Edward D. Hoch, who wrote nearly a 1000 short stories, featured a number of characters in stories: Simon Ark (who might be a 1000 years old), Dr. Sam Hawthorne, Nick Velvet (the thief who steals worthless objects), Captain Leopold, Susan Holt, and many others.
The Ripper of Storyville collects 14 Ben Snow mystery stories. In his Introduction, Hoch explains how a series about a man many people think is Billy the Kid evolved into a character involved in a presidential assassination, a serial killer investigation, a locked room murder, and a mission into Mexico. The stories span 1882 to 1935 as Ben Snow travels around the West.
Hoch warns readers that some of the Ben Snow stories, written early in his writing career, don’t have the craftsmanship of his later stories. Even in the early 1960s, Hoch displays his talent in these Ben Snow stories. I enjoyed them and so will you! Marvin Lachman’s informative “Long Way From Home: The Travels of Ben Snow,” traces the history of the Ben Snow stories and their settings. I also appreciated the chronology of the Ben Snow stories that Marv provides. GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION By Edward D. Hoch — 9
Frontier street — 13
Valley of arrows — 27
Ghost town — 39
Flying man — 52
Man in the alley — 65
Ripper of Storyville — 82
Snow in Yucatan –101
Vanished steamboat — 117
Brothers on the beach –130
500 hours of Dr. Wisdom — 144
Trail of the bells — 158
Phantom stallion — 171
Sacramento waxworks — 185
Only tree in Tasco — 197
Long way from home: the travels of Ben Snow / Marvin Lachman — 209
I don’t remember this character, but Hoch seemed to appear in every issue of EQMM for years with Nick Velvet and Capt. Leopold. In a perfect George Kelley world, he’d still be around to write about an impossible murder or theft at a Taylor Swift concert.
Fred, I love your idea of a murder at a Taylor Swift concert! I’m also happy Crippen & Landry have published many of Hoch’s wonderful short stories in great collections.
Ben Snow vies with Simon Ark as my favorite Ed Hoch character. I remember haunting the used bookstores in the late Sixties, searching for the old issues of THE SAINT magazine (which never had a great distribution in my area) for the original stories.
Jerry, I was entertained by rereading these Ben Snow stories. As Hoch admits, they’re a little rough. But the Hoch Touch is evident in every story! I liked THE SAINT MAGAZINE when I could find it. I had the same problem you did: poor distribution in my area, too.
Though a few, IIRC (w/o checking) were in MAGAZINE OF HORROR first…
Todd, and the later Ben Snow stories were published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE.
The first seven Ben Snow stories were published in THE SAINT (and the first six in the UK edition of THE Saint). There was a hiatus of nearly two decades before Ben Snow reappeared, this time in EQMM, for an astonishing run of 37 additional tales.
Jerry, Ed Hoch started writing Ben Snow stories again after he come up with the idea of a vanishing steamboat.
I was conflating Snow with Simon Ark.
Todd, Ben Snow keeps getting confused with Billy the Kid. Simon Ark may be a 1000-year old man. Ed Hoch came up with some unique characters!
What an amazing career.
Patti, I boggles my mind to think of Hoch having a superior story in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE for 35 years in a row!
Consistently readable to excellent stories in every issue. And publishing elsewhere as well.
Todd, I’m always in awe of Hoch’s quality control! Decades of great stories!
You can’t go wrong with a collection of Hoch stories. I read this when it first came out – wow, 25 years ago! – and I’m sure I could reread it now with the same enjoyment…and without remembering the details of the stories! Good choice.
Jeff, I enjoyed rereading these stories after 25 years. I did remember whodunit in about half the stories…but the other stories seemed like new stories to me. Ah, the aging brain…
I liked Ben Snow, per haps more than any of his characters! Ed was also a very nice man who deserved more monetary success than he got!
Bob, I’ll be reviewing this Ben Snow book in more detail in the next issue of QUICK DRAW. I need to track down the story where Ben Snow and Dr. Sam Hawthorne work together to solve a mystery.
This is one I am not familiar with, George, but I am relatively new to Hoch’s stories. I recently purchased a copy of The Killer Everyone Knew and Other Captain Leopold Stories, and I have three other collections of his (which I probably saw first here). Also some collections on the Kindle.
Tracy, I’ve found Ed Hoch short stories to be like potato chips: I can’t just stop at one! Ben Snow stories, with their Western settings, are very different from the Dr. Sam Hawthorne and Captain Leopold stories. I enjoy them all!