Mike Ashley, William F. Smith, Joseph Commings, Mary Reed, Eric Mayer, Gillian Linscott, Vincent Cornier, Peter Crowther, Douglas Newton, William Brittain, Laird Long, John Basye Price, Edward D. Hoch, Robert Randisi, Max Rittenberg, William Le Queux, Will Murray, J. A. Konrath, H. Edward Hunsburger, Lois Gresh, Robert Weinberg, Arthur Porges, Richard A. Lupoff, C. Daly King, William Krohn, Peter Tremayne, Peter Godfrey, Forrest Rosaire, Bill Pronzini, Barry Longyear, Bernard Knight
The Mammoth Book of Perfect Crimes and Impossible Mysteries
A book in the The Mammoth Book of… series, 2006
Copyright and Acknowledgments
Every effort has been made to trace holders of copyright. In the event of any inadvertent infringement, please contact the editor via the publisher. I would like to thank Douglas G. Greene, Steve Lewis and John Herrington for their help in tracing authors or their estates.
“The Impossible Footprint” © 1974 by William Brittain. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, November 1974. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The X Street Murders” © 1962 by Joseph Commings. First published in Mystery Digest, March/April 1962. Reprinted by permission of the Diocese of St Petersburg, Florida, on behalf of the author’s estate.
“Duel of Shadows” © 1934 by Vincent Cornier. First published in Pearson’s Magazine, April 1934. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
“The 45 Steps” © 2006 by Peter Crowther. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author and the author’s agent, John Jarrold.
“The Flung-Back Lid” © 1979 by Peter Godfrey. First published in John Creasey’s Crime Collection 1979, edited by Herbert Harris (London: Gollancz, 1979). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
“Murder in Monkeyland” © 2006 by Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the authors.
“A Shower of Daggers” © 1997 by Edward D. Hoch. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, June 1997. “The Problem of the Black Cloister” © 2004 by Edward D. Hoch. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, December 2004. Both reprinted by permission of the author.
“Eternally Yours” © 1985 by H. Edward Hunsburger. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, September 1985. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Episode of the Nail and the Requiem” © 1935 by C. Daly King. First published in Mystery, March 1935. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
“The Birdman of Tonypandy” © 2006 by Bernard Knight. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.
“On the Rocks” © 2004 by J. A. Konrath. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, July 2004. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Impossible Murder of Dr Satanus” © 1965 by William Krohn. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, April 1965. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Red Ring” by William Le Queux, first published in The Grand Magazine, January 1910. Copyright expired in 1978.
“Wingless Pegasus” © 1996 by Gillian Linscott. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, August 1996. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Three Blind Rats” © 2006 by Laird Long. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.
“Slaughterhouse” © 1979 by Barry Longyear. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, July 1979. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Benning’s School for Boys” © 2006 by Richard A. Lupoff. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.
“Observable Justice” © 2006 by Will Murray. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.
“Contrary to the Evidence” © 1935 by Douglas Newton. First published in Pearson’s Magazine, January 1936. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
“No Killer Has Wings” © 1960 by Arthur Porges. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, January 1961. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“Death and the Rope Trick” © 1954 by John Basye Price. First published in London Mystery Magazine #21, 1954. Unable to trace the author’s estate.
“Proof of Guilt” © 1973 by Bill Pronzini. First published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, December 1973. Reprinted by permission of the author.
“The Hook” © 2006 by Robert Randisi. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author.
“Locked in Death” © 2006 by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the authors.
“The Mystery of the Sevenoaks Tunnel” by Max Rittenberg, first published in The London Magazine, October 1913. Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate.
“The Poisoned Bowl” © 1939 by Forrest Rosaire. First published in Clues, April 1939. No record of copyright renewal or of author’s estate.
“An Almost Perfect Crime” © 1987 by William F. Smith. First published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, April 1987. Reprinted by permission of the author
“The Stuart Sapphire” © 2006 by Peter Tremayne. First publication, original to this anthology. Printed by permission of the author and the author’s agent, A.M. Heath & Co.
Perfectly Impossible by Mike Ashley
Welcome to my second anthology of impossible crimes and seemingly unsolvable mysteries. If you’ve read the first, The Mammoth Book of Locked-Room Mysteries and Impossible Crimes, you’ll have some idea what to expect. There’s a fair amount of the same here – but this time there’s an extra twist. I’ve included some seemingly perfect crimes as well.
Of course the true perfect crime would have been undetectable. There may have been many committed over the centuries, we’d just never know. They might have been regarded as accidents or disappearances or utterly unsolvable.
It’s that unsolvable part where the perfect crime meets the impossible one and where I’ve had some fun in selecting the stories for this anthology. You’ll find some impossible crimes that were far from perfect, and you’ll find a few perfect crimes that weren’t really impossible, but you’ll also find plenty that are both – or as close as you’ll get. It’s not much fun if the police or detectives are completely baffled. The delight in these stories is unravelling the puzzle and trying to work out what on earth happened.
Here are some of the puzzles you’ll encounter:
a man alone in an all – glass phone booth, clearly visible and with no one near him, is killed by an ice pick.
a man sitting alone in a room is shot by a bullet fired only once and that was over 200 years ago.
a man enters a cable-car carriage alone and is visible the entire journey but is found dead when he reaches the bottom.
a man vanishes at the top of the Indian rope trick and is found dead miles away.
a dead man continues to receive mail in response to letters apparently written by him after he’d died.
There are plenty more like those. We start the anthology with a crime so impossible that it’s damned near perfect, and end with one that is so perfect that it’s impossible to solve.