The Penguin Book of Gaslight Crime

Starred review from March 23, 2009
Noted for such science books as Darwin’s Orchestra
and Adam’s Navel
, Sims has compiled a thoroughly enjoyable anthology of what he calls caper stories from the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Notable authors include Raffles’s creator E.W. Hornung (“Nine Points of the Law”), as well as names not usually associated with the crime genre like Sinclair Lewis (“The Willow Walk”) and Arnold Bennett (“A Comedy on the Gold Coast”). All 12 tales are classics—suspenseful, humorous and charming. One can only hope for a sequel that will include a couple of curious omissions, namely Maurice Leblanc, of Arsène Lupin fame, and R. Austin Freeman, creator of art forger Danby Croker.

March 15, 2009
Sims ("Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Form") has compiled a dozen stories focusing not on detectives but on thieves and con artists. These tales cover the period between the mid-1890s and the early 1920s and feature such well-known characters as Grant Allen's Colonel Clay, George Randolph Chester's Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, Edgar Wallace's Four Square Jane, Ernest William Hornung's Raffles, and Frederick Irving Anderson's infallible Godahl. There are also stories by authors who don't write mysteries (e.g., Sinclair Lewis, O. Henry, and Arnold Bennett). All in all, a unique collection that is fun to read and evokes a bygone period of crime fiction. Sims's introduction and notes to each story are well written and informative. Recommended for all mystery collections.Morris Hounion, City Coll. of Technology, CUNY

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