"There's No Better Place for Bumping a Guy Off Than Out at Sea—If You Do the Job Right"

HERE ARE TWO short fictions by a pulpster that, remarkably enough, saw publication in one of the highest-paying slicks popular during the Golden Age of the Pulps.

"Seven Bottles of Whisky."
By J. Lane Linklater (Alexander William Watkins, 1892-1971).
First appearance: Liberty, February 2, 1935.
Short short short story (1 page).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

"He was just as cold as any dead man can be."

Was it an act of friendship, or the result of stubbornness? "Captain Masson," we read, "was a very shrewd man . . ."

~ ~ ~

"Footsteps."
By J. Lane Linklater (Alexander William Watkins, 1892-1971).
First appearance: Liberty, November 14, 1936.
Short short short story (1 page).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

"But the—the footsteps! They were yours!"

It's nice when a problem is self-liquidating . . .

Resources:
- FictionMags informs us about our author, J. Lane Linklater; quite prolific he was, generating mostly pulp detective fiction from the late '20s to the early '50s. Like Erle Stanley Gardner, he had several series characters: Hugo Oakes (20 stories for Detective Fiction Weekly; HERE); Sergeant “Hardboiled” Karney (6 adventures in Detective Action Stories); Paul C. Pitt (16 exploits for DFW); and the short-lived Sad Sam Salter (3 in DFW).
- Pulpgen had a collection of 7 other Linklater stories (link dead) and (link dead), which feature his non-series sleuths.

- Our author also wrote novels; see, for example, reviews of Shadow for a Lady (1947; HERE), Black Opal (1947; HERE), and The Bishop's Cap (1948; HERE).

- We dealt with one of Linklater's Paul C. Pitt stories, "The Perfect Victim," a couple of years ago (HERE); the posting also has links to still more of his DFW works.

"Hasty Hogan and Blackie Burns Were in Luck"

"The Wrong House."
By James N. Young (?-?).
First appearance: Collier's Weekly, May 4, 1929.
Short short short story (1 page).
Online at UNZ (HERE).

"The suitcase, securely strapped, lay in the center of the table, in the center of the room. In it, neat little bundle on neat little bundle, lay nearly three hundred thousand dollars!"

There are times when your luck just runs out; for Hasty and Blackie, it doesn't just run out, you could say it jumps out the window and runs away screaming, leaving them literally holding the bag . . .

Resources:
- FictionMags informs us that our author's middle name was Nicholas and that he published mostly in magazines like The Smart Set, Saucy Stories, and The Parisienne Monthly, his last known sale being to Detective Fiction Weekly.

"There’s No Doubt About Who Murdered Lord Ash"

"Half a Conversation, Overheard While Inside An Enormous Sentient Slug."
By Oliver Buckram (?-?).
First appearance: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
July 2013.
Reprinted at The Drabblecast (2014) and in Funny Science
Fiction (2015).
Short short short story (4 pages).
Online at The Drabblecast (HERE).

"Let’s see. When I heard the shot from the laser rifle, I was in the kitchen with Mrs. Moncrieff."

The butler: If he didn't do it, he just might know who did—always assuming, of course, that he's telling the truth . . .

Resources:
- A relative newcomer to SFF, Oliver Buckram's CV isn't very long right now (HERE and HERE), but that's due to change.

"I'm Looking for Clues"

   "This story might have begun with the eccentric spinster who bought that diamond. Or it might have begun with her murder, thirty-odd hours later."

"Beating the Lights."
By William J. Neidig (1870-1955).
First appearance: Collier's, March 29, 1930.
Short short short story (4 pages, 2 illos).
Online at UNZ starting (HERE) and finishing (HERE; scroll down to page 39).

"A detective story with an ending that will surprise you almost as much as it did the detective."

Being a doctor, Turovtsin knows color-blindness when he sees it—but he never thought his life would depend on it . . .

Resources:
- Concerning the reference to "Wrangel's army" in the story, there's a nicely concise article at Dead Country Stamps and Banknotes (HERE), as well as much more about Pyotr Wrangel, a major loser in the Russian Civil War, in Wikipedia (HERE).

