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The Mammoth Book of Historical Detectives (Mammoth Book of)
by (Editor: Mike Ashley)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers (1995-08)
ISBN: 0786702141
EAN: 9780786702145
Dewy Decimal #: 808.83872
Paperback
SKU: 38262
Condition: New
Comments: THE SOFTBACK BOOK! CARROLL AND GRAF,1995. THE UNABRIDGED 1ST EDITION. SOFTCOVER BOOK AND PAGES ARE NEW. Rapid shipping w/FREE tracking. GREAT PACKAGING . Air Mail. GR.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
A companion to the Mammoth Book of Historical Whodunnits contains more fictional detectives--including monastic investigators Brother Cadfael and Sister Fidelma, cowboy sleuth Ben Snow, and newcomers William Shakespeare and Hans Christian Andersen. Original.
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Customer Reviews
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Elementary, my dear Tinglesweet
Rating  (4)
Date: 2005-12-28
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
It was a mistake to end this volume with a "Solar Pons" story.
The editor, Mike Ashley, imagined that he was paying homage to Sherlock Holmes, of all things, when he chose to do so, but Solar Pons and his associate, Dr. Parker, are such obvious rip-offs of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson that the inclusion of a "Solar Pons" story could hardly qualify as a tribute.
The original Conan Doyle stories have received a wide enough circulation, but there are a number of Holmes "pastiche" stories written since Conan Doyle's time - of varying quality - and the better ones would have provided more effective homage to the master than any Solar Pons story.
(...)
Nevertheless, historical detective stories are my favorite genre, and most of the other stories in this volume are quite good. The stories run much of the gamut of human history, starting from the very first story, set in about 35,000 B.C. among the ancient aborigines of (what is now) Australia. Ashley speculates in his intro that this is the earliest setting ever for any detective story, but I am fairly certain that years ago, I read one set in the Stone Age.
Included within the volume is also a Lillian de la Torre story in which none other than Dr. Samuel Johnson and James Boswell are the twin detectives - one of several such stories that she wrote over the course of her career. This one, intriguingly enough, is set at the time of the American Revolution. I was also delighted to see one of Melville Davisson Post's "Uncle Abner" stories (set in early 19th century Virginia) included - one I had not seen before.
Edward D. Hoch never disappoints, and he contributes a story set in the old West, in which a Billy the Kid doppelganger solves a mystery of identification.
Maybe most thrilling of all is the Amazon bibliography of more books in a similar vein edited by Mike Ashley and others, promising a rich treasure trove of unread like tales.
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Great Reading
Rating (4)
Date: 2000-05-09
3 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
This was an easy book to get right into. Even though it is a collection of stories it does keep your interest. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery
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