I’ve been a fan of the British Library Crime Classics series for many years. Since 2012 they have been reprinting a decent selection of ‘golden-age’ mysteries (although not exclusively from this period) and the occasional short story anthology. As a general rule, the anthologies tend to be not quite as good; perhaps because a few of the stories have been anthologised elsewhere, whereas the novels are often overlooked or simply more obscure.

This one, Miraculous Mysteries, is – like the other anthologies in the series – edited by crime fiction expert Martin Edwards, himself a fine writer. Like the others, this one contains short stories from some of the famous names in the genre (such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L Sayers, Edmund Crispin, G K Chesterton, Margery Allingham and Michael Innes) alongside some from lesser known authors.

Although I tend to prefer the shorter length in such genres as horror or weird literature, the simple fact is that crime fiction doesn’t really suit the shorter form, due to its reliance on complex plotting and the need for a careful distribution of clues among the prose.

The introduction by Martin Edwards lists an interesting top ten of the best ‘locked room’ mystery novels, as voted for by the Mystery Writers of America in 1981. Like all of Edwards’ editorial content, there is much to enjoy in the details and his experience of it in the context of the genre.

My biggest problem with the locked-room mystery or the impossible crime is that the set-up and premise is always infinitely more interesting than the solution. Let’s face it, there are only so many ways one can kill someone in a locked room without stretching credulity to its limit. Even using hidden compartments or spring-loaded daggers fired at an arranged time starts to wear thin after a while. However what I did like about this anthology – which I read in the wake of a couple of others, notably a mammoth collection edited by Otto Penzler and a more modest one from Mike Ashley – is that there is some variation to the crime, so that the stories don’t become too monotonous. I can’t say I was particularly gripped by any of the tales, however the entries from Margery Allingham, Nicholas Olde, Grenville Robbins, GDH Cole and Margaret Cole were probably my favourites. It managed to pass a few entertaining hours, but this isn’t a book I would recommend to anyone looking to start out reading in the genre, and it’s not a patch on many of the other anthologies in the Crime Classic series, let alone the novels.

Another excellent anthology of crime stories selected by Martin Edwards, this time with lots of locked room and otherwise apparently impossible mysteries to enjoy. Keep them coming!

I would like to thank netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I always love these anthologies, there a glance into the golden age of detective fiction. It includes incredibly famous authors such as Conan Doyle as well as those that have disappeared with time.

I only skipped a few stories, so I'm impressed with the selection.

To be honest, I read this quite a while ago and thought I had already reviewed it. However, NetGalley doesn't seem to think so. I love the British Library Crime Classics. Not only is it wonderful to be able to read so many previously unknown (to me) authors but the covers are gorgeous. I own a few print copies and would love to own more. Miraculous Mysteries is a collection of locked room mysteries. I always enjoy seeing if I can work out how the murder was done. Some of the stories were a bit of a stretch but a suspension of belief is part of the fun. I particularly enjoyed The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy Sayers.

Who doesn't have a fascination with locked room mysteries?
This book defiantly speaks to everyone that does.
So if you do? Defiantly give this a try!

"Impossible crime stories have been relished by puzzle-lovers ever since the invention of detective fiction. Fiendishly intricate cases were particularly well suited to the cerebral type of detective story that became so popular during the ‘golden age of murder’ between the two world wars. But the tradition goes back to the days of Edgar Allan Poe and Wilkie Collins, and impossible crime stories have been written by such luminaries as Arthur Conan Doyle, G.K. Chesterton, Dorothy L. Sayers and Margery Allingham.

This anthology celebrates their work, alongside long-hidden gems by less familiar writers. Together these stories demonstrate the range and high accomplishment of the classic British impossible crime story over more than half a century."

Speaking of kings and queens of whodunnits...

I'm a fan of anthologies and if they are of British mysteries that is all the better! This book compiles many classic British short mysteries into one fun book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading each story and hope Martin Edwards comes out with another soon. I definitely recommend it!

From http://www.bookbarmy.com

Is it possible to have a crush on a publisher?

