First Read of 2024: The Christmas Peacemaker by Virna Sheard (1900)

I begin 2024 with a new author. Virna Sheard (1865-1943) was a Canadian poet, novelist,and short story writer. Her story captures the spirit of Christmas. https://allpoetry.com/Virna-Sheard Lucinda Ellen who is called Cinders is a young girl who works as a maid. The poor girl is overworked and underpaid and treated in an unkindly manner by …

SSW: Missing from their Homes (ed.) H.E. Bates (1936)

The premise of this anthology is very interesting. Apparently before the news on BBC, there used to be S.O.S. read out for people missing from their homes. Eleven authors conjure up eleven scenarios for such people. "Before I read the news here are eleven S O S's" (With acknowledgement to the B.B.C.) The anthology opens …

SSW: He Walked in Her Sleep by Peter Cheyney (1946)

British author, Peter Cheyney, is most famous for his creation, Lemmy Caution, an American FBI agent and (later) private detective. However, he also had other series characters like Slim Callaghan, Alonzo MacTavish etc. The present book is a collection of short stories featuring master cracksman, Alonzo MacTavish. MacTavish, despite his profession behaves like a gentleman …

SSW: The Ghost Widow by Katherine Hale (1918)

Young, vivacious Edith had welcomed the new century with her fiancé dreaming of a glorious future. But then he had gone off to fight in the Boer war.... now there is only his ghostly presence that comes to meet her everyday. However, now there is another war. And Edith, like many ghost widows of her …

SSW: The Best of Science Fiction (ed.) by Groff Conklin (1946)

Mysteries are the mainstay of my reading. However, my blogging friend George (check out his wonderful blog @ georgekelley.org ) is a sci-fic afficandio. My foray into sci-fi is limited to a few novels, mostly Star Trek related. Influenced by George's enthusiasm for this genre, I borrowed this book from the library though its mammoth …

#1940 Club: Wilson and Some Others by G.D.H. and Margaret Cole

Wilson and Some Others is a short story collection by the husband-wife duo of G.D.H and Margaret Cole. The crime club title, erroneously referred to as a novel, consists of 13 stories, of which seven belong to the Coles' series character, Inspector Wilson. In Death in the Tankard, a man is poisoned in a crowded, …

First Read of 2023: The Puffin Book of Funny Stories (2005)

After the rather tepid last read of 2022, Frank Baker's The Twisted Tree, which ended on a disturbing note, I wanted to start 2023 with something much more cheerful. LO had borrowed this book from the library and I read it today. The book features some of the most well-known and loved authors of India: …

Short Story Wednesday: Rogues’ Gallery: The Great Criminals of Modern Fiction (ed.) by Ellery Queen (1945)

Usually when I read a mystery, I want the criminal to be punished and the moral-order restored. Usually. Because at times, I find myself rooting for the criminal and hoping that he escapes the long-arm of justice. In this anthology of short stories, all the criminals escape justice (or rather not but I will come …

Literature of India: Dead End and Other Stories by Ajeet Cour

Every passing moment makes us suffer, though differently with different people. The very act of passing through life entails some bruises which nobody else can see. Though I had heard of Indian Punjabi author Ajeet Cour I hadn't read her work till LO brought her book from the library, thinking that the title: Dead End, …

Literature of India: Stories from Tagore (1918)

Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore is one of the foremost poets and philosophers of India. However, he was an excellent author of prose too. This collection of his contains ten stories, and virtually all of them showcase his genius. The collection begins with his most famous and anthologized story, Cabuliwallah, where an Afghan seller of dryfruits …