Fans of Ed Hoch’s thief, Nick Velvet, will enjoy Gerald Kersh’s tales of Karmesin, who is either the world’s greatest criminal–or most outrageous liar. All of these 17 short stories in Karmesin have been published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine but it took Crippin & Landru to collect them in one nice volume. Karmesin claims he’s a genius and after reading these crime stories I’m willing to believe it. Blackmail, art fraud, impossible thefts, and trickery feature prominently in these stories. I’m a big fan of Gerald Kersh’s work. If you’re in the mood for some clever storytelling, pick up a copy of Karmesin. You’ll have a couple hours of great entertainment!
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction By Paul Duncan
Karmesin
Karmesin and the Meter
Karmesin and Human Vanity
Karmesin and the Tailor’s Dummy
Karmesin and the Big Flea
Karmesin and the Raving Lunatic
Karmesin and the Unbeliever
Inscrutable Providence
Karmesin and the Invisible Millionaire
Karmesin and the Gorgeous Robes
Chickenfeed for Karmesin
The Thief Who Played Dead
The Conscience of Karmesin
Karmesin and the Royalties
Skate’s Eyeball
Oalamaoa
The Karmesin Affair
Bibliography
Proud to say I owe this one and I love Kersh’s books – did that biography of him by Paul Duncan referred to in the introduction ever get published?
Sergio, no sign of the Kersh bio yet.
Kersh had a way about him, no argument there. Yet another writer who deserves to be better known, and it’s good to see he’s not forgotten.
Dan, I thought Gerald Kersh might have found a bigger audience when Harlan Ellison was promoting his work years ago…but it didn’t happen.
Great choice! I’ve read most of the Crippen & Landru books and this was right up there with the most entertaining of them.
Jeff, like you I’m a fan of Crippen & Landru’s books. Gerald Kersh’s KARMESIN is my favorite. And it’s still available!
A couple hours for you, a few days for slow reader me. I have this one, but have yet to crack it.
Rick, the stories in KARMESIN are only a few pages long. I just read a couple stories a day and I was done with the book in no time!
George, this tells me I know next to nothing about stories published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Thanks for highlighting Gerald Kersh and his volume of stories.
Prashant, Gerald Kersh published hundreds of short stories. I prefer his more bizarre efforts (you can find them in NIGHTSHADE & DAMNATIONS edited by Harlan Ellison. Well worth reading!