~ ~ ~

   "First he cautiously withdrew from the folds of his topcoat, although not into the light, that which lay concealed there—a woman's diamond necklace."

"Front Does It!"
By William J. Neidig (1870-1955).
First appearance: Collier's, December 20, 1930.
Short short story (5 pages, 2 illos).
Online at UNZ (HERE) and (HERE; scroll down to page 58).

"And how's the little post-office game?"

Until this case came along, Captain Torley never anticipated that a handkerchief covered in flour and stamps stuck in an unlikely place would help to lead him straight to a slippery jewel thief . . .

Resources:
- FictionMags's thumbnail of William J. Neidig: "Born in Iowa; taught English at Stanford and U. of Wisconsin before becoming a freelance writer." Beginning in 1901, he produced a respectable number of stories over the next four decades for the high-paying slicks of the era.
- Captain Torley is compared to a certain pugnacious animal this way: ". . . his cigar tilted upward like the broken left tusk of Sus Scrofa"—said creature being described in more detail on Wikipedia (HERE).
- It helps to remember that when "Front Does It!" was published the repeal of Prohibition was still several years away, which explains the panic when the "dry squad" shows up. Several ONTOS articles, most of them True Crime Roundups (II, V through VIII), have related to that failed social experiment to a greater or lesser degree; go (HERE) for those.

"The First Rule in Thievery Is Never To Trust an Accomplice"

"Never Trust a Thief!"
By Ivar Jorgensen (Robert Silverberg, born 1935).
First appearance: Imagination, February 1958.
Short short story (6 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

"He wondered idly what his partner-in-crime looked like."

Stealing's one thing; living long enough to enjoy it—that's something else . . .

Major characters:
~ The Alpherazian jailer:
  "You've stolen your last jewel, Earthman."
~ Kiley:
  "Don't stand here and gloat. I'd be free and out of here if that crazy alarm hadn't popped off."
~ Thaklaru:
  "How would you like to be free in five minutes?"
~ The Emperor:
  "Of course," he said politely. "Go right ahead."

Resources:
- The "Ivar Jorgensen" house name was used by quite a few SFF authors who have since gone on to greater recognition, one of the most prominent being Robert Silverberg; see Wikipedia (HERE), the SFE (HERE), the ISFDb (HERE), the IMDb (HERE), and the dedicated website (HERE).
- A star mentioned in the story (but misspelled) is Alpheratz (Alpha Andromedae), which, according to Wikipedia (HERE), is "located 97 light-years from the Sun and is the brightest star in the constellation of Andromeda." It has also been absorbed into the BattleTech universe (HERE).

"What's That You're Saying About Murder?"

"The Murder of the Mandarin."
By Arnold Bennett (1867-1931).
First appearance: The Grim Smile of the Five Towns (1907).
Reprinted in The Famous Story Magazine, December 1926; The Famous Story Magazine (U.K.), April 1927; and The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries (1936) [FictionMags data].
Short story (11 pages).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE) (PDF).

"The notorious and terrible Harrisford murders were agitating the Five Towns that November. People read, talked, and dreamt murder; for several weeks they took murder to all their meals."

Vera is convinced there's something to thought transference; after all, didn't she "receive a paltry sovereign for murdering the greatest statesman of the Eastern hemisphere"?

Characters:
~ Charlie Woodruff:
  "Supposing that by just taking thought, by just wishing it, an Englishman could kill a mandarin in China and make himself rich for life, without anybody knowing about it!
How many mandarins do you suppose there would be left in China at the end of a week?"
~ Stephen Cheswardine:
  "She was afraid of him. She knew just how far she could go with Stephen. He was great
and terrible."
~ Vera Cheswardine:
  "She would never be able to conceal the truth from Charlie. The conversation, the death
of Li within two hours, and then a sudden fortune accruing to her—Charlie would inevitably put two and two together and divine her shameful secret."

