“…and only man is vile”
😀 😀 😀 🙂
Another anthology of vintage mystery stories from the British Library and Martin Edwards, this time themed around animals, birds and insects but happily they are all in the nature of clues rather than victims! There are fourteen stories in total, as usual including some very well known authors, such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton and Edgar Wallace, some that were new to me, such as Garnett Radcliffe and Clifford Witting, and some that have become stalwarts of this series, such as HC Bailey and F Tennyson Jesse.
This was an even more mixed bag than usual for me. Although there were several excellent stories, there were an equal number that I felt were quite poor. Overall my individual ratings for each story averaged out to just over 3½ for the fourteen, so that’s the rating I’m giving the book (rounded up). However, the better stories are very enjoyable, so if you don’t mind varying quality there’s still plenty in here to make reading it time well spent.
Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed most:
The Adventure of the Lion’s Mane by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – This is an unusual one in that it’s told by Holmes himself, and Watson isn’t in it. Holmes has retired to the Sussex coast and is present when a teacher from the local school staggers up the beach, mutters something that sounds like “the lion’s mane” and promptly dies. His back is covered in weals as if from a scourge. Suspicion falls on another teacher, but Holmes has his own theory. I can’t tell you what creature is involved in this one since it would be a major spoiler!
Pit of Screams by Garnett Radcliffe – a colonial tale. A Rajah keeps a pit of vipers where he sentences criminals to die. There is a pole in the pit where the condemned person can hang above the vipers until their strength gives way and they fall to their doom. It’s a spectator sport! Our narrator tells of one man, unfairly sentenced, and builds some great tension as the man hangs over the pit. The story is complete tosh and has some unfortunate outdated racial stuff, but it’s well written and very entertaining and has a delicious sting in the tail which genuinely took me by surprise.
The Yellow Slugs by HC Bailey – a Reggie Fortune story. He is called in by Superintendent Bell to a troubling case. A small boy was seen trying to drown his little sister. Both survived and are in hospital. There seems little doubt that the boy meant to kill her, but Reggie wants to know why. He believes that there must have been a very strong reason for a child of that age to act that way, especially since the boy seems to love his sister. This is a chilling and disturbing story. I’ve read a couple of Fortune stories where children have been involved and they seem to bring out his strong sense of justice and an underlying anger, presumably the author’s, at some of the social concerns of the day. The title tells you which creature is involved, but you’ll need to read it if you want to know how!
The Man Who Shot Birds by Mary Fitt – A student is in lodgings when he is visited by a friendly but thieving jackdaw, who makes off with anything shiny he can find. But there’s a man going around the neighbourhood shooting birds, and he seems to be unable to tell the difference between jackdaws and crows (which everyone seems to think it’s OK to shoot).The student is scared for the jackdaw’s safety so decides to try to save it. This is very well done and all the stuff about the jackdaw’s behaviour is lovely. The mystery is weaker, but the entertainment of the story is all in the telling. No major plot spoilers, but for the worried I can confirm the jackdaw isn’t harmed.
So some excellent and varied stories and, as always, despite the varying quality in these anthologies, they are a great way of being introduced to new authors to look out for.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, the British Library.
That’s a very scary looking snake 😱 Short story collections are a bit of a lottery but I’m glad you found some good ones.
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Haha, ALL snakes are scary looking snakes! The idea of falling into a pit of vipers – I’d die of a heart attack before they could bite me! 😉
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I think I would too!
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I really enjoyed this collection. Glad to see you did too. Some very clever stories in there.
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These collections are always fun, and I always enjoy that they include some of the less well know authors along with the greats!
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That’s the thing about short story collections, isn’t it, FictionFan? They really can be a mixed bag. Still, I’m glad you found several that were to your liking. Edwards does have a way of finding some lesser-known authors to include in a collection, doesn’t he? Makes for some interesting new authors to explore!
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Yes, and often it’s to do with reader preference too – some of the stories I thought were poor might be other people’s favourites. I do like the mix of authors – some have become regulars in these collections now, but every time there are one or two new ones. Two of the ones I highlighted this time were from authors I hadn’t heard of, so clearly there are still plenty of good ones for the BL to resurrect!
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I love the word tosh and I don’t use it nearly enough!
