Short Story Wednesday: Golden Age Detective Stories, edited by Otto Penzler

 

I sampled four stories from this anthology, which is part of the American Mystery Classics series published by Penzler Publications. Each story has an introduction with information about the author and the specific story. As I was not familiar with all of these authors, that information was welcome.

"The Enemy" by Charlotte Armstrong

This story begins with an altercation between a group of young boys and a man who lives in their neighborhood. A dog belonging to one of the boys has been found dead, poisoned. They blame the death on the man, who denies that he had anything to do with it. The police are brought in but say that there is no proof and they cannot follow up. Mike Russell is the amateur detective who offers to help the boys investigate further. An interesting story that has a surprising ending.

This story was recommended by Jerry House at a previous Short Story Wednesday post at Patti Abbott's blog. 

"The Stripper" by Anthony Boucher

First paragraph:

He was called Jack The Stripper because the only witness who had seen him and lived (J. F. Flugelbach, 1463 N. Edgemont) had described the glint of moonlight on bare skin. The nickname was inevitable.

So what we have here is a serial killer who only works in the nude. I am not fond of serial killer mysteries, but since it is both short and a good locked-room mystery, that is OK.

Sister Ursula is a character in two of Anthony Boucher's novels and a few short stories. She works with Lieutenant Marshall on some cases. In this story, she calls Marshall to tell him that a professor at the university has some information about the possible identity of Jack the Stripper. Unfortunately by the time she calls the lieutenant, the professor has already been murdered. This is a locked-room story, with only three possible men who could be the culprit. The mystery did not impress me but it was a good read anyway.

"The Monkey Murder" by Stuart Palmer

Hildegarde Withers, a middle-aged school teacher, is the sleuth in this story, working with Detective Oscar Piper occasionally. Those two solved crimes in 14 mystery novels, and I have read and enjoyed three of those. There were also six film adaptations of the novels in the 1930s and I have watched all of those. 

For me, it was fun to return to reading about these two characters, but overall the story did not make much sense to me. 

I have at least one collection of Stuart Palmer's short stories starring Hildegarde Withers, and I will read more of them.

"Puzzle for Poppy" by Patrick Quentin

Peter and Iris Duluth are the detective pair in this story. The story was originally published in 1946. Peter Duluth is still in the military following the war; while he is on shore leave, he is enjoying a short vacation with his wife, an actress. They are renting one half of a hacienda in La Jolla, California; the other half is owned by a pregnant St. Bernard, who lives with her guardian, Miss Crump. Poppy, the St. Bernard, inherited most of the estate of her very rich owner; there are unhappy relatives who would benefit if Poppy dies before she delivers her puppies. Miss Crump tells Peter and Iris that the relatives have tried to kill Poppy multiple times. So they try to locate those relatives, prove their guilt, and save the dog. A complex story, not a lot of surprises, but a fun read.

My Books from the 2026 Book Sale

 

The Planned Parenthood Book Sale is held in September every year, and we have attended the sale for many years. The sale lasts ten days, and we go five times. This year, as usual, I bought far too many books. I noticed that the prices were generally higher this year, especially for more current books. That makes sense, but I was surprised. It did not impact how many books I bought; I consider the money I spend at the sale a donation to Planned Parenthood. 

In this post, I am featuring six of the books I found at the sale this year.

Great Short Books: A Year of Reading Briefly (2022) by Kenneth C. Davis

This is a book my husband found for me. He always finds the best books in the Anthologies section, the ones I always miss. 

In the introduction, Davis explains why he started reading short books during the pandemic, and how that inspired him to write a guide to recommended books in that category. The introduction is all I have read so far and I found it a good read.

The author has selected 58 short novels. They range from 50 pages to 200 pages. He selected a few books over 200 pages because he especially wanted to include the author; for example, Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie at 255 pages. For each book he included these sections: First Lines, Plot Summary (with no spoilers), About the Author, Why You Should Read It, and What to Read Next. Of the short books that are covered in this book, I have read Animal Farm, Charlotte's Web, Dept. of Speculation, Evil Under the Sun, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Maus I, Mrs. Dalloway, Passing, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

The Man in the Wooden Hat (2009) by Jane Gardam

In January of this year, I read Old Filth by Jane Gardam. That book focused on Teddy Feathers. He acquired the nickname "Old Filth" when he was in Hong Kong. FILTH is an acronym for Failed in London Try Hong Kong. Old Filth covers some parts of Teddy's life from his childhood to the point he is evacuated to Singapore at eighteen, when World War II begins. The Man in the Wooden Hat is a companion piece to Old Filth, telling the story of his wife of fifty years, Betty. 