Resources:
- We recently featured "The Christmas Eve Burglary," another "Five Towns" story by Arnold Bennett (HERE).

"How Slender Now Seemed the Thread on Which He Had Fastened Their Fortunes!"

"Mr. Peebles' Adventure in Crime."
By Arthur Henry (1867-1934).
First appearance: The Ladies' Home Journal, February 1919.
Short short short story (3 pages).
Online at Hathi Trust starting (HERE), continuing (HERE), and finishing (HERE).
(Note: Use "Full Screen" to center text; you'll also probably need the "Zoom In" function. Expect slow loadings.)

"In the days of Mr. Peebles' integrity he would have been too proud to ask for charity, but now this adventure in crime was taking him beyond his depth."

When does a crime become a blessing in disguise? Mr. Peebles is about to find out . . .

Comment: This one likely won't do much for your mind but, if you're so inclined, it might warm your heart.

Resources:
- The University of Pennsylvania's thumbnail of the writer: "Arthur Henry was an author and a playwright who enjoyed a close friendship with Theodore Dreiser"; more (HERE).

"The Poor Fool Was Planning a Trip He'd Never Make"

"Killer's Turnabout."
By William P. McGivern (1922-82).
First appearance: Amazing Stories, April 1941.
Short short short story (3 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

"I'll be seeing you," he repeated savagely, "but it'll be in hell."

If there's no such thing as honor among thieves, then what about when it comes to murderers?

Resources:

- The usual: Wikipedia (HERE), the SFE (HERE), and the ISFDb (HERE).
- Previous encounters between ONTOS and our author are (HERE) and (HERE).

"The Critic Who States the Solution of These Plays Is Really Spoiling Sport"

"The Popularity of the Mystery Play."
From The Graphic, January 28, 1922.
Article (½ page, 5 photos).
Online at Hathi Trust (HERE).
(Note: Use "Full Screen" to center text.)

"Two turn on mysterious robberies, one on misappropriation of bank funds and a mysterious murder, and in each there is a great deal of 'black out,' so that the stage electrician may well claim to be one of the collaborating authors. Each play is like a jig-saw puzzle, and in each the interest is maintained to the last . . ."

The plays that are briefly mentioned in the article are Old Jig, The Bat (HERE), The Night Cap (HERE), and The Beggar's Opera (HERE).

Resources:
- Michael Grost and Mary Reed have a Mystery*File article about The Bat (HERE); the text for The Beggar's Opera is (HERE).

- Dorothy L. Sayers's Whose Body? (1923) has been converted into a stage play; see the 2002 Chicago Tribune review of it (HERE). A couple of years later they had a go at staging Strong Poison, from 1930 (HERE).

"I Arrest You for the Murder of X.Y.Z."

"The Mystery of a Handsome Cad: A Story for the Bar."
By Moll. Bourne (?-?).
First appearance: Time, (month?) 1888.
Reprinted in The Armchair Detective, Winter 1986.
Short short story (7 pages).
Online at Hathi Trust (HERE).
(Note: Use "Full Screen" button to center text.)

"In a moment she had developed from an innocent and unheeding girl into a self-reliant reader of 'The Leavenworth Case.'"

In times of crisis, some people cope by rising to the occasion; in May Nettleby's case, she does the opposite . . .

Odd bodkins:
~ Gerald Annesley:
  "The only surviving scion of a fine old Irish stock, proud and impoverished as the ill-fated race from which he was believed to have sprung, emigrated to Australia . . ."
~ May Nettleby:
  ". . . the devoted and only daughter of the millionaire who had begun life with a rusty nail and closed it with a rusty temper."
~ Mr. Nettleby:
  "At that instant a figure dashed violently past them, waving in his hand a scroll of paper."
~ Mr. Johnson:
  "You are aware that a murder has been committed on the person of an unknown individual, bearing the initials X.Y.Z.?"
~ Fred Addlepate:
  "One can overdo this kind of thing, you know."

Resource:
- All handsome cads aside, you might be interested in an article about the author of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (HERE).