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Haha! That’s one of the reason I’m so anti-swearing – there are so many delightful insulting words to use… 😉
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Makes sense that the more anthologies produced, the quality of the stories would go down. As usual ACD rises to the top!
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Yes, there has to come a time when there are no more good ones left, I suppose. Ha, it always cheers me up when I look at the index and see ACD there… 😀
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Definitely good to know that they are clues not victims! Although I don’t like reading about violence generally I find I can’t bear it at all when it’s animals.
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I’m even worse than you because I cheerfully read about (fictional) violence to humans but will abandon a book where there’s any kind of bad thing happening to an animal. Worrying, really! 😉
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No love for the crows, huh? Have read a book about them earlier this year (Crow Planet) I’ve gotten a new appreciation for them. I’m glad you found some gems in this collection.
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Yes, I felt kinda sorry for the crows when everyone seemed to think it was OK to shoot them, but got very upset over the idea of shooting a jackdaw! I thought we were past that kind of birdism these days… 😉
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Part of me is tempted by this anthology, but slugs??? (of ANY color!) I’m totally grossed out and I don’t even know what happened!
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Hahaha, the slugs made me squirm! I googled them thinking I might use an image of them in the post, but honestly they were so revolting I just couldn’t! Poor slugs… 😉
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I typically have to avoid stories about animals because too often, it’s the animal that dies. This sounds like an interesting collection, but that hanging-over-the-viper-pit tale is one I’m sure I couldn’t read. I’d have to sleep with the lights all on … if I were able to sleep at all!
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Yes, I was worried about the theme of this collection in case bad things happened to the animals, but happily not. In fact, some of the animal descriptions added a nice touch, like the jackdaw. Even the vipers lived! Which is more than can be said for… nope! Spoiler! 😉
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Well, this one doesn’t tempt me. And I think I have a pretty good guess about the Holmes story, but at the risk of spoiling it for others, I’ll refrain from offering it up for public consumption.
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The Holmes story definitely works best if you’ve never heard of the creature – if you have then the clue is a bit of a giveaway! I remember being totally horrified when I read it as a young’un, though… 😉
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Yes, I always think twice before taking the plunge in the ocean. There’s a reason why “we” left the sea so very long ago.
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Haha, couldn’t agree more!
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Uneven quality or no, I’m sold on the book just because of the wonderful cover and now the Holmes story which isn’t one I’ve read, and here I thought I’d read them all.
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The cover is great, isn’t it? I think the Holmes story was one of the very late ones and in general I prefer the ones Watson narrates, but this one does fit in very well with the theme of the book…
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Yuck, slugs! And the viper pit sounds very James Bond.
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Haha, we don’t seem to have many slug fans in the blogosphere! James Bond would have had some anti-snake gadget thoughtfully provided to him by Miss Moneypenny…
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Those stories do sound fun though it’s too bad the collection as a whole is hit and miss. As for the Sherlock Holmes story, the obvious answer seems to be a lion’s mane jellyfish!
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Haha, given that you and Jilanne twigged immediately I’m going to guess they’re more common on the Pacific coast! Over here they’re very rare so loads of people will be unfamiliar with them. I only know about them from this story!
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I didn’t realize that! It seemed so obvious as to not be particularly mysterious at all but I could see the potential in a place where they’re not very common.
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We also have bright yellow slugs around here too! Perhaps I’m living in a more horrific place than I realized!
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Hahaha, well, I certainly don’t think the Tourist Board will be offering you a job any time soon! 😉
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We call them banana slugs and if you lick them it makes your tongue numb for a while. It’s obviously a favourite past time of west coast teenagers to date each other to lick slugs 🤣
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Lick them!! LICK THEM??? Good heavens!! For the first time, I’m really glad I never emigrated to Canada!!! 😂
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Hahahaha! Well, it’s not a requirement at immigration or anything (that I know of) just a very weird Canadian teenage past time.
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I still haven’t recovered from my fainting fit… 😉
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Wow this appears to be a very mixed bag indeed! Some random things here, I must admit I am so curious about this yellow slug story now! Although reading about children hurting each other I’m quite sensitive too, I find it so emotional to read about
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The yellow slug story is more serious than a lot of the stories – I always feel that author was genuinely angry about the way children were treated in society, and it comes through in more than one of his stories. However, in this one at least, the outcome for the children is optimistic… 😀
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