Publishers Weekly
★ 09/25/2023
Anthologist Sims (The Penguin Book of Victorian Women in Crime) looks well beyond the usual suspects in this stellar collection of 13 classic stories from lesser-known authors. The standout is “The Case of the Pool of Blood in the Pastor’s Study” by Auguste Groner (1850–1929), who published her detective fiction under a male pseudonym. In it, Groner’s regular sleuth, Joseph Muller of the Imperial Austrian Police, is consulted after a giant bloodstain is found at a rectory in the Carpathian Mountains. The amount of blood signals that someone—probably the rectory’s missing pastor—was murdered, but no body is found, and there are no signs that a corpse has been removed. Another standout is “Negative Evidence” by Irish writer Richard Dowling (1846–1898), set in England and believed to be the first mystery story to use a photograph as a clue. Throughout, Sims’s choices, which showcase his encyclopedic knowledge of mystery fiction, range from good to great, and place welcome focus on the historic contributions of women to the genre. Even the most well-read mystery fans have good reason to check this out. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
"Vintage gems. . . . Overlooked and underappreciated mystery stories from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries."
—Sarah Weinman, The New York Times Book Review
★ "Stellar collection of 13 classic stories from lesser-known authors. . . . Throughout, Sims’s choices, which showcase his encyclopedic knowledge of mystery fiction, range from good to great, and place welcome focus on the historic contributions of women to the genre. Even the most well-read mystery fans have good reason to check this out."
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Little-known whodunits, several of them published long before Sherlock Holmes first appeared...Sims is a kind of literary archaeologist, unearthing half-buried treasure."
—Michael Dirda, Washington Post
"A must-read for any classic murder mystery fan."
—Town & Country
"A deliberately broad cross-section . . . including a near-equal mix of male and female authors of varied backgrounds. . . . These contemporaries of Poe, Collins, and Doyle . . . created clever, memorable characters who employed the technologies of their era, thrilling readers with the awful crime, the cat-and-mouse chase, and the triumph of order over chaos."
—Chris Scott, Chapter 16
"Entertaining, wide-ranging anthology . . . . Includes stories never before reprinted, rebellious early female detectives, and spotlights former stars of the crime field.”
—Pamela Brown, The North Salem Post
“All the stories are by writers who, for the most part, remain either overlooked or underappreciated. . . . . Some stories are especially obscure and appear here in print for the first time since their original publication. . . . All show how the genre developed, with each writer introducing key ingredients that have become standard components. . . . Tension and excitement build to a neat denouement that brings, if not justice, then some semblance of resolution. . . . [Authors include] Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Glasgow and pioneer black writer Charles W. Chesnutt. Both are welcome but surprise additions, as neither author is associated with the crime genre. Their respective stories — one examining ethical killing, the other the consequences of race murder — constitute fascinating forays into new territory.”
—Malcolm Forbes, Washington Examiner
