of the nineteenth century. The stories are witty and ahead of their time, and I loved each of Sims’ carefully collated selections. This is one novel that a crime reader will not want to miss.

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking it slow series. I'm a sucker for murder mysteries. As the editor Michael Sims wrote in his introduction, murders fascinate us because they are the ultimate crime, and mysteries are like magician's tricks, where the endings keep shifting until the big reveal. I'm excited to explore some new writers in this genre through this anthology. I'll be rating each story and then average them at the end (first time trying this!).

The Hand and Word by Gerald Griffin (1803-40)
I honestly wouldn't categorize this as a murder mystery. We know exactly how the murder happened and by whom, so no surprise there. I feel if my expectations were different, I would've enjoyed this entry more. As it stands, it felt dragged on by its prolonged descriptions of the coastal lives of an Irish fishermen's town and supernatural sights (perhaps egged by superstitions). I did appreciate Yamon's eerie song right before pushing Moran off the cliff - it foreshadowed the ending.
Rating: 2/5

Guilty or not Guilty by Thomas Waters (1806-76)
Thanks to Charles Dickens, police detectives and their tales have gained popularities around this time. Here is a simple, but effective murder tale with colorful characters such as the ventriloquist police assistant. The plot is very straightforward, and guilt seems to be worn on the sleeves by those who have committed the crime.
Rating: 2.5/5

Hanged by the Neck by Charles Martel (1810-65)
Now this is an interesting one! Not only were there some Sherlock Holmes-like deductions, but also it was told from the POV of a somewhat mad person, who craved to be executed by hanging - so much so that he offered himself up as the perpetrator. In a strange twist of fate, this story was then plagiarized by another writer, mirroring the "stealing" of the crime this story depicts.
Rating: 4/5

The Dead Child's Leg by James McLevy (1796-1873)
This one had a phenomenal opening, but then things went downhill from there. Instead of a murder mystery, this story felt like a recounting of a police case (not surprising since the author himself was a policeman).
Rating: 2/5

The Judgement of Conscience by Andrew Forrester Jr (1832-1909)
Oh my, the first lady detective (finally)! I love that we get to see her inner monologues, especially her conflicting thoughts on upholding the law and showing clemency for a poor fellow. Not much mystery here, but it makes me ponder on the question of who gets to judge whether a murder is right or wrong.
Rating: 3/5

The Red Room by Mary Fortune (1833-1911)
And here we have the first woman writer! Interestingly, the main villain here is a femme fatale, whose honey trap is a lavishly furnished "red room" in her tavern. The other characters, unfortunately, are quite stereotyped. I did enjoy the scenic descriptions of brush lands in Australia.
Rating: 2.5/5

Negative evidence by Richard Dowling (1846-98)
Clever title! Also props to the author for writing about a woman waiting for her groom to arrive over 5 pages and still kept it interesting enough for me to stay invested.
Rating: 2.5/5

The Sheriff's Children by Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932)
The first writer of color in this anthology! I appreciate the efforts to keep the dialogue as authentic as possible, and the morally conflicted character of the Sheriff, whose conscience was warped under the slavery-tainted influence of the South.
Rating: 3/5

The Murder at Troyte's Hill by C. L. Pirkis (1839-1910)
Now, this is a proper murder mystery, finally! We have several suspects and a clever lady detective, whose intellect and wisdom contrasted brightly with her lackluster male colleagues. The motive for murder was also eerie - very proper for the most thrilling addition to this anthology so far!
Rating: 4/5

The Statement of Jared Johnson by Geraldine Bonner (1870-1930)
Honestly, the ending disappointed me... icicles, really? I guess at least poor Jared Johnson is acquitted.
Rating: 2.5/5

A Point in Morals by Ellen Glasgow (1873-1945)
I'm baffled by what the editor categorizes as "murder mystery", because the majority of stories so far contain murders but there are no mysteries (!!ugh kinda frustrating). This story, again, is not a mystery, but actually is quite a thoughtful piece on a difficult moral question - is it immoral to save a human life? It goes back to the question of who gets to judge another human should die (e.g. are jury members murderers for indicting someone on trial??). I also like the Russian doll-like nesting structure of a story within a story.
Rating: 3/5

