A Treasury of Great Mysteries, Volume 1 by Howard Haycraft

A Treasury of Great Mysteries, Volume 1 Reviews

• 
  Alan

  This will probably sound dumb, or maudlin, to some people. This is the first of two volumes, and originally, both volumes were to be among the books I inherited from my mother upon her passing (which was several years ago). Let's just say my brother and his family saw to it that none of the items ever made it into my possession.
  
  Years later, post divorce and feeling depressed around Xmas time I went about purchasing, used, the books I was supposed to have received as a holiday gift to myself. I've read all of the books except for these two volumes.
  
  Now, I can't decide if it is my having gotten older, or if mystery writing has changed that much over the years. This was not an easy read. The writing in most of the stories is dense, and you have to work through the stories. The pacing is significantly slower than most of today's works. At the worst I feel like a better reader after having completed this book (even though I'm taking a break before finishing volume two, which I have started).
  
  This is a collection of shorts, novellas and novels. One of the shorts that I really enjoyed was Maigret's Christmas. It had a nice Christmas feel to it, was well paced, and I think you get a feeling for Maigret character. With the Perry Mason story, I could not get Raymond Burr's, and the rest of the cast, images out of my head. Ellery Queen's character comes off pretty much as a zero. Rear Window was interesting, because even I know its a famous movie, but the characters are uninteresting-it really is a plot driven tale.
  
  Like any anthology some hits, some misses, some meh. I was surprised that I liked the Hilda Adams story, and with a little updating I could see reviving the character for today's world. I find the concept of near retirement nurse, who ends up assisting the police, and that she doesn't suffer fools well not only a workable concept but a character that I enjoyed.
  
• 
  VT Dorchester

  I've read most of these already, but I found this volume at the local thrift shop and couldn't resist picking it up for a few dollars. I do wish the second volume had been available as well. I skipped two stories in this collection, one because I've read it before and found it to be only so-so, and the last, Journey into Fear, because I own a copy of it on it's own already and have read it a couple of times now. (It is a lot of fun.)
  
  The other stories in this collection I read quite happily for the first or second time. (Rear Window is pretty great!) I'm going to pass this on through a little free library down my street. I think if the copy i have came with it's original dust jacket or if I had both volumes, i might of kept it, but I have quite limited bookshelf space.
• 
  Mehedi Sarwar

  One of the best collections of classic mysteries by best authors of the golden age mysteries including Agatha Christie, Mary Robert Rinehart, Ellery Queen, John Dickson Carr, Eric Ambler etc.
• 
  Serena

  Hercule Poirot 10
  Murder on the Orient Express by
  Agatha Christie ****
  Perry Mason 84 the Case of the Crimson Kiss by
  Erle Stanley Gardner ***
  Mr JG Reeder] the Treasure Hunt by
  Edgar Wallace ****
  Maigret] Maigret's Christmas by
  Georges Simenon ****
  Peter Duluth] Puzzle for Poppy by
  Patrick Quentin ***
  the Secret by
  Mary Roberts Rinehart ****
  Dr Gideon Fell] the Incautious Burglar by
  John Dickson Carr ****
  Ellery Queen Detective 10
  the Lamp of God by
  Ellery Queen ****
  the Case of the White Elephant by
  Margery Allingham ****
  
  Rear Window by
  William Irish (
  Cornell Woolrich) ****
  
  Journey Into Fear by
  Eric Ambler ****
  
  My Rating System:
  * couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.
• 
  Deb

  I pulled this anthology of classic mystery stories off my bookshelf recently. I had it for years without ever reading it. To my surprise, it includes verifiable classics like Christie's A Murder on the Calais Coach (better known today as A Murder on the Orient Express); and Cornell Woolrich's original short story that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window." You'll also find stories from Mary Roberts Rinehart, Erle Stanley Gardner, Ellery Queen, Edgar Wallace, Margery Allingham and Georges Simenon. Good reads all.
  This is Volume 1, lacking it's original dust jacket. I'd love to find Volume 2, packed with tales from more classic mystery authors.
  If you can track this down through a used book store, it's definitely worth the time.
• 
  Berna

