The Case Of The Crumpled Knave

'A fine craftsman' Ellery Queen A cryptic telegram; a dead man; two ingenious and quite different sets of clues; and each one of the half-dozen suspects is something of an imposter . . . It was a case that staggered the imagination of everyone involved. Until detective Fergus O'Breen began to sift through the facts. And discovered that what appeared to be fact was really fiction . . . and that the real truth lay behind a whimsical legend - and another dead body.

“An intricate puzzle cleverly constructed and neatly solved” introducing Los Angeles private eye Fergus O’Breen, by the author of Nine Times Nine (The New York Times). Anthony Boucher was a literary renaissance man: an Edgar Award–winning mystery reviewer, an esteemed editor of the Hugo Award–winning Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, a prolific scriptwriter of radio mystery programs, and an accomplished writer of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. With a particular fondness for the locked room mystery, Boucher created such iconic sleuths as Los Angeles PI Fergus O’Breen, amateur sleuth Sister Ursula, and alcoholic ex-cop Nick Noble. In this “entertaining yarn,” the first to feature Fergus O’Breen, Col. Theodore Rand has received a strange telegram from his friend Humphrey Garnett (Kirkus Reviews). “You may be invaluable witness at inquest on my body,” it reads. A retired man of leisure, Rand opts to indulge what he thinks is his friend’s whim, flying from New York to Garnett’s home in Los Angeles—only to find Garnett dead upon his arrival. After the police arrest the wrong man, Garnett’s family friend, rookie PI Fergus O’Breen, is called in to help. An eccentric and unorthodox Irishman, O’Breen is eager to take on his first murder case. But with a house full of suspects and a mystery steeped in playing card lore, the deck may be stacked against him. Now O’Breen must quickly shuffle through the clues if he hopes to solve this one before the real killer deals another deadly hand . . .

Private Eyes is the complete map to what Raymond Bhandler called "the mean streets," the exciting world of the fictional private eye. It is intended to entertain current PI fans and to make new ones.

American author, editor, and critic William Parker White, better known to most as Anthony Boucher, made countless contributions to the fields of mystery and science fiction. After beginning his career as a mystery writer at 16, Boucher went on to become a New York Times mystery critic, a host for several radio programs, and the founding editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This comprehensive biobibliography places particular emphasis on the writings and edited publications that established his reputation among readers of science fiction. Several appendices include complete bibliographic citations for Boucher's novels, articles, short stories, unpublished works, reviews, radio plays, anthologies, translations, and other written works.

A professor and a graduate student search for a campus killer in this Golden Age mystery from the author of Nine Times Nine and “a fine craftsman” (Ellery Queen). Anthony Boucher was a literary renaissance man: an Edgar Award–winning mystery reviewer, an esteemed editor of the Hugo Award–winning Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, a prolific scriptwriter of radio mystery programs, and an accomplished writer of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. With a particular fondness for the locked room mystery, Boucher created such iconic sleuths as Los Angeles PI Fergus O’Breen, amateur sleuth Sister Ursula, and alcoholic ex-cop Nick Noble. On the quiet Berkeley campus, a visiting professor has been murdered. Someone stabbed Dr. Hugo Schaedel through the heart with an ice pick, and the only clue found on the scene is a strange symbol scrawled on a crumpled piece of paper. Research fellow Martin Lamb is intrigued by the case and mentions it to his Sanskrit professor, John Ashwin. Together they hope to deduce who did the deed, but with no clear motive, it won’t be easy. They’ll need to quickly comb the campus for clues and hit the books—before the killer hits again . . .

A Sherlock Holmes script sparks controversy and murder in Hollywood in a “most engrossing mystery” from the author of Nine Times Nine (The New Yorker). Anthony Boucher was a literary renaissance man: an Edgar Award–winning mystery reviewer, an esteemed editor of the Hugo Award–winning Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, a prolific scriptwriter of radio mystery programs, and an accomplished writer of mystery, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. With a particular fondness for the locked room mystery, Boucher created such iconic sleuths as Los Angeles PI Fergus O’Breen, amateur sleuth Sister Ursula, and alcoholic ex-cop Nick Noble. When Metropolis Pictures announces plans to make a movie out of an Arthur Conan Doyle classic, it triggers outrage from a group of Sherlock Holmes fans called the Baker Street Irregulars. In hopes of calming their protest, the studio invites the five members to advise on the film, and even throws them a celebration in a house numbered 221B. Also on the guest list is Los Angeles police detective A. Jackson. He was hoping to spend his night off hanging out at a Hollywood party with his brother, Paul, the famous actor. Instead he finds himself in one of the most bizarre murder cases he’s ever encountered, complete with cryptograms and a disappearing corpse, all of which results in a “delightfully farcical narrative, which offers a surprise on nearly every page” (The New York Times Book Review).

At last, _Up Through an Empty House of Stars_ brings together the best of the never before collected SF reviews and articles that helped build David Langford's towering reputation since 1980. Complementing the review columns collected in _The Complete Critical Assembly_ and the knockabout essays and squibs in _The Silence of the Langford_, this volume's 100 glittering selections mix serious critical insight with the inimitable Langford wit. In 2002 David Langford won his sixteenth Hugo award as Best Fan Writer, for critical and humorous commentary on SF. In the same year his occasionally scandalous SF newsletter _Ansible_ won its fifth Hugo. Langford also received the 2001 Hugo for best short story, and the 2002 Skylark Award. Here he shines a unique light on classics like Ernest Bramah, G.K. Chesterton, Robert Heinlein and Jack Vance, and analyses major SF -- and major clunkers, and minor eccentrics -- of the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s, continuing to the latest by such current stars as Gene Wolfe and China Mi, ville. Plus witty asides on crime fiction and its SF links, gleeful examination of writing so bad it's almost good, and (even at his most serious) turns of phrase to make you laugh aloud