The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study by Auguste Groner (1850-1929)
And this is the non-English entry of this anthology (Austrian)! The little detective reminds me of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot - very meticulous with clues. I also enjoyed the mysterious set-up: a pool of blood with no body to be found. The inclusion of the shepherd with foresight was quirky and cute.
Rating: 3.5/5

An Intangible Clue by Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935)
I love this secretive but efficient lady detective! Nothing seems to escape her eagle eyes and her deduction skills are *chef's kiss*. She seemed a bit cold at the beginning, but I think that may just be one of her disguises.
Rating: 3.5/5

Overall
And... moment of truth! The average score is 2.92 (I'll round up to 3). I'm pleasantly surprised! If I had not tracked my individual ratings for each story, I might've rated this book around 2-2.5 stars.
I feel the book title is a misnomer - aside from 3-4 stories out of 13, they don't contain many mystery elements. It could be due to the fact that the editor chose to include less known stories and writers, as well as only entries from the 1800-1950 period, so maybe the definition of murder mystery is different back then? I did appreciate the editor's effort to include more women writers, as well as one (?) POC writer, and his introductions for each story provided helpful context for the time periods as well as the writers.

[Ashley]

ooooh what this

[tortoise dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

A selection of 13 short stories, more interesting than impressive, but a valuable historical if random collection. Six of the stories were published prior to the 1887 introduction of Sherlock Holmes (the earliest in 1827), the remainder in 1888, 1889, and up to 1915. The authors are English, American, Irish, Scottish, and Austrian, and six are women. Included are series detectives Mrs. G, the Female Detective; debutante Violet Strange; master of subterfuge Loveday Brooks (an early Miss Pinkerton); and Austrian Josef Müller. The earlier stories are quite simple, with either the most likely or next most likely suspect always the criminal, and often identified quickly. Guilt and the supernatural are heavily relied upon to promote a confession. There is a great deal of variety with what seems an Irish folk tale, a police procedural, the confession of a madman, one story set in Australia and another in Hungary, one a philosophical discussion of suicide, and one not a murder at all. Another discusses the ethics of children born in slavery. Some of the "detectives" use cutting edge technology such as fingerprints, ballistics (quite early!), and photography. Most of the authors are obscure and long forgotten, with the most famous being mystery writer Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) and literary novelist Ellen Glasgow (1873-1945), who won the Pulitzer in 1942. The Introduction is mostly silly and disorganized but the biographical notes for each author were quite helpful. [3★]

[Meg Bywater]

Enjoyed this a lot and came away with a whole reading list

[Zeke Merlis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was fairly disappointed by this anthology. The title is misleading: the stories within are not all murder mysteries. Only an extremely broad definition of the genre would suffice to qualify Charles W. Chesnutt’s “The Sheriff’s Children,” and no definition could possibly be broad enough to qualify Ellen Glasgow’s “A Point in Morals.” A better title might be The Penguin Book of Short Stories Which in Some Capacity Involve a Murder. Setting aside the false advertising, I thought a few of these stories were rather mediocre. Someone who likes nineteenth-century short fiction more than I do might enjoy this collection, but I can’t recommend it.

My three favorite stories are “Hanged by the Neck” by Thomas Delf, “Negative Evidence” by Richard Dowling, and the aforesaid “A Point in Morals.”

[sahra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Books, Penguin Classics Publishers for the Arc! This is a great collection of stories showcasing some classic mystery writers over the last 100 or so years. I'm not going to comment or review the original stories, rather the introduction by Michael Sims and the biographies of the authors posted before their story. To be honest, the introduction was over-written and I ended up skimming most of it. It was a lot of words to really not describe much. It read more like a thesis paper than the introduction to a collection of stories. It wasn't poorly written, just too many details (multiple examples for each statement, comparisons). The same goes for the biographies. They were just too long. A good edit with just the most interesting information would be helpful here. I don't think many people read the introductions in these collection style books, especially when they're so long. I'd suggest the editors shorten before release.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved that that these were stories from 100-200 years ago: the language is more complex, the pacing more languid, they occur in various parts of the world and of course there is the historical aspect. One is even about an attempt at a racist lynching with dialog you have to read out loud to understand.