  A very decent collection of mystery novels, novellettes and short stories. The first novel "Murder at Calais Coach" by Agatha Christie is of course excellent.
  I also really liked the last novel " Journey Into Fear" by Eric Ambler, "The Secret" by Mary Roberts Rineheart, "Maigret's Christmas" by Georges Simenon and "The Case of the Crimson Kiss" by Erle Stanley Gardner. I will specifically read more books from all of these authors in the future.
• 
  Hugh Coverly

  Overall it was a good book filled with many interesting stories. I liked the British stories the best, and the American stories were okay. The last story, Journey Into Fear, was the best. Was the fear that Graham would be killed at some point in story the journey the point?
• 
  Jenny

  Fun, light reading in a genre i don’t usually turn to. Especially enjoyed the final novel: Journey Into Fear by Eric Ambler whose suspense was followed up with an exciting climax and satisfying conclusion.
• 
  Beverly

  My favorite stories in the treasury were:
  Murder in the Calais Coach (aka Murder on the Orient Express) by Agatha Christie
  The Treasure Hunt by Edgar Wallace
  Maigret's Christmas by Georges Simenon
  The Lamp of God by Ellery Queen
• 
  Kelsey Kramer

  "Rear Window" was thrilling, but I was underwhelmed by the other mysteries in this volume.
• 
  William

  It seems that I can never become a fan of mysteries outside of the cosmos
• 
  Lynn

  Earlier this year, I took out from the library several anthologies of mystery and detective stories, hoping to discover or rediscover some authors for pleasure reading.
  
  It turns out that Murder On The Calais Coach is another title for Murder On The Orient Express (although I read further into it than I would like to admit before recognizing it) so I didn't have to read that one. That is one of my least favorite Agatha Christies and although it's "classic" I consider it a terrible mystery and not very representative, so I thought it was an odd choice for an anthology. Death On The Nile is a much better Poirot story in my opinion.
  
  Anyway, I definitely started this book back in February or early March, when I was still going to work, because I remember reading some of these stories on my lunch breaks. After March 13, I was unexpectedly stuck at home without access to my office, so for a while, I couldn't make any progress on this book even if I had wanted to. Finally some time in April, I was able to arrange a visit to work, and get my belongings and library books. Still, it took me two more months to finish this.
  
  I was underwhelmed overall, although I've definitely already read and sometimes liked stories by some of these authors, including Ellery Queen, some Maigret novels, and lots of Mary Roberts Rinehart. Besides MRR, who is already a favorite of mine, I think the Margery Allingham was my favorite thing in this collection. I'm sure I've read an Albert Campion story or book before, but not this story.
  
  Rear Window was even more dull than the movie, which I already disliked, and Journey Into Fear was a slog for me, and it's debatable that it's really a "mystery" as far as I can see, although I can see how it would make a good movie. It's a spy story narrated in the tone "I can't believe it happened to ME!" in which everything is pretty much exactly as it appears once the unexpected hero finds out he is a marked man; it's only a question of how this hapless, unassuming man will rise to the occasion, beat the bad guys at their own game, and save the Allies/western civilization as we know it.
• 
  Meghan

  I'm not a mystery fan but after reading last year
  Arthur Conan Doyle and reviving my love for
  Agatha Christie, I decided to delve into the world of the mystery. This two volume set was inherited from my mother, a great lover of mysteries. And after reading the first volume I realized what the attraction is to this genre. However, perhaps because a lot of these stories are dated, and perhaps due to the short story style that doesn't always lend the reader a good opportunity of knowing the principle characters, I still only feel a "like" attraction. But a couple of these stories are real gems and am interested in reading more by a few of the authors. It will be a while though before I pick up volume two. I think I need a break from mysteries, or at least go back to Christie.
• 
  Donna

  I enjoyed Volume 1 more than Volume 11. I believe I would have appreciated Volume 11 more if I had checked out the stories on line. I found both these books at books sales at different times. Now I want to re-read the 2nd volume. Although I do remember Rebecca from the first book and loved it.
  
  Volume I's favorites were Murder in the Calais Coach (or Murder on the Orient Express), The Case of the Crimson Kiss (Perry Mason)...actually I enjoyed them all.
• 
  Brett

  Mystery,Anthology
• 
  Ada

  A truly excellent selection of mysteries by the great masters of the art, most of which I hadn't read before. Now, to find Volume 2...
• 
  Joshua McKey

  I love mystery books and this collection of short stories, novels, and novellas has a plethora of them.