Hugh Greene (1) (1910–1987)

An Anthology of 13 tales of crimes that take place in the English countryside. These tales are from Victorian and Edwardian times The crimes are varied and don’t necessarily involve death. There are also property crimes such as theft, vandalism and more.

The majority of the stories were published in periodicals of the time and many only that one time. Some of the authors became well known, some not.

“The Amber Beads” by Fergus Hume was an interesting read for me, as I had read “The Mystery of a Hansom Cab” in 2023 and found that a good read with a number of twists and turns to untangle. The book was published in Australia a year before the first Sherlock Holmes mystery and was a huge success for a number of years. The short story was just as enjoyable.

The introduction is also interesting as it gives the background of the authors and their writing. Some of the authors I’ve read before. Learning of their backgrounds made the stories more interesting and has given me more authors to explore.… (meer)

Thirteen detective stories from the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. There's a nice spread of stories, although it's maybe a touch surprising that three of them are second contributions from authors featured earlier in the book. (In two of those cases, Greene takes the opportunity to feature a different detective protagonist, so I guess it all works out.)

If I'm honest, the book starts slow. There isn't much to stories like "The Case of Laker, Absconded" or "The Assyrian Rejuvenator," and the earlier tales have a slightly drier Victorian writing style when compared to the later ones. Things really start to pick up with "Madame Sara," although it's more of a thriller than a mystery - and, frustratingly, the first segment of the serialized novel The Sorceress of the Strand; Greene's introduction doesn't tell us that, which makes the "ending" extremely abrupt. Regardless, L.T. Meade and her co-writer Robert Eustace clearly enjoyed creating the diabolical villainess, and the story/chapter is a lot of fun.

The Most Valuable Player of the collection is Baronness Orczy - famed for The Scarlet Pimpernel books - whose two stories, each with a different detective, are highly enjoyable and very easy to read. The Old Man in the Corner, in particular, is a character worth visiting.

My own favorite story in the collection is William Hope Hodgson's "The Horse of the Invisible," coincidentally the only story I had read before; quality always displays itself, I guess. I am usually no fan of ghost stories, but Hodgson's Carnacki stories have that wonderful, pulpy rationalist-meets-the-unknown flavor that I really enjoy. The Carnacki stories are, in their way, a sort of turn-of-the-century Kolchak: The Night Stalker, with the added benefit that the supernatural element is really terrifying.

Overall, this is a nice little gateway into the realm of British detective ficition, ca. 1900, beyond Arthur Conan Doyle. I think some of the inclusions inadvertently prove why Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories became so popular - they were, after all, a unique combination of well-constructed mysteries, an engaging central figure, and solid prose - but these are still quite satisfying in their own way. Read them as I did: in a cold December, over consecutive nights, with cups of strong hot mocha. You may find that the mood is suddenly quite Christmassy.… (meer)