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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 Merry Month of May | Main | "Dead Man's Shoes" »

    May 04, 2015

    "Call Mr. Fortune"

    It is hardly unusual for doctors to specialize in certain areas of medical practice. It is, perhaps, a bit less usual to hear one's specialty described as "the surgery of crime." Yet that's the way author H. C. Bailey describes the  area of specialization of his creation, Reggie Fortune:

    “The Criminal Investigation Department, solicitors, and others dealing with those experiments in social reform which are called crimes, by continually appealing to his multifarious knowledge and his all-observant eye, turned Dr. Reginald Fortune, general practitioner at Westhampton, into Mr. Fortune of Wimpole Street, specialist in – what shall we say? – the surgery of crime. And Reggie Fortune, though richer for the change, was not grateful. He liked ordinary things, and any day would have gladly bartered a murder for a case of chicken-pox. This accounts for his unequalled sanity of judgment.”  

    That was in 1920, when Reggie Fortune made his first book appearance in Call Mr. Fortune, a collection of six short stories by H. C. Bailey. That collection is the subject of this week's audio review on the Classic Mysteries podcast, and you can listen to the entire review by clicking here.

    Reggie Fortune didn't appear in very many novels. His many appearances in short stories, however, were quite popular. In the first short story in this book, called “The Archduke’s Tea,” we are introduced to Reggie Fortune. He is taking over his father’s medical practice temporarily while the senior Mr. Fortune is away. Reggie is summoned to the London residence of the Archduke Maurice of Bohemia. The archduke has been struck by a motor car and is unconscious; could Mr. Fortune please come at once. Reggie answers the call, only to find a great deal more mystery than he bargained for.

    If you listen to that audio review on the podcast, you will hear brief rundowns of the other five stories contained in Call Mr. Fortune.  The stories all are quite well done. I must admit that Reggie Fortune can be a bit of a drag sometime - always dropping his 'g's is a very irritatin' and even provokin' habit, as is his tendency to moan and groan a lot when he speaks. Also, as is often the case with mysteries from the early years of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, there are occasional mention of racial and gender attitudes in ways that may make a modern reader wince. On the whole, however, these stories are quite enjoyable. Call Mr. Fortune is available in e-book editions from The Mysterious Press/Open Road Media.

    The 2015 Bingo Challenge

    Continuing my participation in the 2015 Vintage Mystery Bingo challenge. under way at the My Reader's Block blog, Call Dr. Fortune is my entry for the square (fifth row, first column) calling for one medical mystery (or features Dr. or nurse).

    Vintage Golden Card 2015

    Posted at 01:16 PM in Golden Age, Reading Challenges |

    Tags: classic mysteries, GAD, Golden Age of Detective Fiction, mysteries, mystery, Reggie Fortune

    Comments

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    Bev Hankins

    I've only read a couple of the short stories (in anthologies featuring several authors), but I've enjoyed them very much and your review and John's at Pretty Sinister Books both inspire me to find a collection sooner rather than later.

    Posted by: Bev Hankins | May 21, 2015 at 10:34 PM

    Les Blatt

    While his novels are enjoyable, Bev, Reggie Fortune really shone in the short stories - I think you can find several collections that are worth your time and effort!

    Posted by: Les Blatt | May 21, 2015 at 10:40 PM

    The comments to this entry are closed.

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