As is usual with these short story collections, we have a mix of known authors and unknown, interesting stories and some that may be better off forgotten. Not all are of the same interest levels, but here I think the book gets progressively more interesting, with better stories further into the collection than in the beginning. rounded to 3* but I believe that those who enjoy classic and Golden Age mystery stories will enjoy this book in spite of any unevenness.

Guilty Creatures (British Library Crime Classics): A

There is a lot of building up to the moment in this one, with the past being described as well as the present. If you want something to surprise you a bit more in the Golden Age of Detection- this is a book to pick up. As I get older I like Chesterton less and less and the Father Brown story sat like a lump in the middle of this.

How does he explain that Morrison (who wrote for a living) published only seven stories about Dorrington, while he filled four collections of stories about Martin Hewitt? A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. In a land ruled by vile monsters, where death is common and life is cruel, one outcast endeavors to have it all. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. Clifford Witting’s 1950 “Hanging by a Hair” and Josephine Bell’s 1958 “Death in a Cage” inspired me to check out the authors’ mystery novel series — no greater compliment!

Act 2, Scene 2 - Video Note: The Play Within the Play

The first in the this series that I am not that jazzed about - I don't know if the theme didn't gel or if the authors didn't resonate with me (I've never been a big fan of Chesterton, for example) but it was a struggle to finish this one. I wasn’t sure if I really liked it at first, but it ended up being one of the most memorable in the collection for me. S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Harry Vance slips out of his lover’s bed for a mysterious nighttime meeting. K. Chesterton’s “The Oracle of the Dog” (1923) and “The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane” (1926), which is not up to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s usual standard (as is true of many of Conan Doyle’s later stories).The Adventure of the Lion’s Main” by Arthur Conan Doyle is an unusual story, told by Sherlock Holmes himself. I heard thee speak me a speech once, but it was never acted; or if it was, not above once; for the play, I remember, pleas'd not the million, 'twas caviary to the general; but it was (as I receiv'd it, and others, whose judgments in such matters cried in the top of mine) an excellent play, well digested in the scenes, set down with as much modesty as cunning.

Guilty Creatures (2020) — The Movie Database (TMDB) Guilty Creatures (2020) — The Movie Database (TMDB)

Although the foundation of the story happens as a third person narrating it, it was quite fascinating. In the Aeneid, Priam reproaches Pyrrhus as unworthy of his father; even Pyrrhus, replying, does not claim the justice of vengeance. My sincere thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this marvelous book! For me, one of the biggest draws of the books in the crime classics series are the erudite and always interesting introductions by editor Martin Edwards.I would like to read more short story anthologies to see whether this genre is for me or whether I prefer longer books and series. He is consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics series, and has written sixteen contemporary whodunits, including The Coffin Trail, which was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize for best crime novel of the year.