The bottom line: "They were shot with a shotgun and put in garbage bags and thrown under a bridge," Shrake said. "If it wasn't murder, it was a really weird accident."
― John Sandford

"A Handsome Fellow, of Good Family, with a Heart Big and Manly, If He Was a Cut-throat Gambler and a Bad Man All Around"

"Stateroom Six."
By William Albert Lewis (1856-?).
First appearance: The Black Cat, November 1895.
Short short short story (3 pages).
Online at SFFAudio (HERE).

"This spot has a fascination for me."

Death has a way of never letting go . . .

Resource:
- The FictionMags thumbnail about William Albert Lewis: "Born in Maryland; a journalist in 1901 census; death not traced." This was evidently the first of three known stories he sold
to The Black Cat.

Kiwi Appraisals of Doyle, Sherlock, and That Dog

WE'VE REPRODUCED the articles below, but you can also follow the links to the originals.

From "Literary Chat."
By "The Sage."
The New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 March 1901.
Online (HERE), continued (HERE).

   "The following is Conan Doyle's account of how he came to originate Sherlock Holmes:

   "'At the time I first thought of a detective — it was about 1886 — I had been reading some detective stories, and it struck me what nonsense they were, because forgetting the solution of the mystery the authors always depended on some coincidence. This struck me as not a fair way of playing the game, because the detective ought really to depend for his success on something in his own mind, and not on merely adventitious circumstances, which do not by any means always occur in real life.

   "'For fun, therefore, I started constructing a story, and giving my detective a scientific system, so as to make him reason everything out. Intellectually that had been done before by Edgar Allan Poe with M. Dupin, but where Holmes differed from Dupin was that he had an immense fund of exact knowledge to draw upon inconsequence of his previous scientific education.

   "'I mean by this that, by looking at a man's hand, he knew what the man's trade was, as by looking at his trouser's leg he could deduce the character of the man. He was practical, and he was systematic, and his success in the detection of crime was to be the fruit, not of luck, but of his qualities.'"

~ ~ ~

From "Literary Chat."
By "The Sage."
The New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, 1 July 1902.
Online (HERE).

   "From Messrs. Upton and Co., of Auckland, I have received Conan Doyle's latest work, 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' (which the sub-title announces to be another adventure of Sherlock Holmes), published in Longman's Colonial Library.

   "In this welcome addition to his previous efforts the author has taken a West Country Legend as the foundation for a most exciting story.

   "A certain Dr. Mortimer calls on our old friend, Sherlock Holmes, for his professional assistance to solve a 'most serious and extraordinary problem.' He commences by reading an old manuscript, dated 1742, to Holmes and his friend, Dr. Watson, which he stated had been committed to his care by Sir Charles Baskerville, whose sudden and tragic death had created so much excitement in Devonshire some months before. This M.S. describes the origin of the Hound of the Baskervilles, having been written by one of the race who had the story from his father, who had it from his.

Artwork by Selman Domagk

   "At the time of the Great Rebellion it appeared, Hugo Baskerville, whose wanton and cruel humour made his name a by-word through the West, loved the daughter of a yeoman. The young lady avoided him. He forthwith carried her off to his Hall, and placed her in an upper chamber while he held his usual nightly carousal with his friends. She escaped by climbing down the ivy-covered wall, and fled across the moor.

   "When her flight was discovered one of the revellers suggested putting the hounds after her. No sooner said than done. Hugo, on his black mare, was first and foremost in the chase. A scared shepherd, asked if he had seen the hunt by those who followed, said he had seen the unhappy maid with the hounds on her track, and he added, 'Hugo Baskerville passed me ... and there ran mute behind him such a hound of hell as God forbid should ever beat my heels.'

Artwork by John Patience at Deviant Art

   "Following on, they found the maid and the squire lying dead, with an enormous black hound standing over Hugo, plucking at his throat. After reading this Dr. Mortimer explained that the late Sir Charles had been
found lying dead in the Yew Alley, and that some little distance off he
had himself seen the footprints of a gigantic hound!

