The Master of Mysteries

Starred review from November 7, 2022
First published in book form in 1912, the 24 short stories by humorist Burgess (1866–1951) in this exemplary Library of Congress Crime Classics reissue feature Astro the Seer, whose intellect allows him to make Holmesian deductions. (As editor Leslie S. Klinger notes in his introduction, these tales were “part of a tsunami of Holmes imitators.”) Born Astrogon Kerby, Astro learned magic in Cairo before studying at MIT. To support his private physics lab in New York City, Astro “set up in business as palmist, seer, and detective.” In one of the volume’s high points, “The Stolen Shakespeare,” Astro examines the hand of a prospective client and informs the man, accurately, that he attended a popular revue the previous night and was bored. Other memorable cases involve official corruption and kidnapping. The romantic dynamic with his sidekick, Valeska, who contributes significantly to his inquiries, adds an element missing from traditional Holmes-Watson–inspired pairings. Those seeking quality Sherlock Holmes pastiches in a humorous vein will be well rewarded.

November 1, 2022

This reissued collection of short stories written in 1908 and 1909 brings back an early detective of American crime fiction. Classic genre fiction expert Leslie S. Klinger's introduction states that Astro the Seer and his assistant, Valeska Wynne, filled a gap left by the departure of Sherlock Holmes. Astro is a psychic who fascinates the upper classes in New York City with his auras, crystals, and unusual dress as he solves mysteries ranging from murder and kidnapping to matters of the heart, for clients from a variety of social classes and ethnicities. In two dozen stories, he experiments with science and philosophy, guiding principles in his shrewd assessments of his fellow humans. The mysteries are sometimes humorous, like the story of a bridegroom who disappears, and running throughout the collection is the thread of Astro's growing infatuation with the beautiful Valeska (a thread that's tied up in the last few stories). VERDICT Burgess's stories have too much philosophizing and pseudoscience for modern readers. Recommended only for collectors and reference, as early examples of American detective fiction.--Lesa Holstine

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2022
Two dozen tales first collected in 1912 that, whatever their strengths and weaknesses, are nothing like any other detective stories you'll read this year. Astro the Seer is not exactly a detective; he's an Egyptian palm reader and psychic who has a working relationship with the NYPD and a pre-amatory relationship with his blond assistant, Valeska Wynne. Whatever his credentials, he's consulted by men whose wives have disappeared, parents whose children have been kidnapped, society ladies whose jewels have been stolen, and occasionally the police themselves. But this description doesn't begin to do justice to the fantastic variety of his cases. Astro is called on to track down a ghost who stalks an old house, to explain a series of strange gifts sent anonymously to a young woman, and to investigate the appearance of a mysterious doppelg�nger and the fate of a pair of babies switched at birth. More often than not, the florid premises of these stories are more ingenious than their conclusions, as in "The Lady in Taupe," which presents an elaborate scheme to steal the manuscript of a playwright's first novel, and "Mrs. Stellery's Letters," which asks who's been sending love letters to a married woman. From time to time, however, humorist Burgess (1866-1951) either produces an expertly straightforward whodunit like "The Middlebury Murder," which offers three suspects in the shooting of an architect in his office, or goes full-bore crazy, as in "Vengeance of the Pi Rho Nu," in which a bridegroom unaccountably vanishes the day before his wedding. Editor Leslie S. Klinger supplies an introduction, a biography, and study questions and reprints Burgess' own very strange biography of his hero. Unapologetic exotica to fuel a stroll down Memory Lane.

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