Murder at Gulls Nest (2025) by Jess Kidd

This was on my list for the book sale, so I know I had a previous interest in the book, but at the sale I think it was this cover that grabbed my attention. I have always like to read about nuns or monks in fiction, and it is also interesting to read about a nun who has left the order. I have read good things about this book so I took a chance on it even though I haven't read any previous books by Jess Kidd.

What other books by Jess Kidd would you recommend?

Buckeye (2025) by Patrick Ryan

I was attracted to this book for several reasons. My husband was born and raised in Ohio and I liked the idea of reading a book with a focus on Ohio. It is a family saga over multiple generations; I haven't read a lot of that type of book and wanted to broaden my horizons. The setting is a small town and usually I like that environment, probably because I never spent much time in a small town. Plus the setting in time, starting around World War II and going through the Vietnam era. I just felt like I had to read this book, and I was glad I found a nice copy at the book sale. 

The Scapegoat (1957) by Daphne du Maurier

After I read Rebecca, I began looking for more novels by Daphne du Maurier and this is the fourth one I have added to my collection. The cover describes this book as a "novel of impersonation." I have read at least two other impersonation novels, and I enjoyed them. This type of situation generally forces the reader to suspend disbelief but I usually don't have a problem with that. Here is a description from Goodreads.

By chance, two men -- one English, the other French -- meet in a provincial railway station. Their resemblance is uncanny, and they spend the evening talking and drinking. It is not until John wakes the next morning that he realizes his French companion has stolen his identity and disappeared. So John steps into the Frenchman's shoes, and faces a variety of perplexing roles -- as owner of a chateau, director of a failing business, head of a fractious family, and master of nothing.

The Doorman (2025) by Chris Pavone

Chris Pavone published five novels between 2012 and 2022. Most of those books were primarily espionage stories, although they don't fit the standard mold for a spy story. I enjoyed all of them. So when this novel came out, there was no way I was going to pass it up, no matter what it was about. 

The Doorman is a mystery thriller, but I gather that there are no espionage elements. It seems to be a story about a lot of very rich people living in an apartment building. As usual, I have avoided reading about the story in advance so my description here could be off. From what I can glean from various sources, this book highlights the distance between the well-to-do inhabitants of the building and the staff that takes care of their needs and includes some social commentary. Chicky Diaz, the main character, is the doorman at the Bohemia, a super-luxurious apartment house in New York City. The story is also told from the point of view of various residents.

Station Eternity: Mur Lafferty

 

This book has been on my TBR stack for a while; I borrowed it from my son soon after he bought at the Planned Parenthood book sale two years ago. I wanted to read this book because I was looking for science fiction books set on a space station. This fits the bill for sure, but it is also a first contact story and a mystery. There are even some elements of spy fiction, since the US military sends a spy to the station with several missions. 

At the beginning of the book, the setting is the space station, Station Eternity. The station is sentient, and has control over who can board the space station. Most of the beings on board the space station are aliens. There are many different alien species on the station; one of them is the Gneiss, who are very large and look like rocks. Another species is very small. They resemble the wasps on earth and are called the Sundry. Some of the Sundry are blue, some are silver, and they have their differences. 

Initially, only three humans have been allowed on the station: The ambassador from earth, who achieved his position due to his facility with languages, and doesn't have a clue about diplomacy; Mallory Veridian; and Xan Morgan ("Xan" is short for Alexander). Mallory and Xan are both in their early thirties, I am guessing, and they knew each other on earth before they were given sanctuary by Station Eternity. 

The book is divided into three sections. The first section introduces Mallory, Xan, and some of the aliens, plus details Mallory's experiences on the space station. At the end of Part One, a shuttle with visitors from earth has arrived and there has been a mishap when the shuttle attempts to dock with the Station Eternity. 

In Part Two, the point of view shifts away from Mallory to various aliens and the new arrivals from earth, and provides more background information for Xan. Several of the humans who were chosen to visit are connected to either Mallory or Xan in some way. Much of the story is revealed in flashbacks in this section, and that can be confusing. 

