I decided to keep my reading challenges simple this year and just focus on one. My goal was targeted at the growing pile of short story collections on my TBR pile, and my plan was to read one anthology a month. With the publication of my last post, I have now completed this personal challenge, and I thought it might be interesting to rank these collections and to also highlight the stories I enjoyed the most.
So, starting in 12th place…
No. 12: The Animal-Lover’s Book of Beastly Murder (1975) by Patricia Highsmith
Whilst I am able to admire Highsmith’s wordsmithery and way with words, I found this a distressing and depressing collection to read. Despite the title, this is not a collection I would recommend for animal lovers. It may appeal more to those who enjoy crime fiction which mixes in horror elements. I did not have a meaningful favourite story from this anthology, as it would more be a case of me choosing which story disturbed me the least.
No. 11: Inspector Colbeck’s Casebook (2014) by Edward Marston
I found these stories, in the main, to be too simple, in terms of writing style and plot. The solutions were either too obvious or just came out of nowhere. I enjoyed some of the secondary characters more than Inspector Colbeck, who regularly speaks in a painfully didactic tone, which makes his speech sound forced.
Favourite Story: ‘A Family Affair’
I found this story to be the most comical and I enjoyed the smaller page space given over to Inspector Colbeck, as we got to spend more time with the more engaging secondary characters.
No. 10: The Problemist: The Complete Adventures of Thornley Colton, Blind Detective (1915-1916; 2010) by Clinton H. Stagg
I think I was less convinced by Colton’s sleuthing skills, due to the way they were presented, rather than the specific talents themselves. Colton shares very little with those around him, so the solutions tended to feel like someone pulling a rabbit out of a hat. There was no way of seeing how the dots joined up. Colton also over relies on the guilty party having a faster pulse.
Favourite Story: ‘The Sixth Problem: The Gilded Glove’
In comparison to some of the other stories where it was hard to engage with the characters, I felt Colton was more appealing in this story as his vulnerabilities are more visible. You can feel his helplessness when he is worried sick about the kidnapping of his younger sidekick Shrimp.
No. 9: Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries (2021) ed. by Martin Edwards
I was surprised this collection ranked so low, as regular readers will know that I have an interest in animal themed crime fiction. But I think I was a bit disappointed by some of the entries written by authors that I would normally enjoy. The solutions for the stories by G. K. Chesterton and Josephine Bell, for instance, required a great deal of explanation and backstory. Show not tell, was not something hugely adhered to in this collection.
Favourite Story: ‘The Yellow Slug’ (1935) by H. C. Bailey
Whilst Clifford Witting’s ‘Hanging by a Hair’ (1950) had its strong points, I felt Bailey’s story was the best put together mystery and I found its solution to be engagingly dark.
No. 8: Golden Age Locked Room Mysteries (2022) ed. by Otto Penzler
Withheld information, too complicated, unconvincing or simple solutions, endings which fell flat, and some unappealing characters kept this collection from rising higher in the list.
Favourite Stories: ‘His Heart Could Break’ (1943) by Craig Rice and ‘Murder at the Automat’ (1937) by Cornell Woolrich
Writing style was key to these two stories being picked and given my fondness for Rice and Woolrich’s longer works, it is not surprising they were selected here. Rice’s story also interestingly defies plot expectations and, in his tale, Woolrich creates a great cat-and-mouse scene between his detective and killer.
No. 7: Byomkesh Bakshi: Stories by Saradindu Bandopadhyay (2003) (Trans. Monimala Dhar)
I enjoyed reading mysteries set within a different culture, although I felt the sparse writing style reduced how many cultural details came through and equally, I think the prose impacted the depth of characterisation on the page. I am unsure whether this is something to do with the translation or choice of stories. Nevertheless, I enjoyed how the variety of stories shown presented different sides to Byomkesh Bakshi’s character.
Favourite Stories: ‘The Avenger’ a.k.a. ‘Achin Pakhi’ (1960) and ‘Quicksand’ a.k.a. ‘Chorabali’ (1933)
I felt ‘The Avenger’ had the cleverest solution as it required the reader to really pay attention to conversations earlier in the story to spot the discrepancies. Meanwhile, I thought ‘Quicksand’, due to its longer length was best at displaying character development.
No. 6: Crimes of Cymru: Classic Mystery Tales of Wales (2023) ed. by Martin Edwards
I found this collection to be a bit of mixed bag with some stories failing to excite, whilst others left me feeling uncomfortable or depressed. Nevertheless, there were some which were more my cup of tea.
Favourite Stories: ‘Brother in the Barrow’ (1951) by Ianthe Jerrold, ‘Water Running Out’ (1927) by Ethel Lina White and ‘The Way Up to Heaven’ (1954) by Roald Dahl
All these stories work effectively because they deliver a great sting in their tail. There is some engaging moral ambiguity and irony, and some of the trio lean more towards the inverted mystery format, which I can be fond of.
