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    Mystery Publishers

    • Academy Chicago Publishers
      An imprint of the Chicago Review Press. Features a number of interesting authors, most long out of print, plus some other odds and ends, including some horror stories by Conan Doyle.
    • Crippen & Landru
      Crippen & Landru publish mystery short story collections. Of particular interest is what they call "Lost Classics," a series of anthologies of mostly uncollected stories by authors who might be enjoyed by a new generation of readers.
    • Dean Street Press
      This small British publisher has a great many classic crime books in its much broader catalog. They are bringing back many Golden Age classics by authors who deserve another chance at a new audience.
    • Felony & Mayhem
      This publisher specializes in classic mysteries, broadly defined, including newer mysteries that adhere to classic standards. They have just overhauled their website to make it much more informative and user-friendly.
    • Locked Room International
      A small press, specializing in very good English-language translations of (so far) mostly-French authors of locked room and impossible crime stories. They publish in Print-On-Demand and electronic editions.
    • Merion Press
      The Merion Press is an independent publisher of out-of-print works that were originally published over 75 years ago, but are enduring even today.
    • MysteriousPress.com
      The brainchild of editor/anthologist/author/bookstore-owner Otto Penzler, the Mysterious Press has recently returned to life and now works with Open Road Media as an electronic book publisher. It is already republishing the work of a lot of classic authors, with more books on the way.
    • Oconee Spirit Press
      A small, independent publisher committed to publishing "lively fiction, and provocative non-fiction." Most of their list covers early works by established authors writing traditional mysteries, such as Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron.
    • Oleander Press
      This small eclectic British publisher has begun publishing a series of classic British mystery novels, primarily from the Golden Age. The series is grouped into a section of their catalogue named "London Bound," as the books are set in London.
    • Ostara Publishing
      "Ostara Publishing re-issues titles that have unjustifiably become unavailable either through the ravages of time or the forces of publishing economics. We specialise in Crime and Thriller fiction titles and our range goes from the1920s through to the 21st century. We publish thematically and currently have six series available. All our titles are published in a 'trade paperback' format and printed to order."
    • Poisoned Pen Press
      Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Poisoned Pen Press publishes a fairly wide variety of mysteries. Some are reprints; many are new, by newer authors. Their website has a great deal of information about their books and authors.

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    « "The Cipher Garden": Playing by the Rules | Main | Revisiting the Locked Room »

    December 15, 2008

    "The Big Bow Mystery"

    Our podcast review this week is of a book which has the distinction of being the very first book-length locked room mystery novel - and it's one that holds up remarkably well today. "The Big Bow Mystery" was written in 1891 by Israel Zangwill (who is better remembered today for his writings as a British Zionist than as a mystery author). You can listen to the review here.

    The puzzle is clear and straightforward: a landlady becomes alarmed because she cannot wake one of her tenants. She calls in a retired police detective, who lives across the street. The two break into the locked and bolted room to discover the tenant dead with his throat quite freshly cut - but there is nobody and no weapon in the locked room, nor could anyone have entered or left the room unobserved.

    It is a classic "impossible crime" puzzle, with clues quite fairly presented to the reader. The book is also a very funny satire on elements of British life in the later Victorian years. And if you are reluctant to buy the book through the link above (which you shouldn't be), then be aware that it is out of copyright and available online free through Project Gutenberg Australia - though Amazon also has an inexpensive and nicely formatted Kindle version available if you prefer it.

    Posted at 01:40 PM in Locked Rooms/Impossible Crimes |

    Tags: Classic Mysteries, detective stories, impossible crimes, locked room mysteries

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    Disclosure: Amazon Associates

    • As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
      That means that if you order anything from Amazon through a link from my site I get a small commission. As a result, I'd consider it a favor if you would consider making your purchases through my links. As always, though, if you have a local mystery book store, I encourage you to use them as your first choice. For anything else...thank you.

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