The Man Who Read Mysteries: The Short Fiction of William Brittain

Brittain (1930–2011), best known for his Newbury Honor Award–winning YA novel The Wish Giver, proves equally adept at adult mysteries in this stellar collection of 18 clever and funny short stories. All 11 of his previously published Man Who Read series are included, each of which takes its inspiration from a classic genre author. In “The Man Who Read John Dickson Carr,” a devotee of that master of the impossible crime is inspired to commit a locked-room murder, in order to secure his inheritance, and must devise an elaborate plan to escape a sealed library. Nero Wolfe fans will revel in “The Woman Who Read Rex Stout,” in which the role of the sedentary genius is assumed by a circus’s fat lady. Perhaps the highlight is “The Boy Who Read Agatha Christie,” in which a 10-year-old Belgian exchange student deciphers the motive behind a series of bizarre college frat pranks. The remaining entries, featuring Brittain’s high school science teacher sleuth, Leonard Strang, are equally entertaining. Fans of classic puzzle mysteries will be well satisfied. (Jan.)