Just in time for the Holiday Gifting Season, Otto Penzler dropped this huge 1000+ page tome featuring female detectives. Penzler takes the chronological approach and unearths some wonderful stories I was completely unfamiliar with. Many of the stories like Agatha Christie’s “Secret Adversary” remind me of how good the Golden Age stories were. When I first picked up The Big Book of Female Detectives I thought the stories would be about female detectives written by female writers. But Penzler also includes stories about female detectives in stories written by male writers. No matter. Here’s a 1000+ pages of stories to fill those cold winter nights with entertaining mysteries. My only complaint is that I had to rest this book on my dining room table when I read it. It’s too awkward to hold sitting in an easy chair. How many of these stories have you read? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction by Otto Penzler xii
Victorians and Edwardians (British)
Mysterious countess / Anonymous — 3
Unraveled mystery / Andrew Forrester, Jr. — 10
Redhill sisterhood / C.L. Pirkis — 29
Diamond lizard / George R. Sims — 43
Stir outside the Café Royal / Clarence Rook — 57
Mandarin / Fergus Hume — 62
Outside ledge: a cablegram mystery / L.T. Meade & Robert Eustace — 72
Frewin miniatures / Emmuska Orczy — 79
Conscience / Richard Marsh — 91
Hidden Violin / M. McDonnell Bodkin — 103
Before World War I (American)
Christabel’s crystal / Carolyn Wells — 113
Bullet from nowhere / Hugh C. Weir — 122
Intangible clew / Anna Katharine Green — 138
Planted / James Oppenheim — 151
Pulp Era
Wizard’s safe / Valentine — 163
Red hot / Frederick Nebel — 176
Domino Lady collects / Lars Anderson — 193
Letters and the law / T.T. Flynn — 202
Old maids die / Whitman Chambers — 230
Too many clients / D.B. McCandless — 242
Rat turnaround / Roger Torrey — 255
Murder with music ; Coke for Co-eds / Adolphe Barreaux — 272
Chiller-diller / Richard Sale — 278
Passing of Anne Marsh / Arthur Lep Zagat — 296
Golden Age
Secret Adversary / Agatha Christie — 313
Diamond cut diamond / Frederic Arnold Kummer — 433
Locked doors / Mary Roberts Rinehart — 444
The Tea-leaf / Edgar Jepson & Robert Eustace — 470
Almost perfect murder / Hulbert Footner — 482
Lover of St. Lys / F. Tennyson Jesse — 517
Misogyny at Mougins / Gilbert Frankau — 529
Introducing Susan Dare / Mignon G. Eberhart — 538
Bloody Crescendo / Vincent Starrett — 554
Burglars must dine / E. Phillips Oppenheim — 573
Missing character / Phyllis Bentley — 584
Murder in the movies / Karl Detzer — 591
Gilded pupil / Ethel Lina White — 603
Case of the hundred cats / Gladys Mitchell — 613
Mid-century
Murder with flowers / Q. Patrick — 612
Vacancy with corpse / H.H. Holmes — 650
Riddle of the Black Museum / Stuart Palmer — 684
Meredith’s murder / Charlotte Armstrong — 695
Flowers for an angel / Nigel Morland — 711
There’s death for remembrance / Frances & Richard Lockridge — 720
Mom sings an aria / James Yaffe — 730
Modern Era
All the lonely people / Marcia Muller — 743
Blood types / Julie Smith — 753
Poison that leaves no trace / Sue Grafton — 764
Discards / Faye Kellerman — 773
Spooked / Carolyn G. Hart — 785
Making lemonade / Barbara Paul — 797
Louise / Max Allan Collins — 809
Strung out / Sara Paretsky — 821
Beneath the lilacs / Nevada Barr — 837
Miss Gibson / Linda Barnes — 847
Headaches and bad dreams / Lawrence Block — 858
Affair of inconvenience / Anne Perry — 870
Beaubien / Deborah Morgan — 877
Double-crossing Delancey / S.J. Rozan — 888
Shoeshine man’s regrets / Laura Lippman — 903
Dust up / Wendy Hornsby — 911
Case of the Parr children / Antonia Fraser — 921
Fast / Jeffery Deaver — 938
Bad girls
Winged assassin / L.T. Meade & Robert Eustace — 967
Blood-red cross / L.T. Meade & Robert Eustace — 980
Adventure of the Carnegie Library / John Kendrick Bangs — 994
Woman from the east / Edgar Wallace — 999
She knew what to do / Joseph Shearing — 1018
Forgers / Arthur B. Reeve — 1024
Meanest man in Europe / David Durham — 1037
Four square Jane unmasked / Edgar Wallace — 1046
Adventure of the headless statue / Eugene Thomas — 1076
Madame goes dramatic / Perry Paul — 1092
Extenuating circumstances / Joyce Carol Oates — 1107
I see this is a new one, so obviously I confused it with another of Otto’s massive anthologies. I have definitely read a number of the stories. Unfortunately, at the moment I have 10 library books on hand, so the last thing I need is a 1000-page collection. I am quite sure I will get to it in due course.
Jeff, Otto seems to gone to the “Big is Better” school of anthologizing. I like the volume, but I can’t enjoy it in my favorite easy chair because it’s awkward to hold…and heavy after a time. I had to rest it on a table to read it.
I reviewed another of Otto’s large anthologies today too! I did THE BIG BOOK OF CHRISTMAS MYSTERIES, which came out three years ago, but I just finished it this week. As for this one, I haven’t that many of the stories and just about none of the oldest ones. I’m looking forward to reading it, as a little elf told me I’m getting it for Christmas.
As for the size and weight, I’m comfortable with these in my lap, if the light is good, or on a table otherwise. Our dining room table has comfortable chairs. There is always the Kindle/ebook choice, as well. I’ll be getting (I’m told) both the print and ebook versions of the one you review today.
Rick, I might take the Kindle route for these “Big” anthologies. I prefer to read in my easy chair instead of in our dining room chairs.
Since when did you guys grow laps?
Bob, mostly I do laps at the pool, but age has created a “reading lap,” too.