Book Review | The Man in Black and Other Stories #booksky

The Man in Black and Other Stories is, as the title indicates, a collection of short stories from Elly Griffiths. It includes one from a guest author. Odd, but fine.

The Man in Black and Other Stories

by Elly Griffiths

From the internationally bestselling author of the Ruth Galloway Mysteries, an eclectic, thrilling collection of short stories, featuring many characters that readers have come to know and love.

Elly Griffiths has always written short stories to experiment with different voices and genres as well as to explore what some of her fictional creations such as Ruth Galloway, Harbinder Kaur, and Max Mephisto might have done outside of the novels. The Man in Black gathers these bite-sized tales all together in one splendid volume.

There are ghost stories, cozy mysteries, tales of psychological suspense, and poignant vignettes of love and loss.

In the title story, Ruth Galloway crosses paths with a mysterious man in a bookstore, setting in motion a rescue mission that hinges on the legends and lore of Norfolk.

Looking into the past, a young magician in 1920s Leeds wonders just what happened to his missing landlady in Max Mephisto and the Disappearing Act.

In Justice Jones and the Etherphone, [*] a witty girl detective investigates the dire prediction of a fortune teller in dreary postwar London.

A flashback in time reveals Harbinder Kaur as a Detective Sergeant surviving her first day on the job at Shoreham DCI.

To celebrate the holidays, Ruth gets her very first Christmas tree, and her beloved cat narrates his own seasonal story in Flint’s Fireside Tale.

And readers can armchair travel with stories set on the Amalfi Coast, in Capri, and in Egypt as Ruth and DCI Nelson experience their very own version of Death on the Nile.

The Man in Black illustrates the breadth and variety of Elly Griffiths’s talent for blood-chilling, page-turning stories all with her trademark humor and heart.

My Review

This is something for Elly Griffiths fans that filled a gap between the end of one series, the publication of two others and the start of a fourth. I think. It’s hard to keep up, sometimes.

Which is why this collection works. It brings several short stories Elly has given her newsletter followers over the years, plus some backstory for other characters, plus some fun elements for characters who won’t lie down. Hmm. Where have I heard that before? But I’m glad I’m not the only author who can’t leave her characters alone!

I enjoyed them all, although I think the blurb’s description of blood-chilling is overblown. One or two mild ghost stories and a dead body or two does not make for blood-chilling, but they are mysterious, suspenseful, and a good puzzle. Seeing Kate (and Flint) grow up is a treat. And having Harbinder Kaur to investigate an incident at the theatre where Kate is performing, and where Max Mephisto used to tread the boards is a lovely mash-up!

A book for fans maybe, but just as enjoyable for new readers.

* I don’t remember reading this one. Weird.