The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries Is Fun And Refreshing

The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries, edited by Edgar Award winner Otto Penzler, may be centered around plots of a bygone era but it’s refreshing to read and a delightful new release for lovers of mystery fiction (old and new).

Behind the velvet curtains of horsedrawn carriages and amid the soft glow of the gaslights are the detectives and bobbies sniffing out the safecrackers and petty purloiners who plague everything from the soot-covered side streets of London to the opulent manors of the countryside. With his latest title in the Big Book series, Otto Penzler is cracking cases and serving up the most thrilling, suspenseful Victorian mysteries.

…a great collection for fans of traditional mysteries.

This collection brings together incredible stories from Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, and Guy de Maupassant among other legendary writers of the grand era of the British Empire. So brush off your dinner jackets and straighten out your ball gowns for these exciting, glitzy mysteries.

The book is divided into 4 sections: Detective Stories, Crime Stories, International Stories, and American Stories. The focus in assembling the collection hasn’t been on packing the anthology with fiction from “pure mystery writers”. Instead, the work of fine masters such as Charles Dickens featuring detectives has also been included.

The series has been edited well, and each story can comfortably be read in half an hour or less. Overall, this is a great addition to the collection of traditional mystery fans.