No. 5: Bodies from the Library 5 (2022) ed. by Tony Medawar
If I had enjoyed the Edmund Crispin short story included in this collection more, then I think this anthology might have risen a little higher up the list. One aspect of the Bodies from the Library series that I have appreciated is that these collections often include radio/stage play scripts as well as short stories and this is reflected in one of my choices below.
Favourite Stories: ‘Where Do We Go from Here?’ (1948) by Dorothy L. Sayers and ‘Vacancy with a Corpse’ (1946) by Anthony Boucher
I enjoyed Sayers’ radio play because I liked how she used the WW2 setting to shape her plot. Moreover, in this tale which is centred on affairs and blackmail, I think Sayers did an excellent job at switching which character has control of the situation. Boucher also utilises the features of the home front in his story, and I thought his characters were interesting, meaning we are invested in their fates.
No. 4: Final Acts: Theatrical Mysteries (2022) ed. by Martin Edwards
This is one of the collections that I read this year, which made me realise that I struggle a bit with Christianna Brand’s shorter detective fiction, despite loving her novels. I find the complex solutions she squeezes into her short stories can make for dense and convoluted reading.
Favourite Stories: ‘Blood Sacrifice’ (1936) by Dorothy L. Sayers and ‘The Blind Spot’ (1945) by Barry Perowne
Re-reading ‘Blood Sacrifice’ gave me a greater appreciation and enjoyment of what Sayers was doing in the tale, and I felt I got more out of the characterisation. The premise of Perowne’s mystery is very creative and interestingly metafictional. The less you work out before the end, the more you will enjoy it.
No. 3: Who Killed Father Christmas? And Other Seasonal Mysteries (2023) ed. by Martin Edwards
Short story collections are rather like boxes of chocolates. Not every flavour will appeal and that was the case for me as I was less keen on the tales which were thrillers or had a ghostly theme. In addition, I also felt some of the stories had potential which was not fully realised.
Favourite Stories: ‘A Present for Two’ (1958-59) by Ellis Peters, ‘The Bird of Dawning’ (1956) by Michael Gilbert and ‘Gold, Frankincense, and Murder’ (1995) by Catherine Aird
Peters’ story is the longest and as such has the greater page count to produce a more extensive plot. I felt the author made good use of this space to make a dynamic and tense Christmas theft mystery, with bonus kidnappings. Gilbert’s story genuinely surprised me with its choice of killer, and I love the final tart lines. Conversely, Aird’s story was easier to solve, but I really loved the gentle humour that weaves its way through her narrative.
No. 2: Golden Age Bibliomysteries (2023) ed. by Otto Penzler
It was tough deciding on second and first place and it came down to the usual hair splitting. This collection of book-themed mysteries manages to bring together quite a variety of settings and sleuth types, which I think should be commended.
Favourite Stories: ‘Q. L. 696. C9’ (1942) by Anthony Boucher, ‘Foot in It’ (1935) by James Gould Cozzens, ‘The Unique Hamlet’ (1920) by Vincent Starrett and ‘The Book that Squeaked’ (1939) by Cornell Woolrich
The variety I spoke of is exemplified well in the stories I enjoyed the most. Boucher and Woolrich’s stories both involve a library, but they produce radically different mysteries. This selection also reveals my preference for the shorter fiction of Boucher and Woolrich, as they are two of the most frequent names mentioned in this post, along with Dorothy L. Sayers. Vincent Starrett’s tale is a delightful Holmes and Watson pastiche, and I just love this put-down that Holmes delivers to the culprit at the end:
“Surely, you must know that in criminal cases handled by me, it is never the obvious solution that is the correct one. The mere fact that the finger of suspicion is made to point at a certain individual is sufficient to absolve that individual from guilt. Had you read the little works of my friend and colleague, here, Dr Watson, you would not have made such a mistake. Yet you claim to be a bookman!”
No. 1: The Edinburgh Mystery and Other Tales of Scottish Crime (2022) ed. by Martin Edwards
If, at the start of the year, I had to predict which collection I would enjoy the most, I don’t think this one would have sprung to mind, so it was an enjoyable surprise doing this ranking and finding out that it was. It is not a collection without its faults, as there are two stories which I didn’t think worth including, but the remaining tales consistently pull their weight.
Favourite Stories: ‘Thursday’s Child’ (1959) by Cyril Hare, ‘The Case of the Frugal Cake’ (1955) by Margot Bennett, ‘The Honour of Israel Gow’ (1911) by G. K. Chesterton and ‘The Body of Sir Henry’ (1929) by Augustus Muir
Chesterton’s story is a wonderful send-up of Holmesian deduction, with Father Brown producing new theories to explain the bizarre clues, only to show they are nonsense. The Muir story is an unusual one for me to select, as it is more of a thriller in tone, but I think the author tells his story well. Both Hare and Bennett pack a punch with their endings.
Over to You
Have you read any of these short story collections? Which did you like best? What do you look for in a short story?