Even though Isaac Asimov excelled at doing so, most people are unaware the sci-fi master dabbled in mysteries. And I’m not talking about the ones with robots. I speak of The Black Widowers, an exclusive club of armchair Sherlocks who meet once a month and do all their detecting over brandy. Asimov wrote more than 65 of these short tales before his death, and THE RETURN OF THE BLACK WIDOWERS is the sixth and final one, and newly out in trade paperback.
The Black Widower stories follow a comfortable, tried-and-true formula: one of the Widowers brings a guest with a mystery to solve, the Widowers grill him with questions and eventually a solution is found … by their waiter, Henry. The mysteries posed to the group are range from murder cases to less-than-felonious offenses like collegiate cheating or a scientist’s swiped theorem. And some are merely brainteasers, with no crime committed, such as the misplacement of an umbrella. From a drunk’s accidental stumble into a counterfeiting ring to a meteorite of questionable value, nothing escapes the collective brain power of the Black Widowers. So long as Henry’s around.
Each mystery is prefaced with a good dose of conversation amongst the Widowers. Much of the talk is merely extraneous and fails to serve the plot, but to skip it would be to deprive yourself of this series’ affable, fussy charms, dialogue-driven as they are. There’s not a single one here that isn’t simply fun, and with good reason. Editor (and Hard Case Crime creator) Charles Ardai has stocked the collection with the 10 best Black Widowers of all time (spanning a roughly two-decade period beginning in 1972), plus six stories (including one with Batman!) that were not collected in previous editions and a spare thrown in simply to appease the ego of Harlan Ellison, who provides the book’s foreword. Ardai offers a new Black Widowers story that successfully follows Asimov’s blueprint – even with all its references to Asimov himself – and William Brittain serves up an excellent homage, every bit as ingenious as the puzzling originals. This RETURN is a real treat through and through. –Rod Lott
Buy it at Amazon.
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Rod, I am seeing your by line on every review. Are you reading all of these books? If so…how many a week do you read and do you work for a living? Love the reviews, so if your doing all of them, your doing a great job.
ttZuma
Whoever’s name follows “Posted by” is indeed the reviewer, so yes, every review with my name on it is my work.
I used to read an average of two to three books a week, but lately it’s been five. Yes, I work for a living; all my reading gets done either during lunch or at night.
Glad you enjoy the site. Thanks!