There are seventeen "impossible" or "locked door" mysteries presented in this compilation. They are by various authors - some well known, some not so much - with dates of original publication that range from 1898 (The Lost Special by Arthur Conan Doyle) to 1960 (The Villa Marie Celeste by Margery Allingham). It should come as no surprise that several of the stories presented are terribly dated (at least one was written well over a hundred years ago!) and offer more of a historical perspective on the sub-genre than anything else.

One of the things I found really interesting about these stories was the way in which the style of "impossible" crimes changed throughout the passage of time. At least as presented here, the earlier stories seem to have started out as a somewhat gimmick-y way to get a reader's attention, providing improbable solutions closer to the realm of science fiction than actual mystery, before evolving into a more cerbral type of thing where the solution to the mystery seemed to be based more solidly in the "real" world.

Some of the earliest stories are written in a stodgy, overly proper fashion that made it a little bit difficult for me to get into. There isn't any bad stuff here but at the same time only a few (in my opinion) that really standout as truly exceptional.

The book wasn't quite what I had expected but I did enjoy it. For some reason - a misunderstanding that was entirely my own fault - I thought it would be more along the lines of a mystery puzzle-type thing, presenting all the clues for the reader to try to solve each crime.

By the way, of the seventeen mysteries I figured out four and had a kinda, sorta, almost, very close but not quite sure idea of the solution to a few others.

I would recommend this title to anyone with an interest in old-fashioned mysteries. There is one story (The Haunted Policeman by Dorothy L. Sayers) that contains a character who utters racial slurrs, other than that everything here is suitable for most all readers.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review thie title

Exceptionally enjoyable selection of locked room & miraculous Classic Crime short stories. Like most avid readers of crime & mystery I had read about 5 from the 16 stories included in this anthology - however because Martin Edwards has selected some of the best stories - re-reading those I have read is therefore a pure pleasure. Edwards seems to be making an ever better job of finding and selecting short stories for The British Library Classic Crime series - which is no mean feat as there are thousands to chose from and many which are below par. I am very much looking forward to his next three planned anthologies - Continental Crimes (June) The Long Arm of the Law (Aug) Foreign Bodies (Oct).
I would however like to ask Amazon & the Publishers to improve on the following:
The Amazon profile NEVER includes the full list of stories and their authors in it's product description
The Kindle version doesn't give the authors names on the content page (where as the paperback does - which is inconvenient because you have go into each story to find out who wrote it.)
I would really appreciate it - if each story had the year of it's first known publication and the title and publishers name included in Martin Edwards description (sometimes this is included but not always).

Miraculous Mysteries is a compilation of mainly locked room and puzzle mysteries presented in roughly historical order beginning with Arthur Conan Doyle and ending with Margery Allingham. It is, at best, a mixed bag.

I don’t care much for the late 19th and early 20th century locked room mysteries. Most depend on secret passages, hidden rooms, and diabolical mechanisms to mislead the reader and this collection is no exception. The early story, The Thing Invisible by William Hope Hodgson, has a diabolical ancient dagger in a family chapel which activates and kills enemies of the family. There are poisonous harps, malevolent chandeliers, pistols set with ingenious timers, etc. The Arthur Conan Doyle story has a five car train vanishing between two rural train stations. The solution is so fantastic that Doyle must have needed some pin money when he wrote it. (Plus Holmes, not yet returned from his “death” at Reichenbach Falls, would have solved it in two minutes with his logical approach).

As Dr. Tancred states in Too Clever By Half by G. D. H. and Margaret Cole, “My dear fellow, do let me give you a word of advice. If ever you make up your mind to commit a murder, don’t make the mistake of trying to be clever. Push the chap over a precipice or shoot him from behind a hedge, or something of that sort, and get away from the scene of the crime as fast as you can. Don’t do anything else. Above all, don’t start laying false clues, or trying to build up an unbreakable alibi. I assure you, many more murderers have been hanged through being too clever than through not being so clever as Scotland Yard.”

There are some real gems in this collection and they are by the best of the Golden Age authors. One of the best is Sayers’ The Haunted Policemen if for nothing more than the charming opening scene where Lord Peter Wimsey views his son and heir for the first time. The mystery is good, too, Michael Innes, tongue in cheek, has Appleby end a short story with a pun that is so bad it is wonderful. The Villa Marie Celeste finds Allingham’s charmer Albert Campion solve the disappearance of a sweet young couple from their kitchen. The ending is more than satisfactory.

So, enjoy this collection for the absurd mechanical puzzles and the “less is more” true mysteries. I think the sleigh of hand is much better than the elaborate illusions.