   "It will be at once seen that Conan Doyle had here a subject after his own heart, and in the elucidation of this mysterious death he puts his favourite detective to a very sharp test, out of which it is needless to say Sherlock comes victorious. But few authors have the faculty of using the same hero for several successive works without wearying the reader. The present work, however, proves, if proof were wanting, that Conan Doyle possesses it in no ordinary degree. The reader, on putting down 'The Hound of the Baskervilles,' cannot fail to acknowledge that both author and hero have lost no whit of their power to excite and interest, if indeed they have not increased it."

~ ~ ~

Completely unrelated bonus review of The Ace of Spades (HERE):

   "Messrs. Wildman and Lyell, of Auckland, send The Ace of Spades, a psychological romance, written by Messrs. R. Andre' and G. Leitch Walker,
and published by Messrs. Ward, Lock and Co., of London, Melbourne and
New York.

   "This is a gruesome story of insanity, red murder and sudden death, which should be highly pleasing to those who delight in sensational reading. The plot is too incredible for serious consideration, but the story might be an agreeable change to readers whose literature consists of the Newgate Calendar and the New York Police Gazette [sniff]."

The book doesn't seem to be listed on Worldcat, but it is for sale for £50 on Amazon.

Miscellaneous Monday—Number Twenty-four

"The Life and Times of Perry Mason: The Evolution of Today's Legal Thrillers."
By J. Madison Davis.
First appearance: World Literature Today, November 1, 2012.
Article (4 pages as a PDF).
Online at The Free Library (HERE).

". . .  authenticity is mostly a question of seeming so. A courtroom battle in reality is usually a dreadful bore. As a fellow juror once whispered to me, 'It ain't exactly Matlock, is it?'"

In addition to Perry Mason's career, our author gives us more than the usual dope on Erle Stanley Gardner's life and times, a man whose early history would never indicate he'd be destined for fabulous fame and fortune.

Davis also makes a crucial point about the appeal of a court trial being very similar to a tried-and-true detective fiction trope:

  ". . . if a courtroom can be made tolerably convincing for an audience, it has all the elements for exciting drama. There are two worthy opponents doing battle over something of great consequence. One side is usually the under-dog—Perry Mason defends the debutante found holding the murder weapon,
or a prosecutor goes after an evil mastermind who looks to outwit the legal system again. A fictional trial also provides a steady diet of revelation similar to the traditional gathering of suspects in the dining room by Hercule Poirot and his ilk. The suspects are all present and the case is reviewed clue by clue until the malefactor is exposed, though courtrooms tend, I think, to greater drama than dining rooms, in which the solution is explained by the detective rather than revealed by the process."

Resources:
- We like to think of Ben Matlock as the anti-Mason: short-tempered, prone to error, often quite contentious in court, and much more humorous; see Wikipedia (HERE) and (HERE) for run-downs on both TV series:

  "[Matlock's] format is similar to that of CBS's Perry Mason (with both Matlock and the 1980s Perry Mason TV movies created by Dean Hargrove), with Matlock identifying the perpetrators and then confronting them in dramatic courtroom scenes. One difference, however, was that whereas Mason usually exculpated his clients at a pretrial hearing, Matlock usually secured an acquittal at trial, from the jury."

Normally, too, Matlock would strive to establish the innocence of his clients "beyond a reasonable doubt" (HERE), leaving it to the prosecution to cinch the case:

  "Beyond a reasonable doubt is the highest burden of proof in any court in the United States. Criminal cases must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt."

- TV Tropes has good summary articles about Matlock (HERE), Perry Mason (HERE), and "Hollywood Law" (HERE). (WARNING: Following all of the available links at TV Tropes is guaranteed to chew up a large chunk of your day.)
- See the GAD Wiki (HERE) for a comprehensive article about Erle Stanley Gardner.
- We last heard from J. Madison Davis (HERE).

"A Burglar He Was, in Truth and Deed"

   "To such depths of frightful duplicity does the downward path, once embarked in, rapidly conduct even an originally right-minded clerical lady!"

