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It’s About Impossible Crime

jamesscottbyrnside

After months of riddles, red herrings, and locked doors with no keys, I’m thrilled to announce that It’s About Impossible Crime is finally out in the world. If you’ve been following the blog, you already know I’ve teased bits of these stories for some time and an early version of one was free to read on my blog for a few months. Now, at last, the book is available in both paperback and e-book HERE.

This new anthology contains five stories—each one built around that most maddening and delightful of mystery traditions: the impossible crime. Murders with no footprints. Locked rooms that defy logic. Evidence that contradicts itself. These are the puzzles I love most, and I’ve done my best to construct them with care and make them different in style, problem, and even tone.

If you enjoy the book, please recommend. Reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, blogs, or anywhere else are always welcome.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me along the way. I promised myself I’d take a break, but I’m already plotting out an automaton story. I can’t take my word for anything. So, it looks like more mysteries are in the works, but for now, please buy and enjoy my newest creation. The crimes are impossible. The clues are fair. And the game is on.

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Published by jamesscottbyrnside

I'm a murder mystery/impossible crime fanatic and author. I like locked rooms, footprints in the snow, missing murder weapons, and unreliable suspects.

12 thoughts on “It’s About Impossible Crime”

      1. I am attracted to GAD and neo-GAD mysteries first and foremost due to their puzzles. Great settings, characters and plot are a welcome bonus, but I can’t resist impossible crimes.

        The impossibilities in all five stories were enjoyable, but for me the highlights were “Instrument of Death” and “The Preminger Curse” albeit for different reasons. “Instrument” has compelling characters and an emotional punch. Dickie reminded me of some of Jim Thompson’s vivid characters in “Pop. 1280”, “The Getaway”, etc., and I empathized with Violet and her predicament. The ending was a genuine surprise and I even felt sorry for the culprit. “Preminger” offers an oppressive atmosphere that oozes off the page (e.g., that scene in the attic where Manory is surprised in the dark made me jump and almost drop the book).

        Well done on “It’s About Impossible Crime”. Recommended.

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      2. Great to hear, Scott. Thank you for the message. ‘The Preminger Curse’ was in my wheelhouse, so I think a lot of readers might favor it over the others. For a while, it had the working title of ‘Goodnight Irene 2’. ‘Instrument’ doesn’t have an impossibility per se, and I was going to save it for another anthology. In the end, I liked the variety it gave the collection.

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