My heart beats faster, my fingers fondle their book covers, and my wallet giddily opens its arms -- all for The British Library Crime Series by Poisoned Pen Press.

Just look at these beauties, I mean really, what mystery reader could resist?
I first became aware of this series with my first purchase of THIS long lost favorite mystery. Since then I have cultivated a insatiable craving finely-tuned taste for this Poisoned Pen Press imprint.

In 1997, husband and wife founders, Robert Rosenwald and Barbara Peters, who are also the owners of the legendary Poisoned Pen Bookstore in Scottsdale, Arizona, saw an opportunity to re-publish the wonderful British mysteries novels of the 1930's and 1940's. They tapped into every bibliophile's secret desire --out of print titles, long lost authors, and beautiful covers to lovingly add to a bookcase:

“We knew that mystery readers wanted complete collections, so we thought we could make a business out of that.”
I've read several of these and, while some are better than others, all are well-plotted mysteries graced with some classic crime writing and completely interesting settings - in short they are pure fun escape reading.

There are locked room mysteries (Miraculous Mysteries), murders in Europe (Continental Crimes), small village settings (Death of a Busybody), and dead bodies in crumbling manors (Seven Dead).
In short, there's a British mystery for you in The British Library Crime Series. You got to love any publisher/bookseller who states this as their mission statement:

We are a community Bound By Mystery.

and who gathers praise such as this:

Hurrah to British Library Crime Classics for rediscovering some of the forgotten gems of the Golden Age of British crime writing.(Globe and Mail)

Might I suggest you support this fine enterprise by buying the books direct from their website ~ just click this logo.

A collection of "locked room" short stories, some by well-known mystery writers. Some were better than others, but the variety made for entertaining reading.

This was a collection of short stories where the stories were all related by being LOCKED ROOM mysteries. Some were very old all were from before the 21st century. The authors ranged from well-known (Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie) to very obscure.

Some of the stories were absolutely fascinating and the twists and turns rapid fire. Others not so great. It was entertaining in seeing how far the mystery genre has come.

A great selection of classic British crime fiction. Some by authors i previously was unaware of. I will now have a look out for these.
Some great stories and an enjoyable read.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest book review

Miraculous Mysteries (A British Library Crime Classic) is a smorgasbord of locked room and impossible crime stories. Published by Poisoned Pen Press in association with the British Library and edited by Martin Edwards. Locked room crime stories have long been a favorite of not only British readers, but of mystery lovers around the world.

Martin Edwards did a great job selecting sixteen short impossible crime stories from some of history's best mystery writers. Each story has a biographical note and introductory text written by Mr. Edwards. It gives the reader a chance to know more about the author and the work in question.

After every story, I wanted to put the book down for a bit, but always found myself starting the next story in the book.

My three favorite stories in this book are: 'The Haunted Policeman' by Dorothy L. Sayers, 'The Lost Special' by Arthur Conan Doyle, and 'The Miracle of Moon Crescent' by G.K Chesterton.

This book is akin to a can of Pringles chips.. The old jingle of 'Once you pop, you just can't stop', rings very true for this book.

I particularly love the classic covers that the British Library uses for their crime classics. Certainly a treat for the eyes as well! I have since then, added Silent Nights: Christmas Mysteries, also edited by Martin Edwards to my reading list. I look forward to reading this book from Poisoned Pen Press come Christmas time.

All in all, a very good locked room anthology containing sixteen stories of some of history's best and most influential writers.

I highly recommend this book for crime and mystery lovers!


Happy Reading!!!

The stories in this collection range from pretty good to pretty bad, but I consider only three of them to be fair examples of impossible crime mysteries, and only one of those is also a good story (by G. K. Chesterton). p

First off, there are really two different kinds of stories here. The more common is a crime that seems to admit only one solution, usually suicide in a locked room, due to careful planning by the criminal. The other is a a situation, not necessarily a crime, that seems to admit no solutions. A typical example is a man is seen walking into a room with only one door in and out, but does not leave through the door, is not in the room and no other exit seems possible. Arthur Conan Doyle and Dorothy Sayers contribute good stories that are bad mysteries.

