Murder Mysteries

Combine Colderidge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" with Raymond Chandler and all the mystery and promise in the spaces between the words, "The world was without form and void," and you have Murder Mystery. An old man tells a story to a younger stranger in Los Angeles. The investigator of heaven is called to the scene of the very first murder, one in heaven long before Cain & Abel. The story is divinely erotic and eloquently woven with a master's hand. The illustrations complement perfectly and entrance with their powerful delicacy. This is a must have for anyone interested in a theological or simply intriguing graphic novel.

This book blew me away. It had all the elements of a great story and the art was spectacular. It gets me thinking, and responding to the characters, even after I put the book down.Great work!By the way, Neil is not the illustrator.

Once again, Neil Gaiman has reinvented the thinking man's comic book. Murder Mysteries is the tale of the world's first crime of passion. Gaiman's intelligent prose and keen eye for conversation is perfectly woven with P. Craig Russell's fabulous visual art. This story is simple enough for high school students to read, but compelling (and short) enough to steal an hour of anybody's day.

I must have read Neil Gaiman's short story Murder Mysteries four or five times since I originally encountered it; It's been featured, and rightfully so, in many short story collections. It's one of Gaiman's best, most thought-provoking works, and since Gaiman is one of the best storytellers around, that's really saying something. P. Craig Russell is one of the masters of the comic book art form, and he especially excels at adaptations of fantasy, having previously done Wagner's Ring Cycle, Michael Moorcock's Elric, and numerous Oscar Wilde stories. Gaiman and Russell collaborated on what many consider to be the best issue of Gaiman's DC/Vertigo Sandman book, and Russell has adapted a few other Gaiman short stories (One Life, Furnished In Early Moorcock, and Only The End Of The World Again). Murder Mysteries stands as a high-water mark, in my opinion. The story-within-a-story, told by a homeless man to a visiting Englishman in L.A., tells of the first murder ever: An Angel killed in "The Shining City"; Our homeless storyteller is in reality the Angel Raguel, the vengeance of "The Name" (God). Raguel becomes, in effect, the first Detective, attempting to discover a motive that can lead to bringing the killer to justice. Gaiman's story works on many levels, and I have to say that as much as I loved the prose short story, the ending has always left me vaguely puzzled; It's a very involved and thought-provoking piece, and I often find myself thinking about the ending. Russell's adaptation went a long way towards making that ambiguous ending more clear. It turns out I was on the right track, but Russell's visuals make the ending more visceral and powerful. Murder Mysteries is presented in a gorgeous hardcover format, much the same as Dark Horse's previous Gaiman/ John Bolton book, Harlequin Valentine. This is a must read for all fans of Horror/Fantasy, as well as lovers of beautiful art. It deserves as wide an audience as possible. Give it a try, and spread the word.

Mever before have I encountered a work in which a transfer to a different medium has so enriched it (except perhaps the book Fight Club to the movie Fight Club). This has always been one of my favorite Neil Gaiman short stories, I have read and re-read it many times in the seven or eight years since I first read it, I have made innumerable other people read it and I have discussed it repeatedly. However, Russell's illustrations brought out and made evident an entirely new facet of the story that I have never realized, what is in fact the true Murder Mystery of the title! This story has been blown wide open for me, on what must have been the dozenth or so read, and I have since forced others to revisit it and make the same revelation. This translation, this new revelation, makes further testament to Gaiman's gift as a storyteller. Russell is not, in my mind, the ideal person to have done this project, I would have gone with somebody with a darker style. Still, this is a terriffic read, even if, and especially if, like me, you have known the story for a long time. I promise, it will change the way you see it.