description: Three detective stories by Mark Twain with an introduction by Walter Mosely, the modern master of mystery writing, and an afterword by noted scholar Lillian S. Robinson. "The Stolen White Elephant" is a broad farce mocking the self-proclaimed omniscience of many fictional detectives, toldentirely in the form of a series of ridiculous telegraphs. Revolving around the theft of a literal white elephant, the gift of the King of Siam, this manifestly absurd story is nevertheless modeled after the real life efforts of a blundering New York Police Department to recover the corpse of oneAlexander T. Stewart, stolen from his family vault in 1878. "A Double-Barreled Detective Story" is another delightful spoof of the mystery genre, then in its infancy, this time introducing the reader to Sherlock Holmes as he has never been seen before or since. Far from his usual elegant Londonhaunts, the great detective is caught up in a melodramatic murder mystery of love, betrayal, and vengeance in a rough California mining town. Finally, in "Tom Sawyer, Detective," Twain gives us a lively adventure featuring Tom Sawyer as the great detective and Huck Finn as his Watson, investigatingdiamond thefts and murders back in Hannibal. Three delightful stories, all with Twain's trademark wit and sense of fun.
language: English
title: The Stolen White Elephant and Other Detective Stories (1882, 1896, 1902)
titlecomplete: The Stolen White Elephant and Other Detective Stories (1882, 1896, 1902) (The Oxford Mark Twain)
genres: Classics, American, Fiction, Short Stories
ratings_count: 174
publisher: Oxford University Press