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A review by elusivity
Historical Whodunits by Mike Ashley
3.0
PART I: The Ancient World
The Locked Tomb Mystery - Elizabeth Peters
An Egyptian Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Amenhotep the eagle-nosed detective and his helper, the scribe Wadjsen.
The thief vs King Rhampsinitus - Herodotus
A familiar folktale.
Socrates Solves a Murder - Breni James
A pastiche of Socratic dialogue-style, a la Plato. Clever.
Mightier Than the Sword - John Maddox Roberts
An urbane, witty, man of Rome, solving crime while going about his business.
The Treasury Thefts - Wallace Nichols
Lovely story of Sollius the slave, solving the mystery theft from Marcus Aurellius' Treasury. Apparently there are more than 60 of these stories.. a pity they have fallen out of favor.
A Byzantine Mystery - Mary Reed & Eric Mayer
Emperor Justinian required his Chamberlain to find his sacred relic. Nice twist to the story.
He Came with the Rain - Robert van Gulik
Judge Dee solves the murder of a pawnbroker by understanding the victim's true nature.
The High King's Sword - Peter Tremayne
Sister Fidelma, a nun and "lawyer", is summoned to find a missing sword required for the next High King to be anointed, in Ireland before the Norman invasion.
Part II: The Middle Ages
The Price of Light - Ellis Peters
A Brother Cadfael story, involving a bad-tempered Scrooge of a rich man and a pair of beautiful silver candlesticks.
The Confession of Brother Athelstan - Paul Harding
Brother Athelstan is a Benedictine friar, and amanuensis to the Coroner Sir John. This story involves knights jousting and an inadvertent death that turns out to be murder.
The Witch's Tale - Margaret Frazer
A much-abused wife seems to kill her husband with witchcraft. Sister Frivesse investigates.
Father Hugh & the Deadly Scythe - Mary Monica Pulver
From the haughty perspective of an abbess, Father Hugh the village monk solves the death of the village gossip /blackmailer.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Detective - Theodore Mathieson
During the last years of his life, the French Queen challenges Leondardo to solve the seemingly-impossible death of her not-so-secret lover.
A Sad & Bloody Hour - Joe Gores
Written using 300+ lines of dialogue from Shakespeare plays. High creativity, but alas, makes for overly melodramatic story.
PART III: Regency & Gaslight
The Christmas Masque - S. S. Rafferty
Captain Cork called to deal with murder of a wealthy heiress at a Christmas Ball in New York City, in the 1700s.
Murder Lock'd In - Lillian de la Torre
Dr. Johnson meets up with his faithful diarist Boswell for the first, and gets involved in a locked-room triple murder.
Captain Nash & the Wroth Inheritance - Raymond Butler
A long and convoluted novel, featuring Captain Nash almost as a hardboiled detective in 1700s, following people, impetuously kicking snakes' nests without much forethought, and more complex than the mystery itself warrants. More of a thriller..
The Doomdorf Mystery - Melville Davisson Post
An Uncle Abner mystery, full of dread & doom & high falutin' language & strange characters.
Murder in the Rue Royale - Michael Harrison
A pastiche a la Poe, where August Dupin solves a locked-room mystery, with a most dreadful murder method.
The Gentleman from Paris - John Dickson Carr
This time, the detective IS Poe. A young man from Paris come to New York City, trying to find an old woman's will. Overly melodramatic.
The Golden Nugget Poker Game - Edward D. Hoch
In the wildness of Canada, a sharpshooter stumbles into a plot to steal prospector's gold.
Part IV: Holmes & Beyond
The Case of the Deptford Horror - Adrian Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Very similar to THE SPECKLED BAND. A family that seem to die off one by one, until only the niece is left, and an overly-solicitous uncle.
Five Rings in Reno - R. L. Stevens
Arthur Conan Doyle went to Reno, NV to solve the death of a journalist.
The Locked Tomb Mystery - Elizabeth Peters
An Egyptian Sherlock Holmes pastiche, Amenhotep the eagle-nosed detective and his helper, the scribe Wadjsen.