The third section pulls together several ongoing plots with both the aliens and the humans, and resolves the mystery plot.

My Thoughts:

• I am glad I finally read Station Eternity; it was the perfect story for me and especially at this time. I needed a book with humor. It was longer, at 445 pages, but it was also fast-paced, which made it an easier read. The first contact story was unusual (at least it seemed so to me since I haven't read that much science fiction), and a good mystery too. 
• The book I read prior to this book was The Good Thief's Guide to Amsterdam by Chris Ewan. The main character in that book was a thief who also writes mysteries about a thief. I was surprised to find that the main character in this book, Mallory, also writes mysteries. In this case she writes mysteries because no one will hire her for any job because everywhere she goes, murders occur. So she writes thinly veiled mystery fiction about her life.
• This is also a story about families and relationships. When the humans on the shuttle arrive, a lot of them have connections to either Xan or Mallory (or both). And there is a grandmother who has brought her granddaughter to the station because she thinks that the aliens can cure her granddaughter's injuries. 
• There are some challenges in reading this book. There are a lot characters. Combine that with the changes in point of view characters and the frequent use of short flashbacks, and it can get confusing. Some of the scenes with the aliens were over my head. But none of that bothered me. I loved it from beginning to end.
• This is the first book in the Midsolar Murders Series, and I will be getting book 2 in the series.

Short Story Wednesday: "Summer Games" by L.C. Tyler

In this story the narrator, John Smith, is invited to a country house weekend by an old coworker who he can hardly remember, although he knows that he did not like him very much. The ex-coworker, William Kilvington, inherited a castle from his uncle and quit his job. 

The invitation mentions that there may be a corpse or two, so John assumes it will be a murder mystery game. Out of curiosity, John decides to go. The party will begin on Midsummer's Eve and he is instructed to tell no one that he is coming. 

John arrives via taxi, due to a delay in transportation, although all the other guests arrived via prearranged transportation. The guests are a mixed bag. Among them is a coworker who worked with them in their previous job, the builder who has been working on the castle, and one of Kilvington's cousins, who is contesting the will.

There are complications, of course, and soon there is a dead body. The story was humorous and the ending was very unexpected. I liked the story a lot.

First two paragraphs:

"It's like an enchanted castle out of the Arthurian Legends," I said. "From such a battlement might Morgan le Fay have watched in vain for Lancelot."

The taxi driver nodded thoughtfully. "Shit road, though," he said.

 

This story was published in Midsummer Mysteries: Short Stories, edited by Martin Edwards. I first read a couple of stories from this book in August of this year, and reviewed them here.

L.C. Tyler, the author of this story, has written two crime series. The first series is the contemporary Ethelred and Elsie mysteries, which is a humorous series, and the second is the John Grey historical mysteries set in the seventeenth century, which I assume are more serious. You can check out Tyler's website here.

This story is the first fiction I have read by Tyler, but my husband has several books in the Ethelred and Elsie mystery series and I plan to try that series myself.

Books Read in August 2026

 

I only read 5 books this month. Don't get me wrong. Five books in a month is fine. But I have a minimum of 15 books I want to read before the end of the year, and if I only read 5 a month I won't even finish those. Woe is me.

However, with the exception of one book, I was very happy with my reading for the month. And the one book I did not enjoy was on my classics list and was a worthwhile read, so I cannot complain too much about that.

Here are the five books I read in August:

Nonfiction

Count Them One by One: Black Mississippians Fighting for the Right to Vote (2010) by Gordon A. Martin, Jr.

This book is an impressive account of one trial (United States vs. Theron Lynd) in Forrest County, Mississippi that affected the voting rights of blacks in Mississippi in 1962. The author, Gordon A. Martin, Jr. was a lawyer at the time and worked on the trial, traveling often between Washington, D.C. and various parts of Mississippi to find witnesses for the trial and to prepare them for trial. Twenty seven years after the Lynd trial, he traveled back to Mississippi to interview the witnesses in that trial, and discuss their experiences and the changes in Mississippi since that time. The book is very well written. See my review here.

