This short story, Arson Plus, was Hammett’s first story in his Continental Detective agency series. His name was not kinown back then when he submitted it to a magazinee. Hammett used his experience as a Pinkerton detective to write the story.

In Arson Plus, the anonymous detective (we never learn his name) is assigned a case from an insurance company. There had been a fire in a house outside Sacremento. The house was a total loss. The insurance company suspected arson. Our detective, after a brief look at the basics, had a hunch the insurance company was right.

In terms of the people involved in the case, we find very few. The man who died in the house-fire was an extremely private person, so there is little to know about him. Employed by this man was a husband/wife team of servants. And then there was the man’s niece who is his only heir. There are only a few other witnesses.

Our nameless detective was very organized and diligent as he moved from clue to clue and witness to witness. He followed up on every lead. And of course, it paid off as he solved the mystery.

This was a very good mystery that caught me by surprise. There was a nice trick at the very end.

If you’re interested in reading this old classsic mystery, visit here: Story of the Week

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

I was reminded of those long ago demonstrations recently when I read a short story written by Thornton Wilder. Wilder spent his teenage years in China when his father became the American Consul-General. This short story is primarily a memoir with tourches of fiction. Here are the opening lines:

“It used to be said that to have lived in China during those years between the Boxer Rebellion and the 1911 Revelution was to have enjoyed a foretaste of Heaven. Skilled and tireless servants could be engaged for six to ten dollars a month. There were superb cooks and inspired gardeners; there were tailors able to copy faithflly the fashion plates from Paris and London.”

As the story progresses we see that the heavenly-life was only for the very wealthy. The average Chinese citizen lived in extreme poverty and ill-health. Even as a thirteen-year-old Thorton Wilder saw and understood it all.

Wilder kept a journal for most of the time he was in China. He already knew he wanted to be a writer. The majority of this story is about his time at a mission boarding school 300 miles away from his father. Thornton and his three roommates were minorities among the large number of English students and staff.

The last part of the story is spent telling about one of the roommates. He doesn’t really fit in anywhere. He is also the type of kid who wants to do something wrong just because he thinks he can get away with it.

This was an interesting look at the old China of the early twentieth century. To read it for yourself, you can find it here at the Story of the Week.

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

I’ve learned that Flash Fiction is actually a short short-story. There’s a little controversy as to how many words a story needs to be to qualify as Flash Fiction, but most seem to be under 1000 words.

The best Flash Fiction stories still have the same elements of a good story, but some parts of it must be implied or hinted at. That’s because of the small number of words allowed. It makes for a very tight story and means the writer has to make every word count.

Four years ago author Robert Laughlin established the Micro Awards to annually recognize the best in Flash Fiction. The first winning story was Reconstruction Work by Bruce Holland Rogers. I decided to share that first award winner with you today. You can read the full story at Flash Fiction Online. It’s also in the author’s book, Word Work.

The title, Reconstruction Work, refers to the work mortuary professionals perform on the deceased. One of the professionals is standing next to a casket as the deceased’s granddaughter came in. There is a nice twist to this story. The work this mortuary professional performs is not something to be seen with the eyes.

I hope you’ll give this nice little story a try.

Thanks Julie for introducing me to Flash Fiction. Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

Our Story of the Week is an example of a man who would be president. What’s unusual is that he wants to clear the air to begin with, by confessing to all the bad things he has done and his most despicable character traits.. The man is Mark Twain, one of America’s most beloved humorists.

Right off the bat he tells us he is a heartless brute. He once took a shotgun and made his grandfather climb a tree and stay there all night. He confesses to being inhuman, but the man did snore.

He also ran away at the battle of Gettysburg. His friends tried to smooth it over by saying he was just imitating George Washington who ran into the woods at the battle of Valley Forge. Washington went there to say his prayers and so did Twain. But Twain admits he was scared and didn’t want to die.

There were a few other bad things he confessed to in this short four page story, but I’ll save them for you to read.

Finally, in the end he sums up his offerings in this manner:

“I recommend myself as a safe man – a man who starts from the basis of total depravity and proposes to be fiendish to the last.”