The thief vs King Rhampsinitus - Herodotus
A familiar folktale.
Socrates Solves a Murder - Breni James
A pastiche of Socratic dialogue-style, a la Plato. Clever.
Mightier Than the Sword - John Maddox Roberts
An urbane, witty, man of Rome, solving crime while going about his business.
The Treasury Thefts - Wallace Nichols
Lovely story of Sollius the slave, solving the mystery theft from Marcus Aurellius' Treasury.
Spoiler
It's the arrogant, corrupt Emperor-in-waiting, Commodus.A Byzantine Mystery - Mary Reed & Eric Mayer
Emperor Justinian required his Chamberlain to find his sacred relic. Nice twist to the story.
He Came with the Rain - Robert van Gulik
Judge Dee solves the murder of a pawnbroker by understanding the victim's true nature.
The High King's Sword - Peter Tremayne
Sister Fidelma, a nun and "lawyer", is summoned to find a missing sword required for the next High King to be anointed, in Ireland before the Norman invasion.
Part II: The Middle Ages
The Price of Light - Ellis Peters
A Brother Cadfael story, involving a bad-tempered Scrooge of a rich man and a pair of beautiful silver candlesticks.
The Confession of Brother Athelstan - Paul Harding
Brother Athelstan is a Benedictine friar, and amanuensis to the Coroner Sir John. This story involves knights jousting and an inadvertent death that turns out to be murder.
The Witch's Tale - Margaret Frazer
A much-abused wife seems to kill her husband with witchcraft. Sister Frivesse investigates.
Father Hugh & the Deadly Scythe - Mary Monica Pulver
From the haughty perspective of an abbess, Father Hugh the village monk solves the death of the village gossip /blackmailer.
Leonardo Da Vinci, Detective - Theodore Mathieson
During the last years of his life, the French Queen challenges Leondardo to solve the seemingly-impossible death of her not-so-secret lover.
A Sad & Bloody Hour - Joe Gores
Written using 300+ lines of dialogue from Shakespeare plays. High creativity, but alas, makes for overly melodramatic story.
PART III: Regency & Gaslight
The Christmas Masque - S. S. Rafferty
Captain Cork called to deal with murder of a wealthy heiress at a Christmas Ball in New York City, in the 1700s.
Spoiler
Puzzle and clues laid out step by step, but the murderer came seemingly from nowhere. How I tire of stories where, oops, insanity runs in the family, so of course the insane murderer wants to kill without a real reason yet with amazing insane-people cunning. Ugh.Murder Lock'd In - Lillian de la Torre
Dr. Johnson meets up with his faithful diarist Boswell for the first, and gets involved in a locked-room triple murder.
Captain Nash & the Wroth Inheritance - Raymond Butler
A long and convoluted novel, featuring Captain Nash almost as a hardboiled detective in 1700s, following people, impetuously kicking snakes' nests without much forethought, and more complex than the mystery itself warrants. More of a thriller..
The Doomdorf Mystery - Melville Davisson Post
An Uncle Abner mystery, full of dread & doom & high falutin' language & strange characters.
Murder in the Rue Royale - Michael Harrison
A pastiche a la Poe, where August Dupin solves a locked-room mystery, with a most dreadful murder method.
The Gentleman from Paris - John Dickson Carr
This time, the detective IS Poe. A young man from Paris come to New York City, trying to find an old woman's will. Overly melodramatic.
The Golden Nugget Poker Game - Edward D. Hoch
In the wildness of Canada, a sharpshooter stumbles into a plot to steal prospector's gold.
Part IV: Holmes & Beyond
The Case of the Deptford Horror - Adrian Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes pastiche. Very similar to THE SPECKLED BAND. A family that seem to die off one by one, until only the niece is left, and an overly-solicitous uncle.
Spoiler
I suppose it is rather amusing that even Sherlock Holmes is terrified of spiders, albeit, a giant one the size of a dinner plate!Five Rings in Reno - R. L. Stevens
Arthur Conan Doyle went to Reno, NV to solve the death of a journalist.