[Jeffrey Marks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great anthology of mysteries. Even as a fan of the genre, I hadn't read some of these so I came up with new authors to read. Recommended.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great anthology of 19th century mystery stories, each introduced with helpful historical background and insightful commentary on the genre.

[Mike Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authors such as Stephen King in Danse Macabre and Judith Flanders in The Invention of Murder have attempted to explain our obsession with and the evolution of stories detailing human brutality against our fellow man. Literary historians generally credit Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murder in the Rue Morgue,” published in 1841, as the first modern detective story, but Ms. Flanders dates our obsession with murder and macabre to the “night of 7 December 1811 [when] a twenty-four-year-old hosier named Timothy Marr, his wife, their baby and a fourteen-year-old apprentice were all found brutally murdered in their shop on the Ratcliffe Highway on the East End of London.” The horrific crime scene became a tourist attraction, and the attempts of the police, who possessed nothing like the modern-day tools of crime detection, to solve the crime created fodder for the tabloid press.

Regardless of whether clever authors or real-life horrors prompt it, our obsession with murder mysteries has endured for more than two hundred years and is now one of our most popular literary categories. Among the latest attempts to satisfy our insatiable appetite for these stories is The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries, edited by Michael Sims, a veteran writer and anthologist. Such a generic title suggests a somewhat unabridged version of murder mystery stories, but at a mere 323 pages, this book has no such ambitions. The introduction sheds more light on the book’s objective but not as much as the reader should expect. It does, however, reveal the author’s political bent. We get no further than the sixth paragraph of the introduction before the author discusses the “notoriously racist” tendencies of “nations such as the United States.” While I don’t deny the racist past of the United States, I wondered why such a comment was relevant in a book where more than half of the thirteen stories were written by European authors and whether any of those European countries are among those considered “notoriously racist.”

Later in the introduction, Mr. Sims explains his love for nineteenth-century literature and “the antique cadence of the language.” I couldn’t agree more, and I could read such prose for the rest of my life and never tire of it. While a few of the later stories carry over into the early twentieth century, most are set in Victorian Europe. However, although the author fixes the timeframe for his stories, the introduction fails to clarify his other criteria. It isn’t until the introductions to the individual stories that it becomes apparent the author’s focus is primarily on stories written by minorities and women. Therefore, a more appropriate title for the collection would be The Penguin Book of Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Murder Mysteries Primarily Written by Women and Minorities.

Such dissembling and political correctness would be off-putting if not for the quality of the stories and my pleasure in reading them. There isn’t a dud in the collection, and it is regrettable that many of these authors were unjustly overlooked during their time due to discriminatory attitudes among publishers and readers.

The stories are printed chronologically, and the first, “The Hand and the Word,” was first published in 1827, predating Poe’s 1841 story and the dawn of the modern detective story. Like many of the earliest stories, “The Hand and the Word” lacks many of the tropes we expect from murder mysteries, such as clever detectives and peculiar plot twists. Many of these stories make little effort to create mystery. Instead, offering straightforward narratives focused on brutal murders of innocent individuals, sparing the reader the challenge of solving the crime.

Stories with devices more familiar to modern mystery readers appear later in the book, such as using novel types of evidence, exemplified by Richard Dowling’s “Negative Evidence,” published in 1888, and was the first detective story to use photographic evidence.

By the end of the book, the literary conventions are fully developed. My favorite was "The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study" by Auguste Groner. Initially published in 1911, this story is part of a series featuring the brilliant detective Josef Muller, whose name was later anglicized to Joseph Muller in English translations. It is a classic "locked room" mystery with a perplexing crime scene. Not only are there no apparent means of entry or exit for the culprit, but there is also no body, and the only evidence of a crime is a pool of blood, as the title suggests.

Despite the author's attempt to inject his political views into the text, which warranted a star deduction, the focus on lesser-known and forgotten writers produced a compelling anthology of stories. This collection offers a unique perspective on the seminal era of modern detective fiction.

