The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries collects 68 of the best locked-room short stories ever written. If you check out the Table of Contents you’ll see plenty of familiar stories by Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson, Edward D. Hoch, and other writers known for their classic stories in this genre. Plus many unfamiliar writers. If you’re a fan of locked-room mysteries The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries is a must-buy. How many of these great stories have you read?
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Otto Penzler
FAMILIAR AS THE ROSE IN SPRING
The Murders in the Rue Morgue-Edgar Allan Poe
The Problem of Cell 13-Jacques Futrelle
A Terribly Strange Bed-Wilkie Collins
The Two Bottles of Relish-Lord Dunsany
The Invisible Man-G. K. Chesterton
The Doomoorf Mystery-Melville Davisson Post
The Adventure of the Speckled Band- Arthur Conan Doyle
THIS WAS THE UNKINDEST CUT OF ALL
The Wrong Problem-John Dickson Carr
The Thing Invisible-William Hope Hodgson
Department of Impossible Crimes-James Yaffe
The Aluminium Dagger-R. Austin Freeman
The Crewel Needle-Gerald Kersh
The Doctor’s Case-Stephen King
A Knife Between Brothers-Manly Wade Wellman
The Glass Gravestone-Joseph Cummings
The Tea Leaf-Edgar Jepson & Robert Eustace
The Flung-Back Lid-Peter Godfrey
The Crooked Picture-John Lutz
Blind Man’s Hood-Carter Dickson
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SANDS OF TIME
The Man From Nowhere-Edward D. Hoch
The Laughing Butcher-Fredric Brown
The Sands of Time-Michael Innes
The Flying Death-Samuel Hopkins Adams
The Flying Corpse-A. E. Martin
The Flying Hat-Vincent Cornier
AND WE MISSED IT, LOST FOREVER
The Day the Children Vanished-Hugh Pentecost
The Twelfth Statue-Stanley Ellin
All at Once, No Alice-William Irish
Beware of the Trains-Edmund Crispin
The Locked Bathroom-H. R. F. Keating
Mike, Alec, and Rufus-Dashiell Hammett
The Episode of the Torment IV-C. Daly King
Greaves’ Disappearance-Julian Hawthorne
The House of Haunts-Ellery Queen
The Monkey Trick-J. E. Gurdon
The Ordinary Hairpins-E. C. Bentley
The Phantom Motor-Jacques Futrelle
The Theft of the Bermuda Penny-Edward D. Hoch
Room Number 23-Judson Philips
HOW EASILY IS MURDER DISCOVERED
The Burglar Who Smelled Smoke-Lynne Wood Block & Lawrence Block
The Kestar Diamond Case-Augustus Muir
The Odour of Sanctity-Kate Ellis
The Problem of the Old Oak Tree-Edward D. Hoch
The Invisible Weapon-Nicholas Olde
The Confession of Rosa Vitelli-Ray Cummings
The Locked Room to End Locked Rooms-Stephen Barr
SHOOT IF YOU MUST
Nothing is Impossible-Clayton Rawson
Where Have You Gone, Sam Spade?-Bill Pronzini
In a Telephone Cabinet-G. D. H. Cole & M. I. Cole
The Dream-Agatha Christie
The Border-Line Case-Margery Allingham
The Bradmoor Murder-Melville Davisson Post
The Man Who Liked Toys-Leslie Charteris
The Ashcomb Poor Case-Hulbert Footner
The Little House at Croix-Rousse-Georges Simenon
STOLEN SWEETS ARE BEST
The Bird in the Hand-Erle Stanley Gardner
The Gulverbury Diamonds-David Durham
The Fifth Tube-Frederick Irving Anderson
The Strange Case of Steinkelwintz-MacKinlay Kantor
Arsene Lupin in Prison-Maurice Leblanc
The Mystery of the Strong Room-L. T. Meade & Robert Eustace
No Way Out-Dennis Lynds
The Episode of the Codex’ Curse-C. Daly King
ONE MAN’S POISON, SIGNOR, IS ANOTHER’S MEAT
The Poisoned Dow ’08-Dorothy L. Sayers
A Traveller’s Tale-Margaret Frazer
Death at the Excelsior-P. G. Wodehouse
OUR FINAL HOPE IS FLAT DESPAIR
Waiting for Godstow-Martin Edwards
I have been really looking forward to thing George – thanks for the contents list especially – of these I have read maybe half and have some of the others in similarly themes anthologies – but there is still pleny to look forward to, including what is said to be Simenon’s one and only excusrion in to the genre
Sergio, I’ve been pleased with the entire series of BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK series. Great stories at a reasonable price! Great value!
Otto seems to enjoy doing really thick anthologies!
Bill, Otto’s BIG BOOK series gives readers almost 1000 pages per book at a nice price.
Looking forward to this one too. I’ve probably read 25 or so of them. Looks like a great group. Otto also has a big collection of 19th Century Mystery Stories.
Jeff, I’ll buy any collection Otto brings out.
My copy STILL hasn’t come, and you’ve had yours for a week. Oh well. That’s a darn good list of stories, I’ve read maybe a quarter to a third of them, I guess, though I suspect there are some I have read but just don’t recognize by the title, but will remember when I read the story.
I still have two more library books to finish, then I’m going to devote November to short stories as I have many collections on hand and partially read. Being a Slow Reader (at least compared to you and Jeff and many others) it does take me a while. The Big Book of Black Mask Stories – which was outstanding – took me about a year!
Rick, like you I had read about 30% of the stories in THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES. But the rest are well worth reading, too!
My copy is somewhere in the mail. I love locked room stuff.
Scott, I went through a John Dickson Carr/Carter Dickson binge when I was a teenager. Like you, I’m a fan of locked-room mysteries and Carr/Dickson wrote some dandies!
I’m a huge fan of Clayton Rawson and The Great Merlini too! The four novels and the collection of shorter works are prized possessions as well as his other works.
George, that’s a terrific lineup of writers of locked-room mysteries including the unfamiliar ones, and I’m surprised to find Wodehouse in the ranks; it’s a story I haven’t read.
Prashant, you’ll love this collection! The Wodehouse story is terrific!
Wow, I just counted, and I had read no less than 24 of these stories previously. And the book was still worth it!
Graham, 24 stories is a nice number. But THE BLACK LIZARD BIG BOOK OF LOCKED-ROOM MYSTERIES has 68 stories. Plenty more to enjoy!