A lot of the authors seem to confuse these two plots. In the first type of story, it is necessary to have a cunning villain with a strong obvious motive for the crime. The only reason to stage an elaborate locked room murder is that the murderer would be be the first suspect in any other sort of death. Moreover in these stories, the murderer should arrange things to make suicide plausible.

In too many of the stories in this book, people with obscure or insane motives arrange locked room crimes, which doesn't make sense. There would be far easier ways to commit a murder if you are not an obvious suspect. They also frequently arrange things to appear completely impossible. This is also counterproductive. If the crime seems impossible, people will keep investigating until they figure it out. The whole point is to give people an obvious solution that appears to rule out anything else. Finally, in a few stories the criminal does not seem to have the imagination, nerve and skill to pull something like this off.

Another problem is most of the stories do not play fair with the reader. To avoid spoilers I will describe them in general terms rather than in the specific forms they appear in the story.

The plodding initial investigator says something like, "There couldn't be any sort of secret panel, we examined every inch of the room with extreme care, except the fireplace of course." Then in the end there turns out to be a secret exit though the fireplace. The author has played fair in one sense, but it's a stupid device nonetheless. To be a good impossible puzzle, the reader should be able to rely that thorough searches were thorough. If the clue is obvious, as in the above example, there is no puzzle. If it's obscure, then it's not playing fair.

While it's fair to posit an insane person or irrational obsession, there should be only one. Some of these stories rely on multiple characters with hidden motives that had to interact to make the crime seem impossible; or in other cases one person has multiple unrelated irrational motives. The same goes for mistaken identities, identical twins separated at birth and unknown to each other, or other unlikely links in the chain--one is fair, more if they can be plausibly related to each other, but multiple independent ones should not be allowed.

Implausible mechanical devices that take two pages to describe are bad enough, but at least they should be constructed especially for the purpose by someone the reader is told has this kind of ability and resources. Finding centuries-old ones that precisely fit the criminal's needs and are in perfect working order is beyond the pale. Similarly, substances unknown to science can only be forgiven if the criminal is identified as someone who might conceivably discover or invent one of these.

If you want a collection of mixed quality mysteries from the first half of the 20th century, this book fits the bill. But it does not do a good job of ferreting out the best obscure impossible puzzles.

a wonderful collection of stories for readers who are familiar with some of the classic British mystery writers. the introductions to each story provide excellent context for the story and for the author, and will be useful for those wanting more from individual authors.

I'm passing on this one, but thanks for the opportunity

Locked doors don't guarantee safety... 5 stars

Over the last couple of years, I have developed something of an addiction for the themed anthologies being published under the British Library Crime Classics label. This one concentrates on “impossible” crimes - “locked room” mysteries and others of the kind where the emphasis is more on how it was done than on whodunit. As always, the stories have been selected by Martin Edwards who gives a brief introduction to each one telling a little about the author. They're printed in rough chronological order, covering the period from the beginning of the 20th century (or just before) through to 1960.

There are lots of well-known names here – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dorothy L Sayers, Margery Allingham, etc – as well as some more obscure authors, some of whom have appeared in the earlier anthologies and some who I think are making their first appearance. The crimes are a lot of fun, ranging from the fiendishly clever but quite possible to work out if you have that kind of mind, to ones that rely on something that couldn't have been known – trick doors or things of that nature. I did guess a few, but was baffled by plenty, and even the easier to solve ones are still entertaining.

As with all anthologies, the quality is variable but I must say I think the average standard throughout this collection is actually higher than in some of the earlier collections. Perhaps this kind of puzzle just appeals more to me, but I don't think that's it, really – I think this is just a particularly good group of stories. There are sixteen of them in total, and I ranked ten of them as either 4 or 5 stars, with only one getting a rating lower than 3 (and that was the GK Chesterton story, which can be put down to my own prejudice – I simply don't enjoy his style).

Great fun! I now feel quite qualified to bump off anyone who annoys me in ways that will baffle the greatest detective minds...

