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kcfromaustcrime's review against another edition
5.0
Short story collections are one of my favourite things, ideal to dip in and out of (very useful right now at Tour de France time when I'm awake way too late and easily distracted), and they are all the more enjoyable when populated by a rich variety of storytelling styles and subjects. As is the case with the BLACK BEACON BOOK OF MYSTERY.
Made up of a couple of novella length stories, surrounded by some really interesting forms of shorter crime fiction, this is a combination of original and reprinted tales that range from noir to police procedural, from locked room to armchair detectives. There's a bit of something here for everyone. Fans of some of these authors will note it includes the second Oscar Tremont novella (set in Walhalla in the goldfields of rural Victoria, its the perfect setting for an investigator of the strange and inexplicable).
Thoroughly enjoyed all the entries in this collection, with some of the standouts being the ultimate armchair detective story that was 50 by Josh Pachter, THE GHOSTS OF WALHALLA by Cameron Trost, the setting and the sensibility of this one was spot on, and the very creepy AVOCA MANSION by Duncan Richardson (nothing to do with the town down the road from me), this had another great sense of place, and style that was perfectly executed, and the Sherlock Holmes setting of THE CASE OF THE REVERSE THIEF by Paulene Turner which felt, read and seemed like an original story.
As always though, it's not fair to just pick out a few stories in one of these sorts of collections. There's plenty here for fans of all sorts of settings, writing styles and scenarios. Highly recommended for crime fiction readers everywhere.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/black-beacon-book-mystery-short-story-complilation
Made up of a couple of novella length stories, surrounded by some really interesting forms of shorter crime fiction, this is a combination of original and reprinted tales that range from noir to police procedural, from locked room to armchair detectives. There's a bit of something here for everyone. Fans of some of these authors will note it includes the second Oscar Tremont novella (set in Walhalla in the goldfields of rural Victoria, its the perfect setting for an investigator of the strange and inexplicable).
Thoroughly enjoyed all the entries in this collection, with some of the standouts being the ultimate armchair detective story that was 50 by Josh Pachter, THE GHOSTS OF WALHALLA by Cameron Trost, the setting and the sensibility of this one was spot on, and the very creepy AVOCA MANSION by Duncan Richardson (nothing to do with the town down the road from me), this had another great sense of place, and style that was perfectly executed, and the Sherlock Holmes setting of THE CASE OF THE REVERSE THIEF by Paulene Turner which felt, read and seemed like an original story.
As always though, it's not fair to just pick out a few stories in one of these sorts of collections. There's plenty here for fans of all sorts of settings, writing styles and scenarios. Highly recommended for crime fiction readers everywhere.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/black-beacon-book-mystery-short-story-complilation
karen_bayly's review against another edition
5.0
This is an excellent selection of stories to suit every mystery fan. Usually, with anthologies, I find there are a couple of stories I love, a few that I find uninteresting, and the rest I enjoy, but this one was enjoyment all the way.
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