Fiction / Horror

Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley

I was going to say that almost everyone is familiar with the Frankenstein novel by Mary Shelley, but actually that is not true.  Many people, including myself until I read this book for the first time at 77, are familiar with the Frankenstein story as told through various films, and there is a world of difference between the adaptations and the book itself. I do think this is a worthwhile book and many readers have enjoyed it and praised it. However, it wasn't a good fit for me. I expected to like the book, and it is not long, under 300 pages. But it took me forever to read and there were portions I had to read multiple times to get what was going on.

The edition that I read has an introduction by Elizabeth Kostova, where she admits that she discovered (while reading it to prepare for writing the Introduction) that she had never read it before. I can understand how that could happen. ... with all the movie versions and the pervasiveness of the Frankenstein story in popular culture. The novel first came out in 1818, but the edition I read had the revisions made by Mary Shelley for the 1831 text. The editor of this edition, Maurice Hindle, notes the differences between the original edition and later editions. 

Crime Fiction

Mortmain Hall (2020) by Martin Edwards

This is the 2nd book in the Rachel Savernake mystery series. I enjoyed the book but it is the kind of mystery that you have to pay a lot of attention to, so it was slow going for me. The story is set in 1930. It starts out on London's Necropolis Railway, which was very interesting. I had not heard of that railway, but Glen had told me what he knew. It was a train operated especially to transport coffins and mourners from London to a cemetery in Surrey.

The plot was complex and I was puzzled about what was going on the whole time, as I was in the first book in the Rachel Savernake series. Rachel is an unusual protagonist. In the end it all came together well. It is definitely in the style of a Golden Age mystery, with a list of the clues in the book (called a Cluefinder), added following the end of the book. The author noted that Cluefinders were used by some authors of that time, such as J.J. Connington, Elspeth Huxley, John Dickson Carr, and Edmund Crispin.

The Cyclist (2020) by Tim Sullivan

This is the second book in a series that features an autistic police detective. Detective Sergeant George Cross is quite capable in his job, in fact the cases he investigates have a very high conviction rate, which means that he (and his team) provide enough evidence to convict. However, he is difficult to work with because he is not very good at interacting with anyone. He doesn't know how to "play nice." This adds more interest to the story. 

In this book, George has a new team member, and both of them have to adjust to different ways of working together. The mystery plot was very good, and I learned a bit about competitive cycling. Plus the ending was very unexpected. 

The first book in the series was published in 2020 and the ninth book will be published in 2027. At this point, I plan to read them all.

Death of a Dude (1969) by Rex Stout

I bought this copy of Death of a Dude at last year's Planned Parenthood book sale. I had two copies in mass market paperback editions but I have been trying to find copies of the Nero Wolfe books in editions with more readable type. It is a very old book club edition but any hard cover edition of a Nero Wolfe book that isn't a book club edition is going to be too expensive. It had been a while since I reread this book so I did not remember much of the story. 

There are so many things I liked about this book:

• The setting is very different. Archie is staying at Lily Rowan's ranch in Montana (rustic setting), and Harvey Greve, the manager of the ranch, is charged with murder. Archie tells Wolfe that he won't be home until he can clear Harvey's name, but it seems like an impossible task. So of course Wolfe has to come solve the crime, because he needs Archie back at work.
• I always like it when Lily Rowan has a large role in the mystery novel. She and Archie have had a long term relationship throughout the series.
• This book was published in 1969, very close to the end of the series, and has a more modern feel than the earlier ones.

About the photos:

All of the photos in this post were taken at our local nursery, while we were looking for plants and gardening supplies. The only plant I can identify is the yellow begonia at the bottom. My husband took all of the photos and processed them. Click on the images for the best viewing quality. 

Annual Book Sale 2026: My Son's Books

The Planned Parenthood Book Sale is held in September every year, and we have attended the sale for many, many years. My son usually spends most of his time in the science fiction and fantasy section, although we both also head for graphic novels after we walk in the door on the first day. He also keeps an eye out for science fiction and fantasy books for me and my husband.

In this post, I am featuring six of the books he bought this year.

The Cartographers (2022) by Peng Shepherd

This book sounds very interesting. Although it is categorized on Goodreads as Fantasy / Mystery Thriller / Magical Realism, I am most attracted to the mystery element.

From the description on the back of the book:

Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.

But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating.

The Neverending Story (1979) by Michael Ende

Translated from the German by Ralph Manheim

I don't know much about this book, although I have heard of it. My son had seen the movie years ago but had not read the book, so he wanted to read it. I will wait until he does that and see what he thinks before I give it a try.

