Evening star., 1951-12-09

the best writing and most
battling puzzles are being
overlooked by the vast audi
enceS that make crime pay.
This fate is reserved for the
mystery short story anthologies--
and it shouldn't happen. For the
aficionado of whodunits. the read
er who still reveres the wonders of
Edgar Allen Poe and A. Conan
Doyle. there's mystery gold to be
mined between the covers of
good anthology.
This year, several notable an
thologies have been = produced
Ellery Queen. the writing combi-
nation that has probably done
more than any other to uncover
forgotten gems and encourage nom
mystery writer's to try their hand
at short puzzlerS. has produced a
stimulating volume in the sixth
series of The Queens Awards"
The experts of mystery writer's of
America have combined on 30
Great Tales of Murder" with all
of them putting their best foot
forward. Another excellent col
lection is Handbook for Poison
erS," not only for it's famous
stories but for an authoritative
preface on poisons and poisoners
by the editor. Raymond T. Bond.
Then. there are the solo collec-
tions Agatha Christie's earliest
efforts are to be found in The
Under Dog and Other Stories"
G. K. Chestertons Father Brown
Omnibus" has been reissued be-
cause of the discovery of another
story. Rex Stout turned out his
annual trio in Curtains for
Three" and Leslie Charters has
taken his modern Robin Hood
through another series of adven-
lures in THE Second Saint Om-
nibus"
Short Mystery Stories
Have a Special Lure
The lack of enthusiasm for
short mysteries is the woe of the
booksellers and the loss of the
readers. Here, in such items as
the Queen collections. the nom
mystery writer's f1ex their mys-
terry writing muscles. c. S. For
ester and Lord Dunsany are un-
likely to turn out a full-length
whodunit but they are willing to
try their hand at a 20-page ad-
venture. Here, the veteran mys-
terry writer's experiment with new
puzzles. For instance, Charlotte
Armstrong, first prize winner in
the Queen collection with "The
Enemy" produced more thought
provoking story than her full
length The Black-Eyed Stran-
ger" Here. puzzle is stripped to
its essentials without the padding
of many short story stretched
out to book-length. And here,
you can dip in for advertisement
without being lured into staying
up way past your bedtime.
Among the book-length Who
dunits, this was year when some
of the veterans disappointed and
some of the comparative newcom-
ers proved real competition.
The Christie Fans
Were Well Rewarded
The most outstanding excep-
tions were the incompatible
Agatha Christie, Manning Coles
and Elliot Paul. Such is Miss
Christie's reputation that people
will ask for anything she writes
without debating its merit but this
year they were well rewarded with
"They Came to Baghdad"-a ro-
mantle spy adventure yarn that
lost nothing by the absence of
Miss ChriStie'S Hercule Poirot. (1f
you miss him too much, try THE
Under Dog and Other Stories).
AS for Elliot Paul, it would be
happy day for whodunit fans if he
would take time out more often
from what he terms Items on the
Grand Account" to produce such
frolicsome trif1es as Murder on
the Left Bank"
Manning Coles, whose first trio
of Tommy Hambledon stories were
so superior that all the subsequent
adventures were anti-climatic.
gets back in stride with Nov Or
Never" a Hambledon yarn in