I’ve said before that I’m not a big fan of short stories, often finding them disappointing. So I’m glad to say that I enjoyed this anthology. Some stories, of course, are better than others.

These are the sixteen stories in the collection. Martin Edwards has prefaced each one with a brief biographical note, which I found useful as some of the authors were new to me. I read the collection slowly, which I find is the best way to approach a short story collection.

The Lost Special by Arthur Conan Doyle (not a Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson story) about a train that disappears on its route from Liverpool to London. This was first published in The Strand Magazine in 1898.

The Thing Invisible by William Hope Hodgson, an author I hadn’t come across before. First published in 1913 this is a murder mystery dressed up as a ‘ghost’ story. Very atmospheric.

The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room by Sax Rohmer, another new-to-me author, although I had heard of his most well known character, the master criminal Dr Fu Manchu. In this story amateur detective Moris Klaw and his beautiful daughter investigate a locked room murder in a museum, involving ‘psychic photographs’.

The Aluminum Dagger by Richard Austin Freeman, featuring one of Dr. John Thorndyke’s scientific stories, describing in detail how a man was discovered in a locked room, stabbed to death.

The Miracle of Moon Crescent by G. K. Chesterton, a Father Brown story set in America, in which the cleric investigates a death by a curse.

The Invisible Weapon by Nicholas Olde, an impossible murder mystery, in which there is only one man who could have done it – and he could not have done it.

The Diary of Death by Marten Cumberland – an impossible crime, a kind of chess problem. Lilian Hope’s diary provides a list of victims -people she had hated.

The Broadcast Murder by Grenville Robbins, in which a murder takes place in a radio station and is broadcast has it happens.

The Music-Room by Sapper (not a Bulldog Drummond story), featuring a secret passage and a falling chandelier.

Death at 8:30 by Christopher St. John Sprigg, in which a murderer predicts the date and exact time of the death of the victim unless a ransom is paid.

Too Clever By Half by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole – Dr Tancred’s advice, if you intend to commit a murder, is don’t make the mistake of trying to be clever!

Locked In by E. Charles Vivian – a death by shooting in a locked room.

The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy L. Sayers (a Lord Peter Wimsey story) – probably my favourite in the collection. It had me completely mystified. The policeman is new to the beat and can’t believe his eyes.

The Sands of Thyme by Michael Innes (a John Appleby story) murder at Thyme Bay, or was it suicide? Footprints in the sand provide a clue.

Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin (a Gervase Fen story), a clever and baffling story about a lost train driver.

The Villa Marie Celeste by Margery Allingham (an Albert Campion and Inspector Luke story) – another favourite, in which a young couple disappear, leaving behind their half-eaten breakfast, taking only a couple of clean linen sheets. There was no clue why they left and no signs of any violence.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
I really love anthologies. When you feel like doing reading but don't relish reading a long book, these can be so enjoyable. I am particularly fond of the anthologies that Martin Edwards puts together and this is no exception.
Writers and readers have long loved the impossible mystery where there is no way it could happen and yet, it does. Locked doors or crimes scenes with no way in or out have been the source of much entertainment. Here is a collection of some of the classics from writers of yesterday. Rooms with no apparent egress, an isolated stretch of beach with one set of footprints leading to the body and none out, a train where the driver disappears as the train rolls into the station. These are just three of the tales and each one is a treat.
Clearly there is always a twist, sometimes more than one at the end. These authors have devious minds. It makes for a quick and easy read, where one can read as much or as little as time and interest permit.
I give it five purrs and two paws up.

A train that disappears without trace. A haunted chapel containing a dagger with a mind of its own. An entire crime scene which vanishes overnight. A series of unexplained deaths in a museum. A house suddenly abandoned like the Mary Celeste. These are just a few of the puzzles to be solved in Miraculous Mysteries, the latest of the British Library Crime Classics anthologies edited by Martin Edwards.

There are sixteen stories in the collection and they each deal with a different locked room murder or ‘impossible crime’. These are often my favourite types of mysteries – crimes which at first appear to have no rational explanation but with solutions which are either completely ingenious or so simple the reader is left wondering how they could possibly have been fooled! For that reason, I’m not going to discuss the individual stories in any detail but will just give each one a brief mention.