I can’t help but compare this style of campaigning to our current style. Now it seems our candidates pose as the perfect person and let others point out their faults. I wonder what modern marketing and spin-doctors think of Mark Twain’s message.

You can read this story online at Library of America’s Story of the Week.

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

 Brother Robber

by Helene Christaller

As the story opens, Brother Angelo, a brown-clad monk, is cleaning a very humble mountain hermitage. It’s cold and all he has is some meal to put in the pot for the Christmas Eve meal.

And then a visitor arrives with a sack of bread and a pitcher of wine. The visitor is Brother Francis, an older man Brother Angelo greatly respects. When Brother Francis learns of Brother Angelo’s action that morning, he is disappointed.

Brother Angelo turned away men he considered robbers. Brother Francis offers him a great lesson: All men are our brothers. Go, find them, and share this sack of bread and pitcher of wine. Also, Brother Francis suggests he ask their forgiveness.

Although he is terrified, Brother Angelo set off up the mountain to find the robbers. It’s very cold, it’s starting to snow, and the sun is beginning to go down. Will the robbers harm him if he finds them?

The story comes to a satisfactory conclusion. In case you didn’t already guess it, this is part of the legends of a man later known as Saint Francis of Assisi. It’s a story that, at the end I said, “Yes. That’s one of the fundamentals of the faith and of Christmas.” I recommend it if you too are looking for a good simple short Christmas story

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

I’m also linking this post to the Spirit of Christmas Challenge.

And then one day Maureen went to the attic to retrieve her Halloween decorations. Right next to the decorations, she discovered a beautifully wrapped package. The card on the outside says it’s for her from her husband. She’s afraid to open it so she lets it sit on the kitchen counter. Her husband still has that much power over her.

Her grown daughter drops by and urges her mother to open the package. Inside is a GPS for her car. This is a puzzle to Maureen but her daughter helps her put it in the car. program it, and teaches her how to use it.

Although she is suspicious because it came from her husband, Maureen agrees to use it. She asks her sister to meet her for a special day out. She assures her sister she can find the place because she now has a GPS in her car.

Maureen sets off confidently and then her GPS voice suddenly switches to a menacing male voice. It’s not exactly her husband’s voice but it’s talking the same way. It’s obvious the GPS has another place it wants Maureen to go. How can her husband’s control be coming back? He’s dead, but who is this voice in her ears and in her head?

I always enjoy any story Jennifer Weiner tells. (In Her Shoes and Good In Bed) She’s a compelling storyteller and this story was no exception. This one, however, was the first ghost story written by this prolific chick-lit writer. To my knowledge, that is. Please note: I read this story and actually liked it. I don’t like his kind of spooky stuff, but Jennifer Weiner made me love Maureen.

At 40 pages, this is a long short story. It is what Amazon is selling as a Kindle Single. They are short stories by mostly well-known writers, and sell for a dollar or two. This one is HERE for 99 cents. Recalculating was published by Simon and Schuster Ebooks so if you have another e-reader you could also downloaded it here: S & S E-Books.

I’m linking this post to Short Story Monday, sposored by John at Book, Mind, Set.

What I like about Raymond Carver’s stories is the simplicity of the story. In this story, Kindling, Raymond Carver leaves many of the details to the imagination of the reader. He tells the story of Myers who comes to the home of Sol and Bonnie after they advertised a room for rent. All we know about Myers is that he is “between lives;” he’s come from a “drying out facility” and is now sober.

This is the first time Sol and Bonnie have rented out a room in their house. They find Myers to be no trouble at all. In fact, he seems to come out of his room only when Sol and Bonnie are at work. Sol has a hunch that Myers will not hurt them.

It’s the character of Myers that was of interest to me. I wondered if this self-isolation of Myers’ would be healthy for him. Would it tempt him out to visit bars? Myers seems to like the sound of the running water in the river and the sight of the mountain peaks outside his window. All of these traits and one final event kept me reading and kept me pulling for Myers. The question in my mind: Can he move on in his life in a positive way?

You can read this short story online here: Kindling by Raymond Carver Come back and let me know what you think.

