Mon 9 Jan 2023
Locked Room Mystery Stories I’m Reading: BILL CRIDER “See What the Boys in the Locked Room Will Have.â€
Posted by Steve under Stories I'm Reading[4] Comments
BILL CRIDER “See What the Boys in the Locked Room Will Have.†First published in Partners in Crime, edited by Elaine Raco Chase (Signet, paperback, 1994). Not known to have been collected or reprinted.
The gimmick of the Partners in Crime anthology is not a difficult one to figure out, just from the title. It’s a collection of original mystery stories in which two detectives pair up to solve various cases together. In large part, these are detectives created by the same author, some created especially for this anthology. In one instance, though, two authors bring their respective characters together to solve the case (Margaret Maron and Susan Dunlap).
In “See What the Boys in the Locked Room Will Have,†Bill Crider created a brand new pair of protagonists, collaborative mystery writers Bo Wagner and Janice Langtry. He plots, she writes, he types. It’s an uneasy relationship, in more ways than one, but it seems to work. So well that when a strange death occurs in the same town where they live, the police call them in asking for help.
A man both Bo and Janice knew well has been shot and kills in his study. There is no gun to be found, but with the room under observation when the shots are heard, there is no one who could have committed the crime.
It’s a good mystery, with lots of clues, and even though it’s a rather short tale, the deductions come fast and furious. Bo’s recreation of the crime takes up more of the space, but it’s his partner in crime writing who manages to put the facts together correctly, to his chagrin. As the author of this fully engaging story, Crider has to do a fast bit of handwaving, perhaps, to make it all work, but I was satisfied, and so should you, if you’re ever able to get yours hands on a copy.
Bibliographic Note: Bo Wagner and Janice Langtry appeared together in two later stories:
“The Case of the Headless Man,” Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, March 1997.
“At the Hop,” with Judy Crider, Till Death Do Us Part, edited by Jill M.Morgan and Martin H. Greenberg, Berkley, paperback, 1999. Nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Mystery Short Story of 1999.
January 9th, 2023 at 7:46 pm
I miss Bill as writer and person, but when I read one of his stories the writer part is what I think of.
It’s a shame he didn’t try a novel with this pair.
January 9th, 2023 at 8:09 pm
I was thinking the same thing. Mysteries in which mystery writers are the leading characters are always a lot of fun to read.
I was wondering in fact whether this particular story could have been expanded into a novel, but I had to reluctantly say no. The locked room gimmick is fine, but it’s just not strong enough to warrant a full novel.
One or two additional subplots would have been needed — and maybe few more possible suspects.
Right now it has the perfect length for the story line it has.-
January 11th, 2023 at 1:00 pm
Archive.org has this one: https://archive.org/details/partnersincrimem00copy
January 12th, 2023 at 2:57 am
Thanks, Bill!