Another outstanding collection of mysteries from Poisoned Pen Press, thematically linked, this time, by the "impossible crime." To my mind, the locked room mystery is well-served by the short story format as the author can't spend too much time farting around with train time-tables and drawings of table settings; he or she must get in, stab someone on an empty beach, and give us a solution in 10 pages or less. Anyway, this was an especially strong set of mysteries (I only read one that I felt was unfair to the reader) that draws on old favorites and some new (to me) names. Highly recommend.

Miraculous Mysteries is a compilation that’s like a bag of potato chips. Once you open its pages, you will not be able to stop at just one.

Many including me love locked room mysteries. The quest to figure out how a crime is committed in a space with no way for the perpetrator to exit is delicious to say the least. The solving of these mysterious mysteries is good for this aging brain and good fun too.

Almost forgot to give the fine authors their due. Some old friends and some new acquaintances for me. Most familiar were Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K Chesterton, Margery Allingham, and Arthur Conan Doyle, but don't expect a Sherlock story. Nicholas Olde, Sax Rohmer, and Austin Freeman are a just a few that I will need to add to my reading list.

Love the old-fashioned look of The British Library Crime Classics covers, the hues and tones and the content is top-notch too. Miraculous Mysteries: Locked Room Mysteries and Impossible Crimes is a book I need to own. It’s a solid collection and a must for fans of this genre, edited by Martin Edwards.

This collection provides quite a mixture of mystery stories, all of the impossible, locked room variety. Locked room stories are not always my favorite mysteries, but there are some very good ones in this collection; a few are quite clever in unexpected ways. There are also a few that were, for me, quite forgettable (especially, for some reason, at the beginning). Most stories are set in the pre-WWII years of Britain, with only one later. One story, by Dorothy Sayers, uses a derogatory word never used now which bothered me as I read, but I realize was a part of a different time (written in the 1930s).

Many of the stories I enjoyed were written by authors completely unknown to me before. Some of these writers had lengthy careers in mystery writing, others wrote little in the genre or worked in other fields entirely. So those seeking more materials may find more authors to seek out elsewhere. Edwards continues to provide brief but fairly complete biographies on each writer.

If you are a fan of golden age mysteries, particularly of the locked room variety, then this book will be a good choice for you.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Miraculous Mysteries is a wonderful little collection of impossible crimes by some of crime fiction’s best loved writers.
The collection is varied, with all sorts of mysteries which all have one thing in common – they are seemingly impossible to solve. The book opens with a gem from Conan Doyle ‘The Lost Special’ which was probably the best story of the whole book. Other highlights included ‘Diary of Death’ and ‘Death at 8.30’ by relatively unknown authors.

Impossible Crimes are perfect for mystery lovers because of the challenge they offer and the intelligence and wit that goes into them. Think Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and it is easy to understand why these stories are popular.

This mix of authors, some of who were lesser known, and their different styles was refreshing. The stories were fun, with some that were completely impossible and others which you could have a good stab at working out. This is the perfect combination, as you don’t want to have to be working things out constantly as you go, so it allows you to sit back and relax and just enjoy the novels too.

My favourite stories were the ones that built up more context and scenario around the crime, allowing me to get a little more caught up in the action, for example like in ‘Too Clever by Half’. I also enjoyed having a bit of background about the writers as this helped me learn a bit more about them, or even recognise them from characters that I am culturally aware of.

The thing that did grate on me slightly was that despite the effort to include a few female writers in what is clearly a white male dominated genre – none of the ‘detectives’ whether officially in the role of detective or not, was female. I felt like there surely could be a good Miss Marple or other witty female out there solving impossible murders, however as they were classic short stories they are drawn from a time period where such stories were in short supply.

Overall I did really enjoy this book, and it is absolutely perfect for when you want a quick crime to solve with a cuppa and some cake – because that is the only way you should read these stories.


I received this book as an advanced reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.

Martin Edwards’ anthology of “locked-door” mystery short stories from the Golden Age proves a mixed bag. Unfortunately, Edwards, an English solicitor and a mystery writer in his own right, front-loaded the collection with the dross, saving the gems for last. I nearly abandoned the book because the short stories at the beginning were so forgettable! So let this review serve as a warning to skip ahead.