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

Then she met X, fell in love and eloped. Because they had little money, they moved to Nebraska to homestead. During the second half of her life Georgiana worked long days helping to build the farm and raise her six children. Although after many years her husband bought her a piano, music was not the center of this portion of her life.

One day Clark received a letter that his Aunt Georgana was coming to Boston to settle an inheritance. To help repay his aunt for all the good things she did for him, he decided to take her to a concert of all Wagner music.

It’s been decades since Aunt Georgiana has been to a concert. Her reaction to the music surprises her nephew. I won’t spoil the story for you. It’s a short one and well worth the reading. Commentary with the story tells of the author’s own fascination with Wagner’s music. I imagined Aunt Georgiana’s reaction must have reflected Willa Cather’s reaction.

I think I’ve mentioned in the past how much I enjoy Willa Cather’s writing. She is indeed a gifted writer. I hope you’ll enjoy this one too. You can find the story here: A Wagner Matinee

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.

Another of Susan Glaspell’s stories was offered this week as The Short Story of the Week from Library of America. This one is The Hossack Murder. There’s a very interesting tie-in between these two pieces of work from Ms. Glaspell. I just learned it and I thought I would share it with you.

Early in Susan Glaspell’s career she was a reporter for the Des Moines Daily News. She wrote a series of newspaper articles about a true crime that occurred on a farm outside of Indianola, Iowa in December 1900. This week’s “short story” is a collection of those newspaper articles.

John Hossack was killed with two blows to the head while he slept in his bed. Their sons and daughters were also in the house. Ms. Glaspell reported on the initial event and then the inquest and subsequent arrest of the victim’s wife. She also covered the trial of Mrs. Hossack in April 1901.

The articles on the events and then the trial were very interesting. At first Ms. Glaspell was very concise in her reporting – just the facts are given. But, as the trial progressed, I saw subtle changes. She never editorialized on the guilt or innocence of Mrs. Hossack, but she gradually reported more sympathetically on her observations of the defendant. By the end of the trial I felt Ms. Gaspell’s doubt about the outcome, although she never gave her opinion outright.

The trial seemed odd and not just from today’s standards. The prosecution established, via several witnesses, that Mrs. Hossack felt she would be better off if her husband were dead. There was no information given as to why she wanted him dead. The motive was never established. In addition, the defense attorneys seem to have presented a very weak case.

All of this leads me back to the short story I mentioned above, A Jury of Her Peers. After the trial Ms. Glaspell went on to write plays and manage a theater company. One of the plays she is most well known for is Trifles. Ms. Glaspell later turned the play into the story, A Jury of Her Peers. It’s been suggested that she wrote the play/story based on her observations and thinking about The Hossack Murder. Having read both, I now tend to agree. I can definitely see the connection.

If you haven’t read either one of these pieces, I’d suggest reading both of them. Together it’s about an hour’s reading.  They are both available online. Here are the two links:

A Jury of Her Peers HERE

The Hossack Murder HERE

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set. Click the button below.

A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain

Written December 1903

. . . Then came the winter. One day I was standing a watch in the nursery. That is to say, I was asleep on the bed. The baby was asleep in the crib, which was alongside the bed, on the side next the fireplace. It was the kind of crib that has a lofty tent over it made of gauzy stuff that you can see through. The nurse was out, and we two sleepers were alone. A spark from the wood-fire was shot out, and it lit on the slope of the tent. I suppose a quiet interval followed, then a scream from the baby woke me, and there was that tent flaming up toward the ceiling! . . .

I clicked the link and went over to read what happened next. There’s a bit of story before you get to the paragraph above but, when I saw the first line, I knew this was going to be one of those clever, witty tales that Mr. Twain does so well.

“My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian.

That set the tone for the writing of the story. I don’t normally care for stories narrated by animals, but this one is an exception. It was cleverly written but it also tugged at my heart. Animal lovers who believe animals have feelings will enjoy this one. I also liked the dog’s story about his mother’s use of big words.

You can read the full story here: A Dog’s Tale by Mark Twain

Short Story Monday is sponsored by John at Book Mind Set.