Like others in the “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” series, A Month of Mystery is a compilation of short stories with themes of suspense, murder, and the macabre. A diversity of authors are included here, only a few of whom are of the first tier. Most of the stories date from the 1950s and 1960s (although four are from the 1930s and 1940s), and many were published previously in magazines, pulps, and weeklies. In accord with the “month of mystery theme, 31 stories are included, grouped into four weeks of categories: crime, suspense, detection, and macabre.

I found the individual stories to be fairly entertaining, but of course variable in quality. Particular stand-outs are the contributions by Ross MacDonald and John D. MacDonald (both well-known masters of the craft), as well as 3 authors who are new to me: Michael Gilbert, Mike Marmer, and Melville Davison Post. The most bizarre (and to my mind, least enjoyable) was Howard Rigsby’s macabre “Dean Man’s Story”, a tale told by a corpse.

Listed below are the stories and authors, with my 5-star rankings.

A WEEK OF CRIME
The Dusty Drawer (Harry Muheim) 3*
Drum Beat (Stephen Marlowe) 2*
South of Market (Joe Gores) 1.5*
The Uses of Intelligence (Matthew Grant) 2.5*
Love Will Find a Way (David Alexander) 3*
Retribution (Michael Zuroy) 2.5*
The Queen’s Jewel (James Holding) 3*

A WEEK OF SUSPENSE
Pool Party (Andrew Benedict) 3*
That Touch of Genius (William Sambrot) 2.5*
The Crooked Road (Alex Gaby) 3*
A Taste for Murder (Jack Ritchie) 2.5*
The Twelve Hour Caper (Mike Marmer) 4*
The Amateur (Michael Gilbert) 4*
Death Wish (Lawrence Block) 3*

A WEEK OF DETECTION
The Singing Pigeon (Ross MacDonald) 4.5*
Justice Magnifique (Lawrence Treat) 3*
The White Hat (Sax Rohmer) 4.5*
Hard Sell (Craig Rice) 2*
Greedy Night (E.C. Bentley) 1*
Murder Matinee (Melville Davison Post) 4.5*
A Twilight Adventure (Harold Q. Masur) 1.5*

A WEEK OF THE MACABRE
A Humanist (Romain Gary) 3*
The Oblong Room (Edward D. Hoch) 2*
Love Me, Love Me, Love Me (M.S. Waddell) ½*
Special Handling (John Keefauver) 1*
Dead Man’s Story (Howard Rigsby) ½*
The Legend of Joe Lee (John D. Macdonald) 4*
Crooked Bone (Gerald Kersh 2.5*

A SHORT WEEK OF LONG ONES
The Janissaries of Emillon (Basil Copper) 2.5*
Chinoiserie (Helen McCloy) 1*
Soldier Key (Sterling E. Lanier) 1* ( )