The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries

This book contains mysteries seldom seen - collected by a diligent editor who searched for great stories overlooked by other anthologies. Each one is finely crafted and thoroughly enjoyable.

A nice collection of tales suitable for commuting or sitting in waiting rooms. An interesting selection of early entries in the genre.

Very different reading as written in a different era, so super enjoyable...not just the ordinary mystery. BUT, I do wish they put more spacing between paragraphs. Anything to make it cheaper to produce and make 1 cent extra profit. BOO!

To much preview and surplus ( not in the story) wordage. Font very small not easy to read

I only made it through 4 stories before I gave up. Those were neither interesting nor gripping. Very disappointing.

This is a collection of 13 short stories about murder and attempted murder. The stories were written from the early 1800s to early 1900s, mostly set in England. The Introduction was an odd, rambling treatise that went on for 4% of the book, and I'd recommend skipping it. Some of the author bios were nearly as long as their story, and the stories were so short that none were puzzle mysteries.Only about 5 stories really fit the genre of "murder mystery," with actual crime-solving, clues, and justice. Several of the stories didn't have a murdered victim. Only a few had a detective (amateur or professional), and even those stories were usually solved by a chance happening. Sometimes the criminal was not found or wasn't arrested. Once, there wasn't even a crime, just a mystery solved by chance (though I do like that one and have read it before).Some stories seemed more about ethics than justice. For example, an innocent man committed suicide because he couldn't prove he didn't murder someone. Another story talked about the ethics of providing a confessed murderer what he needed to commit suicide. Overall, this collection wasn't really what I expected from the title and I didn't really care for it. There were only a few uses of bad language. There was no sex.I received an ebook review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

I loved this overview of early murder mysteries and the authors whom the editor chose.

Bought as a gift for a friend. She really enjoyed the stories.

Another sad instance of what must have seemed like a good idea at the time, the editor went back, literally centuries, for these. I realize that, like noir cinema, switching mindsets is half the fun, but not here. When I began reading the first tale, I was rested, refreshed, caffeinated and raring to go. By the time I’d gotten to page three, I’d fallen asleep twice. It would be hard to imagine more turgid prose. There may well be gems in here somewhere, but I’ve wasted enough time to bother looking for them.