The Man Who Solved Mysteries

The 25 entries in Brittain’s superb second posthumous story collection (after 2018’s The Man Who Read Mysteries) all star Leonard Strang, an astute high school science teacher. Refreshingly, many don’t involve violence. In “Mr. Strang Finds the Answers,” an homage to Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Three Students,” Strang suspects one of his pupils of having stolen a copy of the chemistry final exam, but after searching the trio who had an opportunity to do so, none have the test on them. The solution to the thief’s identity, and how he sneaked the papers out of the school, is both elegant and fair. In “Mr. Strang Lifts a Glass,” the pedagogue accepts a challenge to remove a glass bowl from a department store without being detected in exchange for the business owner’s donating to a student-exchange program. Another high point is “Mr. Strang Hunts a Bear,” with its allusions to The Hound of the Baskervilles, but with a legendary fiery bear at its center. News that a third collection, including the remaining short story output of Brittain (1930–2011), will be welcome to fans of Edward Hoch. (Feb.)