From the description on the back of the book:

Unicorns, dragons, sprites, will-o'-the-wisps: the inhabitants of an enchanted world. And into this world – through the pages of an old book – ventures Bastian, a lonely boy of ten or twelve. But Fantastica is slowly decaying, its Childlike Empress dying. Only a real human being can set things right by giving the Empress a new name. Bastian takes up the challenge, and finds himself crossing the Swamps of Sadness and the Silver Mountains, meeting sorcerers and giants, bats and night-hobs, gnomes and racing snails, as he journeys bravely toward the Ivory Tower. Bastian's quest is filled with all the wonders of myth and fairy tale. It is a fantasy adventure that will capture your heart – and recapture the magical dreams of childhood.

Legends & Lattes (2022) by Travis Baldree

I am very glad that my son found a copy of this book, because I have been wanting to read it. The subtitle of the book is: "A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes."

From the description on the back of the book:

After a lifetime of bounties and bloodshed, Viv is hanging up her sword for the last time.

The battle-weary orc aims to start fresh, opening the first ever coffee shop in the city of Thune. But old and new rivals stand in the way of success — not to mention the fact that no one has the faintest idea what coffee actually is.

If Viv wants to put the blade behind her and make her plans a reality, she won't be able to go it alone.

But the true rewards of the uncharted path are the travelers you meet along the way. And whether drawn together by ancient magic, flaky pastry, or a freshly brewed cup, they may become partners, family, and something deeper than she ever could have dreamed.

Colin Gets Promoted and Dooms the World (2025) by Mark Waddell

This book has a great title and a clever cover. I like the premise. And in addition, the author is Canadian. Admittedly the book is categorized as Horror / Fantasy, but I am hoping the Humor balances out the Horror. Assuming my son likes it, I will be reading it too.

From the description on the back of the book:

Colin is a low-level employee at Dark Enterprises, a Hell-like multinational corporation solving the world’s most difficult problems in deeply questionable ways. After years of toiling away in a cubicle, he’s ready to climb the corporate ladder and claim the power he’s never had.

The only problem is, he’s pretty sure he’s about to be terminated. Like, terminated. That’s tough, because his BFF has just set him up with a great guy. In fact, maybe he’s a little too great. And he asks a lot of questions ...

When Colin meets a shadowy figure promising his deepest desire in return for a small, unspecified favor, he can’t resist the urge to fast-track his goals. He asks for the one thing that will improve his life: a promotion. But that small favor unleashes an ancient evil. 

The Shambling Guide to New York City (2013) by Mur Lafferty

Another book by Mur Lafferty (Station Eternity) is already on my TBR SOON stack. That one is set in space; this one is set in New York City, a New York City with zombies, vampires and other monsters. 

From the back cover:

Zoe Norris is looking for a fresh start in New York City. She's found a seemingly perfect position as a travel book editor, but there is one thing holding her back—being human.

Zoe isn't going to let anyone—not even her blood-drinking boss or her death goddess coworker put her off from delving deep into the monster underworld. But her job, not to mention her life, might be in peril when the line between monster and human starts to crumble...with Zoe right in the middle.

Roadside Picnic (1972) by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Translated from the Russian by Olena Bormashenko

My son bought another book by the Strugatsky brothers at the 2025 book sale. He read that one and liked it, so naturally he bought this book when he saw it this year. It looks like a great edition, with all the extra information. This one sounds more interesting to me, so I will probably read it after he does.

From the back of the book:

Red Schuhart is a stalker, one of those young rebels who are compelled, in spite of extreme danger, to venture illegally into the Zone to collect the mysterious artifacts that the alien visitors left scattered around. His life is dominated by the place and the thriving black market in the alien products. But when he and his friend Kirill go into the Zone together to pick up a “full empty,” something goes wrong. And the news he gets from his girlfriend upon his return makes it inevitable that he’ll keep going back to the Zone, again and again, until he finds the answer to all his problems. 

First published in 1972, Roadside Picnic is still widely regarded as one of the greatest science fiction novels, despite the fact that it has been out of print in the United States for almost thirty years. This authoritative new translation corrects many errors and omissions and has been supplemented with a foreword by Ursula K. Le Guin and a new afterword by Boris Strugatsky explaining the strange history of the novel’s publication in Russia.