Last week I reviewed Special Wonder: The Anthony Boucher Memorial Anthology of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This week it’s the companion volume: Crimes & Misfortunes. Anthony Boucher was a wonderful editor, book reviewer, and fiction writer. He’s a seminal figure in both the mystery and science fiction worlds. I really liked the short essays before these stories where the writer tells about his or her relationship with Anthony Boucher. If you haven’t read Special Wonder and Crimes & Misfortunes you’re in for some great reading! These are two terrific collections.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Come into my parlor/ Gloria Amoury
Dead phone/ Poul and Karen Anderson
A good imagination/ Robert Bloch-
Donoghan’s wife/ R. Bretnor
Town wanted/ Fredric Brown
The gentleman from Paris/ John Dickson Carr
The Moors Murder/ Miriam Allen deFord
The competitors/ Richard Deming-
The question/ Stanley Ellin-
The adventure of the Adam bomb/ Robert L. Fish
In the shade of the old apple tree/ Fletcher Flora
File #4: Lincoln sedan headline/ Joe Gores
Reunion/ Edward D. Hoch
Hangover/ John D. MacDonald
Find the woman/ Ross Macdonald
The Iranian Farmer Commission/ Frank McAuliffe
The man who danced/ James McKimmey
The couple next door/ Margaret Millar
Memoirs of a mystery critic/ Lenore Glen Offord
The old lady shows her prejudices/ Lenore Glen Offord
The reason/ Arthur Porges
A lot on his mind/ Bill Pronzini
No parking/ Ellery Queen
Plan nineteen/ Jack Ritchie
All of God’s children got shoes/ Howard Schoenfeld
Stan the killer/ Georges Simenon
Bullet for one/ Rex Stout
L as in loot/ Lawrence Treat
Never shake a family tree/ Donald E. Westlake
More Boucher-inspired goodness 🙂 These collections are really tempting – thanks George.
Sergio, SPECIAL WONDER and CRIMES & MISFORTUNES are two top-notch collections!
One of those books, or sets of books in the Beagle edition, that I’ve been aware of for nearly all my literate life…and it’s always strange, at first, to think of as rather obscure now…
Todd, I was a fan of BEAGLE BOOKS back in the day. The published some unique titles. And they had some great covers, too!
Looks like yet another one I need to look out for.
Jeff, there are inexpensive copies of SPECIAL WONDER and CRIMES & MISFORTUNES available online. Well worth it!
Interesting that there a quite a few SF authors among these who write crime stories: Anderson, Bloch, Brown etc …
Tough I have to confess that I practically stopped reading that stuff after I finished university.
Some authors however still ring a bell.
Wolf, plenty of Science Fiction writers also wrote crime fiction. And Anthony Boucher influenced every author in SPECIAL WONDER and CRIME & MISFORTURNE. The authors tell what Boucher meant to them.
A Catholic (big C) with catholic (little c) tastes, Boucher was a huge influence on both mystery and science fiction in the mid-Twentieth century. I’ve enjoyed his fiction, his atute criticism, and his remarkable editing skills for over half a century now. Thanks for bringing this one up, Geroge.
Jerry, the two memorial anthologies–SPECIAL WONDER and CRIMES & MISFORTUNES–are two of the best collections I own. Excellent quality!
And this is probably the only collection where you can find James McKimmey and Frank McAuliffe together.
two very underappreciated writers!
Scott, you’re exactly right! I love Frank McAuliffe’s work. And James McKimmey is a forgotten writer who needs to be rediscovered!