Many of the authors whose stories are featured in Miraculous Mysteries were new to me (although some of them may already be familiar to those of you who have read other books from the Crime Classics series) and I appreciated the biographical information Martin Edwards provides before every story. I was particularly impressed by Christopher St John Sprigg’s Death at 8:30 in which the exact time of a man’s death is predicted, and Nicholas Olde’s The Invisible Weapon, a short but perfectly paced mystery which I felt that I should have been able to solve, but didn’t quite manage it!

Although many of the stories in the book feature a crime committed in an actual locked room (Too Clever by Half by husband and wife team G.D.H. and Margaret Cole, Locked In by E. Charles Vivian and The Aluminium Dagger by R. Austin Freeman are three examples), there are others which don’t. Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost Special is the disappearing train story I mentioned in my opening paragraph – it’s not a Sherlock Holmes mystery, but it does include a letter written by an anonymous person I would like to think might be Holmes! The Sands of Thyme by Michael Innes – the first time I’ve had the pleasure of reading Innes – is set outside in the open air but the principles are the same as in a locked room mystery, with the crime taking place in a seemingly impossible location.

The Music Room by Sapper (better known for his series of Bulldog Drummond crime thrillers) is another good one. By the time I came to this story I was halfway through the book and took a moment to reflect on how rarely, when it comes to stories like these, we are given access to the detective’s own thought processes. The authors included in this collection find a variety of different approaches to take – the detective entertaining a friend with an account of an old case; a passive narrator observing the actions of his detective companion; anything to make the mystery more difficult to solve and to keep ‘obvious’ clues obscured from the reader until the end of the story.

What else is there? Well, there’s The Thing Invisible, a gothic, ghostly mystery by William Hope Hodgson, The Diary of Death by Marten Cumberland, about a killer who appears to be using a diary for inspiration, and The Broadcast Murder by Grenville Robbins, which is set in a radio studio. We also meet detectives ranging from the obscure – such as Sax Rohmer’s Moris Klaw, who investigates The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room – to the better known, such as G.K. Chesterton’s Father Brown, who appears in The Miracle of Moon Crescent. And it was good to be reacquainted with Gervase Fen, Oxford Professor of English Language and Literature, in Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin. I was hoping for something more fun and quirky from Crispin (remembering The Moving Toyshop, which I read last year), but still, this was quite an enjoyable story about a missing train driver.

Two of my favourite stories, though, were The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy L. Sayers, a Lord Peter Wimsey story which offers an intriguing twist on the locked room mystery, and The Villa Marie Celeste by Margery Allingham, in which a family disappear from their home – but have they been murdered or is something else going on? This last story is an Albert Campion mystery and I think I actually enjoyed it more than the full-length Campion novel I read last year!

Although the quality varied from story to story, none of them disappointed me, and on the whole I thought this book was a great read. I’ll definitely consider reading more of Martin Edwards’ British Library Crime Classics anthologies.

I love the job that Edwards does editing these short story collections. Before each story is a very short biography of the author so I know who they are and what they are known for and for me this context really adds to the enjoyment of reading. I love a locked door mystery and this collection really takes those mysteries to the next level as not only do most of the murders occur in a locked room but they are seemingly impossible. Some I could figure out but others I was clueless until the reveal.

A number of the authors I was familiar with but several were completely new to me. I think my favorite new discovery was Sax Rhomer who created the master-criminal Dr. Fu Manchu. While he wasn't in the short story collection included in this book the detective Moris Klaw was and I very much enjoyed watching him solve what seemed to be an impossible locked door mystery. My favorite story over all was probably Dorothy Sayers' The Haunted Policeman. It is not difficult to see why she has so wonderfully stood the test of time while so many of the other authors in this book have faded more in obscurity. While all the mysteries were entertaining brain twisters some were on the dry side. This isn't a book I'd want to dive into and read in one setting but it was a complete delight to read a story or two each night - a delicious twisty little treat at the end of the day.