Edwards includes a few fine short stories from well-known authors: Dorothy L. Sayers (“The Haunted Policeman”), Michael Innes (“The Sands of Thyme”), Edmund Crispin (“Beware of the Trains”), and Margery Allingham (“The Villa Marie Celeste”). Not all of Miraculous Mysteries’ stories literally feature a locked room; however, all center on an “impossible crime” unraveled by a clever detective, whether professional or amateur. Other short stories that make the anthology worth the price are Nicolas Olde’s “The Invisible Weapon,” Grenville Robbins’ “The Broadcast Murder,” Sapper’s ironic “The Music Room,” “Death at 8:30” by Christopher St. John Sprigg (the author of the fabulous Death of an Airman, a writer sadly cut down in his youth fighting in the Spanish Civil War), E. Charles Vivian’s “Locked In,” and G.D.H. and Margaret Cole’s “Too Clever by Half,” my personal favorite.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review.

Terrific collection of classic locked room murder mysteries.
I hadn't read any of these before, but each featured ingenious solutions.
This is a must for any Golden Age of Mystery fan!

What a varied collection this is. The detectives range from the amateur artists, through the professional and semi-professional detectives, all the way to a psychic. Some of the authors are well known and others were mostly forgotten, but all are good. Edwards choice of stories is excellent. He also introduced me to several new authors. It will be fun to look into their other works.
I think my favorite was The Broadcast Murder by Grenville Robbins. The solution wasn’t that hard, but the writing style was wonderful. I enjoyed it so much that I was quite disappointed to find out there wasn’t much more written by this author.
My least favorite was The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room. It’s part of a very short series of stories, and I can see why. It has to be one of the oddest ‘detective stories’ I’ve ever read.
A few of the stories have a mild swear word or two, but the Dorothy L. Sayers’s story had quite a few. There were enough unnecessary words in that one that I probably won’t read more of her works.
I received this as a free ARC from NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. No review was required, but it was my pleasure to write it.

I had heard about the British Library Books in this series and was really intrigued by them. I was not disappointed these are a number of short stories (16 in total) including one from Conan Doyle. These are mysteries pre internet and mobile phones which brings a different element to a crime novel. These are great throw backs and if you can solve them then well done some of the stories are fiendish. Some work better than others but a great read and highly recommended.

I love Golden Age Mysteries, and this collection of short stories fed my passion! I particularly appreciated the introductory notes to each story, giving some background on each author, their career, and their other writings.

While the stories were not always the “best-of” each of the authors, as a collection they made a fascinating retrospective on the classic locked room mystery, and introduced me to a few new authors whose longer works I’ll be on the lookout for.

Great fun for anyone who is a fan of the classic locked room mystery.

A stunning collection of classic locked room mysteries.
Each one is an absolute treat to read.
I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Locked room mysteries are a standard puzzle in mystery books and TV shows. They have enduring popularity. This collection from the Golden Age of British mysteries collects 17 short works that all have "locked rooms" at the heart of them.

The book, arranged in chronological order, starts off much slower than the other collections in the series with stories that are wordy, rather dull, and seem to describe the problem in the same words even though they are by different authors. After the GK Chesterton entry the pace picks up beautifully with mysteries that present wonderful variations on this theme. The authors include many popular writers including Dorothy Sayers, Michael Innes, and Margery Allingham.

The later stories are delights, making the book a great addition to this fine series.

Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this collection of mysteries. They are all of the "locked room" variety, and are mostly written in the earlier days of mysteries. Some of the authors are more recognizable (Dorothy Sayers, Arthur Conan Doyle, Margery Allingham) while others were unfamiliar to me. There does not make them less interesting to read, and the solutions to the crimes are all ingenious and inventive.

As is all anthologies, some of the stories are better than others, but as a whole this is a great read. Definitely for fans of the British mystery!

“Miraculous Mysteries” is a must-have anthology for every mystery reader. It is a collection of hard to find, quick yet fantastic reads by top classic mystery writers, for example, Arthur Conan Doyle, Marten Cumberland, Edmund Crispin, and Dorothy Sayers. It has something for every reader. I took this collection on my recent vacation and loved every story, even the ones I had read previously. A collection such as this allows a fan of mystery books to read and finish a compelling story all in one sitting. It is perfect for plane trips, car rides, or while waiting for appointments or when taking others (CHILDREN) to practice, or lessons, or games, or meetings, or afterschool events – the list goes on!

