You probably know coauthors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck as James S.A. Corey—their shared pen name.
But it is the armchair detectives themselves that drew me to the stories.
At table, too, will of course be that requisite dinner guest to challenge their combined deductive wit: a man whose marriage hinges on finding a lost umbrella; a woman shadowed by an adversary who knows her darkest secrets; a debunker of psychics unable to explain his unnerving experience in a haunted house; or a symphony cellist accused of attacking his wife with a kitchen knife.
However, they are all thwarted in their attempts and at the end, their inestimable waiter, Henry, applies a simple deduction to the mystery and reveals the solution.A very nice break from what I have been reading. The new stories are a little modest, but I enjoyed "Yes, But Why?" I love mystery books.
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This collection was compiled after his death in 1992 and includes the best of his stories that had been published, those that hadn't been compiled yet and 2 homage stories, edited by Harlan Ellison.And here I come to the end of the series I love. The Return of the Black Widowers. Complimentary access to Publishers Weekly and its assets will end on September 13, 2020, but you can sign up to extend your account and continue to receive free access to the digital edition of the print magazine, archive and all web content through October 12, 2020 by clicking There is an invited guest, and through the course of the evening's discussion, a mystery is inevitably introduced, which the Black Widowers talk out in logical fashion with the aim of solving the mystery. They gather at the Milano Restaurant once a month for good food and good conversation.
Not really a mystery for suspense. There's nothing deep or profound here, just some fun whodunnits and whydunnits that give the reader enough information to solve the mystery themselves, should they be so inclined.Several new ones in this book. A few stories stand out, others don't. Item information. Maybe the predictability is part of the fun: how will Asimov introduce the puzzle this time, what subtle difference will there be. Each problem is presented with all the facts and the group then tries to reason out the answer. Henry, in a quiet, self-effacing manner that doesn't quite succeed in covering his own serving of pride, comes to the rescue with the solution and the explanations for the other members and readers alike! You can tell Asimov enjoyed writing them, but the "mystery" part is pretty facile.
All very cleverly written and entertaining.
The mysteries tend to be gentle and ironic, solved by deduction instead of mayhem--and explained for the slow of mind by the inimitable waiter Henry.
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These are paired with the five or six uncollected tales and two non-Asimov stories that serve as homages to the Black Widowers' style and oeuvre.These are a series of short mystery stories, solved over conversation.
These are paired with the five or six uncollected tales and two non-Asimov stories that serve as homages to the Black Widowers' style and oeuvre.After Asimov's death, there were several uncollected Black Widowers stories extant, but not enough to make a traditional volume (the other books all have 12 stories each). As was usual with Asimov's collections, many stories had chatty forewords or afterwords.