Customer Reviews

Union Club Mysteries

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There are basically two types of mysteries, those that are long and involved, requiring a full novel in order to prepare and complete the tale and those that are completed in a few pages. This volume is a collection of short stories that Asimov wrote for Gallery magazine. The setting is the library of an aristocratic club where a small set of members gather to momentarily restore their roles of gentlemen in a society where their time has passed. The “hero”, an arrogant, yet effective gent named Griswold, has a tale to tell about every topic that comes up.
The mysteries are not profound or deep, but they are challenging enough so that you will find it difficult to solve them. They truly fit the criteria of such stories, where the solution is difficult to grasp but easy to understand once it is given. I am not a big fan of mysteries, but I liked this collection because the solutions are puzzles to be interpreted rather than psychological quirks to be untangled. If you are a fan of puzzles, then you will most certainly like these.

This anthology collected the first 30 stories from a monthly series of mystery shorts Asimov wrote for Eric Potter at Gallery magazine. The frame story for the series is a group of four men who sit together at their club. One of their number claims to have a background in intelligence, and has a habit of telling stories about problems he has solved for the police and intelligence services. The problems are typically in the form of lateral thinking puzzles, and Griswold invariably finishes by commenting that the answer was obvious, and waiting for his companions to admit that they can't work it out before giving them the answer (thus also giving the reader a chance to try to work it out before the answer is revealed). With only 2000 words to play with each month, the stories are of necessity fairly pared down and low on characterisation. They're often great fun, and I find it entertaining to watch the ongoing frame story about the narrator and his two friends trying to decide whether Griswold is telling the truth about his past or pulling their legs; but if you don't like bad puns you won't like a fair few of these little mysteries, and some of them have dated badly.

I enjoyed the collection, though it's more of a book for dipping into occasionally than reading all the way through in one sitting. I find them excellent for when I want something that will occupy me for five or ten minutes without making it difficult for me to put down the book at the end of a chapter. The collection has kept me entertained through more than a few bouts of 3 am insomnia when I wanted something light and short to focus on that I could put down again as soon as I felt sleepy.

It's not really worth going to a lot of effort to lay hands on a copy, but if one comes your way it's well worth trying a few of the stories.

More condensed than the Black Widower's Club, these are the `5 Minute Mystery' type stories. And while some are eminently solvable (if you're really smart), there are others that are severely dated. Specifically, the library book mystery - not something the younger generations (especially those living in big cities) would ever get. Still, unless you have to be able to solve them, it's still a fun and worthwhile read. And because they are very short, it's easy to squeeze on in before bed, while waiting on take-out, or in the doctor's office. A great little book to have around for just such time-wasting emergencies.

But if you're looking for really great (if a little longer) mysteries with much better characters, I recommend the Black Widowers series. Even though this book rates pretty high, those are far superior.

This is a delightful collection of very short mysteries. Each story is about 6 pages long. A group of 3 friends discuss a topic, a slant on it arises, a fourth one, Griswold, tells a mystery associated to it, chellenges them to solve it, which they fail to do, and then explains it to them. And there are 30 of these here! To be sure, they are of a light nature, which is understandable due to their length, but make for a quick, entertaining read.

Unlike some other places, this one accurately represented their material, and charged a fair price. It came fairly quickly too. I'd buy from them again!