I was privileged to receive an advance copy of this collection to review, and it made my recent vacation trip both mysterious and enjoyable without interrupting my other plans. I could read these classic mysteries again and again and love them each time.

I received an e-ARC of this book of short stories through NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press. Thank you.

This collection of short stories has a lot going for it. Included in this book are 16 locked room, or often called impossible, puzzles needing a solution. Luckily for those of us who especially enjoy these older classics there were some fine deductive thinkers on the scene. As is almost a standard for a collection of this type the editor, Martin Edwards, has included a brief biographical segment at the beginning of each story to help the reader understand the placement that author had in crime fiction of that period. The stories are arranged more or less in chronological order so I got a nice mixture of authors I was familiar with bumping up against those I didn't know at all.

Here is a list of the story titles and authors:
The Lost Special by Arthur Conan Doyle (not a Sherlock Holmes/Dr. Watson story)
The Thing Invisible by William Hope Hodgson
The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room by Sax Rohmer
The Aluminum Dagger by R. Austin Freeman
The Miracle of Moon Crescent by G. K. Chesterton
The Invisible Weapon by Nicholas Olde
The Diary of Death by Marten Cumberland
The Broadcast Murder by Grenville Robbins
The Music-Room by Sapper (not a Bulldog Drummond story)
Death at 8:30 by Christopher St. John Sprigg
Too Clever By Half by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole
Locked In by E. Charles Vivian
The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy L. Sayers (a Lord Peter Wimsey story)
The Sands of Thyme by Michael Innes (a John Appleby story)
Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin (a Gervase Fen story)
The Villa Marie Celeste by Margery Allingham (an Albert Campion and Inspector Luke story)

There was only one story I didn't particularly enjoy and only one that I solved as it was unfolding. Altogether a very pleasant time of enjoying short snippets of wonderfully written stories at my leisure.

I am a avid crime fiction fan. Especially ones from the Golden Era.
These stories was addictive. I absolutely loved every word, every mystery. every twist and turn.
Thank you so much for allowing me the privileged to read this magical and compulsive stories.

A selection (16) of 'locked room'mysteries, mainly published in the early 20th century. There were a couple I really enjoyed while the rest I would say were adequate, with various writing styles. Overall the collection was an interesting mix, and of the authors, I had read other stories from just over half.
If your interest lies in short stories and British classic mysteries then this book will be of interest.

"Miraculous Mysteries" is a short story collection of 16 locked room or impossible-seeming mysteries, though some were not as baffling as that sounds. These are clue-based puzzle mysteries. Many could be solved from the provided clues, but some withheld clues until the big reveal. There are only so many ways to do a locked room mystery, so I could guess at least the general method of murder in most of the stories. There was no sex. There was occasional use of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable collection.
The included stories:

The Lost Special by Arthur Conan Doyle
The Thing Invisible by William Hope Hodgson
The Case of the Tragedies in the Greek Room by Sax Rohmer
The Aluminium Dagger by R. Austin Freeman
The Miracle of the Moon Crescent by G.K. Chestertom
The Invisible Weapon by Nicholas Olde
The Diary of Death by Marten Cumberland
The Broadcast Murder by Grenville Robbins
The Music-Room by Sapper
Death at 8.30 by Christopher St. John Sprigg
Too Clever by Half by G.D.H. and Margaret Cole
Locked In by E. Charles Vivian
The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy L. Sayers
The Sands of Thyme by Michael Innes
Beware of the Trains by Edmund Crispin
The Villa Marie Celeste by Margery Allingham

I really enjoy these anthologies edited by Martin Edwards, The stories are described as "the crème de la crème" of Impossible crimes and locked room mysteries, and as all books filled with stories one may agree or disagree according to taste. I really enjoyed these, most of these were new to me, which was a bonus, and the introduction by Martin Edwards are really interesting and add a great deal to the book. I really recommend this to anyone who enjoys the older style of writing.