The Dead Witness is a collection of Victorian detective stories that could serve as a textbook on the origin of the genre. Sherlock Holmes is there, as is Poe's The Murders in the Rue Morgue, a story that I had long heard of but had never actually read. Sims also unearthed a detective story that predates Poe's and it is very interesting.
As the author mentioned in an NPR interview, he has also included many stories by and starring women that had been pushed to the side in earlier collections. I particularly enjoyed An Intangible Clue featuring Violet Strange.
There are many stories featuring detectives whose names are seldom heard today, such as November Joe, Uncle Abner, and James McGovan. McGovan was a pseudonym but the story, The Mysterious Human Leg was my favorite of the collection.
Dickens' On Duty with Inspector Field is a fascinating non-fiction piece that is included, along with a reprint of part of one of the Jack the Ripper murder inquests.
If you have an interest in detective fiction then you owe it to yourself to read this book. The stories were well chosen and represent a great cross section of the genre. It has inspired me to seek out more stories about many of the detectives that were featured.
As always you can reach me at jeffsemonis at yahoo.com or on twitter @jeffsbookcase.
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