Tantalizing Locked Room Mysteries Review

"The best puzzle is not merely a mysterious crime but an impossible one - the kind where the murder takes place in a locked room, or in an unapproachable place, or at a non-existent time, or under conditions when there are no possible suspects."

Isaac Asimov headlines the list of editors that also includes Charles G. Waugh and Martin Harry Greenberg. Published in 1982, Tantalizing Locked Room Mysteries features 12 short stories of the genre including Edgar Allan Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue, Jacques Futrelle's Problem of Cell 13, and many more established classics. Mixed in are a selection of lesser known works, but mystery fans will recognise many of the author names. A brief review of each story is detailed below, as well as links to those works that are available online for free.

Source: Biblioklept

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe
Story and full review available for free here.

A genre defining story that has been emulated countless times by later authors.

The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle
Story and full review available for free here.

One of the few Sherlock Holmes stories to feature a true locked room mystery, the solution is a bit of a disappointment.

The Problem of Cell 13 by Jacques Futrelle
Story and full review available for free here.

One of the finest examples of locked room mystery fiction.

The Light at Three O'clock by MacKinlay Kantor
A silent phone call is made from a locked room, the occupant of which died the night before...

Gradually building tension as the hotel phone operator and manager go to investigate, Kantor's short story has a simple solution that, while elegant, defies one of the cardinal rules of locked room fiction.

The Problem of the Vanishing Man by Jacques Futrelle

A wealthy businessman enters his high-rise office and vanishes, seemingly able to disappear at will. When his staff discover his absence, they recruit The Thinking Machine to try and determine how he accomplishes such a feat, and why...

Jacques Futrelle's Professor Van Dusen ("The Thinking Machine") has investigated murders, unexplained horrors, and all sorts of bizarre occurrences. In The Problem of the Vanishing Man, Van Dusen turns his attention to the corporate world.

Douglas Wilmer as Professor Van Dusen. Source: Double O Section

Charles Carroll, head of a prospering brokerage firm, enters his corner office on the fourth floor of the building. When a member of staff follows him in, he is nowhere to be found. How can he have escaped the building without being seen, and what possible motivation could he have for doing so?

The Problem of the Vanishing Man

The short story is available in its entirety for free at Futrelle.com or The University of Adelaide. If you want to read on your Kindle you can download it here (send to Kindle instructions here).

Author: Jacques Futrelle

Word Count: 5,400 (about 21 pages)

Wikipedia page

Review

The interesting setting (high stakes corporate stockbroking) and cast of shady characters gives The Problem of the Vanishing Man an air of mystery right from the off. Carroll seems to disappear and reappear at will, leaving the reader questioning whether he is actually accomplishing the impossible or simply being framed by a jealous colleague.

The Phantom Motor by Jacques Futrelle

A car speeds onto a road with high walls either side, but never comes out the other end...

Taken from the collection of Jacques Futrelle's Thinking Machine stories, The Phantom Motor only briefly features the renown detective. Primarily focusing on the two policemen that reside either side of a thin stretch of road, the plot follows the confusion and frustration of the first policeman as he tries to convince his colleague of the seemingly impossible.

A modern day invisible car. Source: The Telegraph

Almost ever night, a mysterious car rushes past the officer (Baker) and into the inescapable stretch of road. When Baker calls his colleague (Bowman) at the other end to catch the speeding vehicle, it is nowhere to be seen. Even after walking the entire length of the road, neither policeman can determine how the vehicle could have accomplished such a feat. Only The Thinking Machine can piece together the story...

The Phantom Motor

The short story is available in its entirety for free at Futrelle.com or Adelaide.edu. If you want to read on your Kindle you can download it here (send to Kindle instructions here).

Author: Jacques Futrelle

Date: 1907

Word Count: 5,500 (about 22 pages)

Wikipedia page

Review

The concept is really strong - a car is seen going onto a road that is surrounded by high walls on both sides, but disappears without a trace before coming out the other end. I'm not sure the solution can quite live up to the high expectations the concept generates.

The Grinning God by May & Jacques Futrelle

May Futrelle.
Source: Atlanta History Center

This collaboration between Jacques Futrelle and his wife is split into two parts - "The Grinning God", and "The House That Was".

May Futrelle wrote the first part, in which a lonely traveller named Fairbanks takes a wrong turn and ends up in a mysterious house. Seemingly followed by a shrieking ghost, the traveller finds that the inhabitant of the house can neither see nor hear him.

The second part, written by Jacques Futrelle, introduces his ingenious detective The Thinking Machine to the problem, who attempts to rationalise the bizarre events.

The Grinning God

The short story is available in its entirety for free at Futrelle.com. If you want to read on your Kindle you can download it here (send to Kindle instructions here).

Author: May Futrelle and Jacques Futrelle

Word Count: 12,000 (about 50 pages)

Wikipedia page

Review

The Grinning God isn't a locked room or impossible crime as such, since there is neither a locked room or a crime involved. It is simply a series of bizarre and somewhat eerie events that seem to defy logic.

The Problem Of Cell 13 by Jacques Futrelle

I find classic mystery stories a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand many of them feature problems and solutions that were the first of their kind, but on the other many of the ideas have been iterated upon and improved by later authors. The language and pacing of stories written a century ago also takes a little getting used to.

This week I've been (re)reading one example that falls foul to none of these issues - The Problem of Cell 13 by Jacques Futrelle. Originally published in 1905, the short story focuses on Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen (a.k.a. "The Thinking Machine"), who bets his friends that he is able to escape from any prison cell while treated as any other prisoner. The plot follows his exploits as he is taken up on his bet.

The Problem Of Cell 13

The short story is available in its entirety for free at Futrelle.com or Project Gutenberg Australia. If you want to read on your Kindle you can download it here (send to Kindle instructions here).

Author: Jacques Futrelle

Date: 1905

Word Count: 13,000 (about 50 pages)

Wikipedia page

Review (contains spoilers)

The story wastes little time setting up the concept, and speeds along at a decent pace. Once Van Dusen is imprisoned the perspective switches primarily between him and the warden, which provides a great balance of telling the reader all they need to know while keeping us entirely in the dark. Van Dusen's mix of intellect and Holmesian detachment stays just the right side of arrogant, and the "problem as a bet" mechanic works well to set up the concept.