Mystery & More Mystery

Robert Arthur (1909-1969) is well-known as the author who founded The Three Investigators (T3I) series in the 1960s. But he had a lot more strings to his bow. He had earlier been a mystery writer with his own radio show, for which he won an Edgar, and wrote hundreds of short stories. In the 1960s Arthur published two compilations of his short stories for "young people" - this book and its companion Ghosts and More Ghosts. Arthur is a master of the short story. He has a very crisp, succinct style of writing, as fans of T3I will know. Here we have Arthur's own selection of 10 short stories - in his foreword he describes it as a "mystery sampler". And at the end, he includes a chapter explaining his craft, and how he gets ideas. There are some absolute gems in the compilation, with a massive WOW factor. The sheer variety of Arthur's writing is fantastic. The stories in the book are as follows: 1. Mr Manning's Money Tree - a good, humanistic, feel-good way to start the book. 2. Larceny and Old Lace - more fun, with some eccentric old ladies as the main stars. 3. The Midnight Visitor - a clever little story. 4. The Blow from Heaven - one of the main features. This one was ingenious. 5. The Glass Bridge - another ingenious main feature. 6. Change of Address - my second favourite story in the book - an absolute ripper! 7. The Vanishing Passenger - not sure if it was a parody or tribute to "Aunt Agatha" Christie. Another fun read. 8. Hard Case - this was my favourite. Short and sharp - Arthur at his best. 9. The Adventure of the Single Footprint - a great tribute to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes. 10. The Mystery of the Three Blind Mice - a clever story but a bit farfetched. Looked like it was a precursor to T3I. At 54 pages long, it is a sizeable chunk of the book (234 pages). Would have preferred other stories to have been included instead of, or in addition to, this story. But others may differ. Overall, a very enjoyable collection for young people and adults alike. Anyone who has read T3I will be pleasantly surprised to discover this book. PS A word of warning: Do NOT under any circumstances read the publisher's summary of the contents on the first page inside the cover. This gives away on the second line the twist in one of the more ingenious stories. Publishers who do that sort of thing drive us mystery fans mad! I am sure Robert Arthur would also have been furious at the time the book was first published.