"A Social Difficulty."
By Anonymous (Grant Allen, 1848-99).
First appearance: The Cornhill Magazine, February 1887.
Short story (18 pages).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).
(Note: Text is faded but readable. Use "Zoom In" button three or four times to enlarge.)

"This figure of speech is known to grammarians as an aposiopesis. The name is for the most part unknown to young ladies, but the figure itself is largely employed by them with great effect in ordinary conversation."

The Bishop's daughter is in love with a young officer who moves under a cloud of suspicion, even though he's been acquitted at the court martial. Unsurprisingly, the Bish opposes their relationship and would just as soon see the last of the young man—until, quite by accident, he happens to overhear a crucial conversation . . .

Characters:
~ Bishop Arthur Brandreth:
  "How easily even the most innocent and respectable of men may fall unawares under a disgraceful suspicion."
~ Captain Harry Burbury:
  "No, no darling, I can never marry you while the shadow of this hideous, unworthy doubt rests over me still."
~ Iris Brandreth, their daughter:
  "And, for the present, we're not to be engaged at all to one another . . ."
~ Charlotte Brandreth, the bishop's wife:
  "My dear Iris, what would your papa say if he only heard you talk like that?"
~ The policeman:
  "You're loiterin' about with intent to commit a felony, that's just about the size of what you're doin'."

Comments: The story depends too much on coincidence; moreover, the author evidently had it in for Episcopalians.

~ ~ ~

   "What a blessed thing it is, to be sure, to be born into this world with the easy-going, happy-go-lucky, artistic temperament!"

"The Conscientious Burglar."
By Grant Allen (1848-99).
First appearance: The Strand Magazine, June 1892.
Reprinted in The Strand Magazine (U.S.), July 1892.
Short story (11 pages, 8 illos).
Online at Archive.org (HERE).

". . . his impecuniosity arose, strange to say, neither from want of industry nor want of talent, but from pure force of circumstances."

If there are eight million ways to die, then surely there are at least eight million ways to go broke, and young Guy Lethbridge, the proverbial starving artist, has managed to find the very one that will run him afoul of "that blood-sucker of an evil and inequitable social system" and "the Revised Criminal Code of Germany," as well as his own guilt-stricken conscience . . .

Characters:
~ Guy Lethbridge:
  "He despised his own act with all the contempt and loathing of which his nature was capable."
~ Sir Richard Lavers:
  "Jolly good light on the Thingumbob-berg. You've caught the colour well. If you go on
like that, in the course of a century or so you ought, I should say, to make a painter."

Resource:
- We last touched based with Grant Allen with respect to "The Great Ruby Robbery" (HERE; scroll down).

OLD-TIME DETECTION, Autumn 2017

(GIVE ME THAT) OLD-TIME DETECTION.
Autumn 2017. Issue #46.
Editor: Arthur Vidro.
Old-Time Detection Special Interest Group of American Mensa, Ltd.
36 pages (including covers).
Cover image: Anthony Boucher.

   THE LATEST ISSUE of OLD-TIME DETECTION is here and it's definitely worth a look, as it's full to the brim with information and insights about detective fiction's Golden Age (and beyond). J. Randolph Cox has a biographical sketch of A.E.W. Mason, remembered today more for his general fiction than his mysteries . . . Dr. John Curran keeps us up to date with the latest doings in the ever-expanding Agatha Christie universe . . . Jon L. Breen offers expert opinions about authors who were hot in the early '80s . . . Francis M. Nevins gives us a fine overview of the life and times of uber-reviewer Anthony Boucher, a genius in any field he chose to explore . . . Michael Dirda has recommendations for those chilly evenings when TV isn't spooky enough . . . Charles Shibuk reveals the pleasures to be found in paperback reprints . . . Dennis Drabelle highlights the late P. D. James's short mystery fiction, something she seldom produced . . . and, to top it all off, editor Arthur Vidro offers up a typically fine puzzler by William Brittain originally from EQMM.