[Lisa Kucharski · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of some really hard to find short stories that precede or are near WWI. Michael Sims does an introduction to the book and then gives small bios and info before each short story. The book says Murder Mysteries; and I would like to perhaps say- that the older stories (at the beginning) are more books about crime (some relating to murder.) For example- in the first story (The Hand and Word) there is no mystery- we see the entire series of events unfold. In other stories- one reads to find out why- eg The Dead Child’s Leg. In the middle there is the story by Charles W. Chestnut where it is a story of injustice on a personal and societal level. From there the stories start to move into a form where we are familiar with for mysteries— who did it? how was it done? And why? For me the from Chestnut’s story onward the book really showed how fiction about crime felt like it shook the Victorian and Edwardian dust off and the authors seemed to find their own voice.

My personal faves are: The Sheriff’s Children by Charles W. Chestnut; The Statement of Jared Johnson by Ellen Glasgow, The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor’s Study by Auguste Groner & An Intangible Clue by Anna Katharine Green.

This collection (along with the spree of other reprints of mysteries) has been a wonderful way to finally read some older pieces that are now incredibly difficult to find or buy. Having heard about a couple of the writers in this collection- it was very nice to actually read a story.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of 13 short stories about murder and attempted murder. The stories were written from the early 1800s to early 1900s, mostly set in England. The Introduction was an odd, rambling treatise that went on for 4% of the book, and I'd recommend skipping it. Some of the author bios were nearly as long as their story, and the stories were so short that none were puzzle mysteries.

Only about 5 stories really fit the genre of "murder mystery," with actual crime-solving, clues, and justice. Several of the stories didn't have a murdered victim. Only a few had a detective (amateur or professional), and even those stories were usually solved by a chance happening. Sometimes the criminal was not found or wasn't arrested. Once, there wasn't even a crime, just a mystery solved by chance (though I do like that one and have read it before).

Some stories seemed more about ethics than justice. For example, an innocent man committed suicide because he couldn't prove he didn't murder someone. Another story talked about the ethics of providing a confessed murderer what he needed to commit suicide. Overall, this collection wasn't really what I expected from the title and I didn't really care for it. There were only a few uses of bad language. There was no sex.

I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[alex]

"The Hand and Word" by Gerald Griffin
rating: tbd/5

"Guilty or Not Guilty?" by Thomas Waters (pseud.)
rating: tbd/5

"Hanged by the Neck" by Charles Martel (pseud.)
rating: tbd/5

"The Dead Child's Leg" by James McLevy
rating: tbd/5

"The Judgement of Conscience" by Andrew Forrester, Jr. (pseud.)
rating: tbd/5

"The Red Room" by Mary Fortune
rating: tbd/5

"Negative Evidence" by Richard Dowling
rating: tbd/5

"The Sheriff's Children" by Charles W. Chesnutt
rating: tbd/5

"The Murder at Troyte's Hill" by C. L. Pirkis
rating: tbd/5

"The Statement of Jared Johnson" by Geraldine Bonner
rating: tbd/5

"A Point in Morals" by Ellen Glasgow
rating: tbd/5

"The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor's Study" by Auguste Groner
rating: tbd/5

"An Intangible Clue" by Anna Katharine Green
rating: tbd/5

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Editor Michael Sims has put together an interesting collection of short stories. These are mostly not straightforward whodunits, for the simple reason that such stories did not yet exist when the ones here were penned in the 19th century. What we have here are the forerunners--some of the first locked-room mysteries, for example, or the first story to rely on photographic evidence, or an early female detective, etc. So the historical value is equal or even greater than the entertainment value for most of these.

If you love murder mysteries, this is worth the effort to track down (Sims has a couple of other collections that also look promising). The intros can be obnoxious--Sims is politically correct to a fault, and it's exceedingly irritating. But get into the tales themselves, and you will be rewarded.

[Jeanette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost a 1 star. Most are terrible, unreadable, IMHO. The first one and several others I sped read because the type of prose is so overblown atrocious. Several are not at all murder mysteries and I don't know how most of these were ever published.

