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annieb123's review
4.0
Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.
Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries is an anthology of classic crime fiction featuring animals in one way or another collected and curated by Martin Edwards. Released 7th June 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press as part of the British Library Crime Classics series, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is another worthy anthology in a long-running collection of well- and lesser-known classics from the British crime fiction of yesteryear. These 14 stories, originally published between 1892 and 1967 are taken from the oeuvre of luminaries like Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle (The Lion's Mane), and G.K. Chesterton (The Oracle of the Dog) and others, possibly not as well known to most readers. All of the authors were previously familiar to me, but several of the stories included here were new to me in any form. It's a well rounded collection and all but the most stalwart and well read connoisseur will find stories they've never read.
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. Mr. Edwards has a prodigious knowledge of the genre and writes engagingly and well.
Well written, this entry and the series as a whole are well worth seeking out. This would make a superlative selection for readers of the genre as well as an introduction to classic crime fiction from the golden age. It's so nice to see these being released for a new generation of fans.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Guilty Creatures: A Menagerie of Mysteries is an anthology of classic crime fiction featuring animals in one way or another collected and curated by Martin Edwards. Released 7th June 2022 by Poisoned Pen Press as part of the British Library Crime Classics series, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is another worthy anthology in a long-running collection of well- and lesser-known classics from the British crime fiction of yesteryear. These 14 stories, originally published between 1892 and 1967 are taken from the oeuvre of luminaries like Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle (The Lion's Mane), and G.K. Chesterton (The Oracle of the Dog) and others, possibly not as well known to most readers. All of the authors were previously familiar to me, but several of the stories included here were new to me in any form. It's a well rounded collection and all but the most stalwart and well read connoisseur will find stories they've never read.
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. Mr. Edwards has a prodigious knowledge of the genre and writes engagingly and well.
Well written, this entry and the series as a whole are well worth seeking out. This would make a superlative selection for readers of the genre as well as an introduction to classic crime fiction from the golden age. It's so nice to see these being released for a new generation of fans.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
tombomp's review
2.0
Most of these are pretty crap. A few are ok, at best. Yet I still find it kind of an enjoyable read, even if I was flagging by the end. Some of these are real dregs and barely resemble anything you'd usually see in the mystery genre - they're mostly of historical interest. As other people have pointed out the lowlight is the absurd "The Man Who Was Scared of Earthworms", a story whose only point of mild interest is given away in the title it's total nonsense that sounds much more entertaining as a summary than it actually is. Another story is a racist one about the brutality of native Indian rulers but it also has a trial by ordeal where the method is "endurance bookkeeping" so who can say if it's bad or not (it's awful). A lot of these stories make sense as low effort filler written for short story magazines or newspapers at a time when that was a thing and people wanted some low engagement pulp. It's hard to see much appeal except as curiosities now. There's also one story where being included in a collection of animal-focused stories makes the title itself a spoiler: "The adventure of the lion's mane" is not a stellar Sherlock Holmes story but the one thing it has going for it - the unusual nature of the crime and how death occured - is ruined if you have any familiarity with the sea. Which is a shame.
And yet... I do enjoy the generic mystery format precisely because they can be so low effort and still give a measure of satisfaction, just due to having a puzzle and then explaining it. Again, most of the puzzles and explanations here are pretty rough. But still! It was a reasonably nice time reading through it. Just only worth it if you really like generic pulp mystery stuff.
Spoiler
a group of vigilantes who are obsessed with phrenology and all that junk criminology come randomly across a billionaire agricultural chemist who is also insane and hates earthworms. He's developed a poison that can self replicate that kills all earthworms and he was about to send it out to farmers across the world under the guise of it being fertiliser. One of the vigilantes kills him. The endAnd yet... I do enjoy the generic mystery format precisely because they can be so low effort and still give a measure of satisfaction, just due to having a puzzle and then explaining it. Again, most of the puzzles and explanations here are pretty rough. But still! It was a reasonably nice time reading through it. Just only worth it if you really like generic pulp mystery stuff.
shanaqui's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Guilty Creatures has an interesting idea for a theme (crime/mystery stories centred around animals in some way, usually where animals are the culprits), and is an entertaining read in the aggregate, but I can't say that any single story actually really stood out to me, except perhaps the one where a tuberculosis infection was a significant clue, given my interests! In some cases the theme was a little bit stretched, to say the least (I won't say which, since it kind of spoils the point of the story to understand what happened).
The quality of the stories is variable, as so often in short story collections of any kind, but it overall manages to be a fun experience -- in part because of the little windows into the author that Edwards gives at the start of each story, providing a little bit of context. It's very easy reading, as well: if you don't like one story or style, the next is coming up very soon.
fictionfan's review against another edition
4.0
“...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!
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!
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 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.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
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!
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!
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 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.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
annarella's review
4.0
The books in this series are always a treat and made me discover some authors that are favorite now.
This one is a good anthology of stories featuring animals and it's a mixed bag. Some are quite good, some were not my cup of tea.
It's an interesting read as it's a way to discover some author and stories.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
This one is a good anthology of stories featuring animals and it's a mixed bag. Some are quite good, some were not my cup of tea.
It's an interesting read as it's a way to discover some author and stories.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine
backpackfullofbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
fernandie's review
2.0
I didn't like this one nearly as much as the other collections in the series. In this case, the theme of the book gives away what may otherwise have come as twists for some of the stories. Fewer of the stories than usual are actual murder mysteries, and more of the stories are from the perpetrators' viewpoints or otherwise unconventionally structured. Just overall not as fun as the locked room or Christmas ones, although I do appreciate that as usual the collection was full of more obscure stories readers are unlikely to have come across before.
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
vsbedford's review against another edition
2.0
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 wouldn't recommend as an entry point to the series but completists may want to dip a toe in.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
fyre_flies's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Animal death