The Little Tales of Smethers and Other Stories

The Little Tales of Smethers and Other Stories is a collection of fantasy and crime short stories by writer Lord Dunsany. It was first published in London by Jarrolds in October, 1952.

The Little Tales of Smethers and Other Stories
Dust-jacket from first edition
AuthorLord Dunsany
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy, crime fiction
PublisherJarrolds
Publication date
1952
Media typePrint (hardback)

The book collects twenty-six short pieces by Dunsany, including all of his tales of the character Mr Smethers, one being the much-anthologised mystery story "The Two Bottles of Relish", with its neat and devastating one-sentence solution at the end. An audiobook of the collection was released in 2017.[citation needed]

Contents edit

  • "The Two Bottles of Relish"
  • "The Shooting of Constable Slugger"
  • "An Enemy of Scotland Yard"
  • "The Second Front"
  • "The Two Assassins"
  • "Kriegblut's Disguise"
  • "The Mug in the Gambling Hall"
  • "The Clue"
  • "Once Too Often"
  • "An Alleged Murder"
  • "The Waiter's Story"
  • "A Trade Dispute"
  • "The Pirate of the Round Pond"
  • "A Victim of Bad Luck"
  • "The New Master"
  • "A New Murder"
  • "A Tale of Revenge"
  • "The Speech"
  • "The Lost Scientist"
  • "The Unwritten Thriller"
  • "In Ravancore"
  • "Among the Bean Rows"
  • "The Death-Watch Beetle"
  • "Murder by Lightning"
  • "The Murder in Netherby Gardens"
  • "The Shield of Athene"

References edit

  • Joshi, S. T. (1993). Lord Dunsany: a Bibliography / by S. T. Joshi and Darrell Schweitzer. Metuchen, N.J.: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. p. 28. ISBN 0-8108-2714-X.