Customer Reviews

The Avenging Chance and Other Mysteries from Roger Sheringham's Casebook (Lost Classics)

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The stories by Anthony Berkeley (Cox) are hard to get. You really have to be patient in order to get your hands on new copies of these books. I received my copy of "The Avenging Chance" from Amazon several days ago and I simply devoured it. This book is probably a great way to become acquainted with this author if you have never read any of his works. I had read one of his short stories in a mystery anthology and it piqued my interest to find more of his work.

The Avenging Chance is one of eight short stories featuring either Roger Sheringham (amateur detective) or Chief Inspector Moresby (professional detective) from Scotland Yard. All of the stories were very interesting reads and gave me a chance to see how the detective uses his particular strengths to solve a case. I especially liked the cases where Sheringham and Moresby collaborated. They are very different characters and form the perfect foil for each other. As Berkeley promised when he founded London's Detection Club, all the clues you need to solve these cases are available to you and it is up to the reader to pick them up and decide whether this is a true or false trail. I found all the stories to be very relaxing and comfortable to read and enjoy. Nothing is too deep, nor is the atmosphere too intense.

This book is also crammed with information. There is a section titled "Concerning Roger Sheringham". It tells the reader all about the lead character, from his birth, childhood, schooling, work history, on into how and why he became interested in amateur sleuthing. I have never seen this feature in a detective book before and I just loved it. It really fleshed out this character and made him seem to be a real person. In the back of the book there is a checklist of all the Sheringham and Moresby mysteries by A.B.C. including their original publication dates. This is where I learned that The Avenging Chance story was eventually fleshed out by Berkeley and titled "The Poisoned Chocloates Case" and the short story "Perfect Alibi" was expanded to become the full length "The Second Shot". All good information for me when I start to search for more books by Anthony Berkeley.

I would definitely recommend this collection of short stories. They are well written and interesting and definitely make you feel like a superior being when you can solve it right along with the detective. Happy reading!

This is a wonderful reminder of detective fiction's golden age. Each of the eight stories is a real treat...don't miss this one!