(1) Spotlight on A.E.W. Mason, by J. Randolph Cox:
    "[In the character of Hanaud] Mason seems to have wanted to create a professional detective who was unlike Sherlock Holmes, a man who was genial and friendly and willing to trust his intuition. Hanaud is all of these but is never described explicity. He is revealed by his actions, as an actor in a play is revealed."
    Related information at: The GAD Wiki (HERE) and A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection (HERE).

(2) Christie Corner, by Dr. John Curran (2017):
    "This year's [Agatha Christie] Festival was, sadly, a disappointment." . . . "[While living year-round in Wallingford] She [Christie] expected, and received, no special treatment but led a quiet and generally anonymous life among them."
    Related info at: A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection (HERE) and the GAD Wiki (HERE).

(3) Thirty-Five Years Ago, by Jon L. Breen (1982):
    "[Stephen] King is not just a good, reliable storyteller but a great one" . . . "[Ruth] Rendell has surprises to offer as well as keen insights into character." . . . "This is a worthy sequel because of its freshly-minted bamboozlement." . . . "Bill Pronzini lavishes unprecedented attention on works on bad mystery fiction in his Gun in Cheek . . ."

(4) The World of Anthony Boucher, by Francis M. Nevins (1983):
    "At two the next morning she [Lee Wright] woke up her husband with the excited cry that she had just found the first unsolicited manuscript she ever wanted to publish."
    Related: A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection (HERE) and the GAD Wiki (HERE).

(5) Mystery Collections for a Cold Winter's Night, by Michael Dirda (2016):
    "Even if you're snowed in for the holidays — or all of January, for that matter — these collections will keep you cozy."
    Related: Mystery*File (HERE) and (HERE), and The Passing Tramp (HERE).

(6) The Paperback Revolution, by Charles Shibuk (1970):
    ". . . the best reprint period I have seen in many years."
    Related: The GAD Wiki (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), (HERE), and (HERE).

(7) Fiction:
 ~ "Mr. Lightning," by William Brittain, writing as "James Knox" (1966, 9 pages):
   "The man in the comic strip. He walked right up the alley there just when the men came out of the bank, and touched them with his electric hands. And then he took them back down the alley."
   Related: ONTOS (HERE) and A Guide to Classic Mystery and Detection (HERE).

(8) Mega-Review, by Dennis Drabelle (2016):
 ~ The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories, by P. D. James:
   "The four tales in this slim volume, then, are old-fashioned, at least up to a point: no noir, yet plenty of shadows; no explicit sex, but ample erotic tension. And James spins them with the economy demanded by the short form."

(9) Looking Backward, by Charles Shibuk (1972, 1974, 1980):
    ". . . one of the most offbeat and compelling novels that you are ever likely to come across." . . . ". . . it is highly readable, but its uneasy blend of disparate elements have not coalesced into a completely successful mixture." . . . " "Gone is the mastery of plot and puzzle, the spinning of deceptive clues, the sharp and incisive descriptions and dialogue."
    Related:  The GAD Wiki (HERE) and (HERE).

(10) This Issue's Puzzle:
     "Identify the actor and actress and the roles they are playing."

(11) The Readers Write:
     "Thank you for all the work you put into this unique digest of those authors and works who I think stand the test of time!"

(12) A New (but Old-Time) Mystery Favorites Poll (5 categories).

~ ~ ~

Subscription information:
- Published three times a year: spring, summer, and autumn.
- Sample copy: $6.00 in U.S.; $10.00 anywhere else.
- One-year U.S.: $18.00 ($15.00 for Mensans).
- One-year overseas: $40.00 (or 20 pounds sterling or 25 euros).
- Payment: Checks payable to Arthur Vidro, or cash from any nation, or U.S. postage stamps.
Mailing address:
   Arthur Vidro, editor
   Old-Time Detection
   2 Ellery Street
   Claremont, New Hampshire 03743
Web address:
   oldtimedetection@netzero.net
.........................................................................................
Resource:
- We discussed last summer's issue of OTD (HERE).