This Introduction by Sims is one of the most arrogant, high flying blowviating creed laden hubris openings I've ever read. Which has had much competition over many decades- so that's saying something. It fit the assembly and he probably picked them.

I do not recommend this or these Penquin and only read it because my library is closed for Staff meetings and Easter combos and I ran out of good downloads on the Kindle.

[Kevin Gross · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting only as an historical perspective on the evolution of the murder mystery. A few of the stories are marginally interesting ("The Statement of Jared Johnson", for example). The final story, "An Intangible Clue," is so poorly constructed, in such stilted language, that I am sure as a student's exercise in Creative Writing it would earn a "See me after class." Chesnutt's "The Sheriff's Children" is the star of the collection and the sole story that makes me want to read more from that author.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stories are really good. A couple of them aren’t really mysteries (the first one is just a dramatic story). Some have way way over elaborate crimes/solutions. Some of them should have remained in obscurity. Especially the one where a detective mercilessly bullies a housemaid into confessing she had a stillbirth, panicked, and disposed of the body of the baby. And then locked her up for 9 months! This is not a good story of detection.

[Fachrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very satisfying read. There are no ACD or Christie here -- in fact, out of 13 authors, I only recognised two (Auguste Groner and Anna Katherine Green). A few of the stories had never been reprinted since their first publication. Truly a book of forgotten gems!

The stories span the almost a century, from early/mid 1800s to 1900s. I'm really interested in reading more of these authors, particularly the ones involving a female detective or written by a woman.

[Leah Derbyshire · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5.

An interesting collection of short stories. A lot feel a far cry from the murder mysteries we would think of now although it was nice to spot similarities that have prevailed over the period to today.
Some short stories I enjoyed more than others, some I found especially slow and difficult to get through. I particularly enjoyed Michael Sims’ introduction to the collection as a whole and his introduction to each story, all of which enticed you to keep reading.

[F Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have greatly enjoyed Sims's various themed collections of Victorian and other era short stories, and this is no exception. Both the general introduction and the individual story intros are informative and written in a lively manner.

As one might expect, some of the selected stories are stronger than others, but over all, a strong showing.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love these anthologies featuring stories from author who are famous or forgotten. There's plenty to love and you discover a lot of new and interesting authors.
This is intriguing and entertaining, loved the story and what I read
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[DAVID LAMPE-WILSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of the dozen or so authors in this collection of 19th century mystery gems I was only familiar with two -- Charles W. Chesnutt and Anna Katherine Green -- while the others were splendid finds that I'd be more than happy to read again. This collection was fascinating in its variety of approaches to murder and I hope to find more stories by some of these authors. Loved this.

[Bookworm113 · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love murder mysteries as a genre, but one downside is that a majority of the such murder mysteries are published pre-2000, meaning it takes a little effort to understand the language, which normally means i procrastinate on reading it. but other than that, the stories were fine, i would give it a 3.5/5 stars

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great sampling of little-known authors’ murder stories.
Each story is prefaced by a few paragraphs illuminating each writer’s background, with some caveats concerning sexist, classist, and racist elements that were acceptable at the time of publication. A good historical journey through the development of the genre, and whetting the reader’s appetite for more.

[Mariah · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Mysteries” is a strong, and misleading word for most of these stories. They’re stories about murders, but most of them do not have mysterious elements, some of them you know the murderer right off the bat, and most do not let the reader deduce anything. They were fine overall, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to re-read any of them.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mixed bag of mystery short stories that were originally published in the 19th century. Each were prefaced by a very 21st-century description (including comments about the different author's background and residual class bias and/or sexism)

[James S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got excited until I looked at the table of contents: oh man, all from the 19th century! Damn!

Read this if you're interested in obscure predecessors of mystery fiction, not if you're...actually into mystery fiction.

[Cherie Waggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came across this book when reading The Life of Crime, by Martin Edwards. These are from the early writers of the 19th and 20th century. It's interesting to see the different styles of these authors.

[Helena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do love the introductions to all the short stories about the authors and their time period. But most of the stories are not my cup of tea and sometimes even vulgar and disturbing. Also, what's up with the editor's constant complaints about Agatha Christie's Miss Marple??