Ingenting är omöjligt (ed. Jan Broberg)

The stories in Broberg's third and final anthology of impossible mysteries run the gamut from old classics to relatively modern (for the time, this was published in 1985) mysteries. Broberg tells us in the preface that Robert Adey provided him with copies of some of the less known stories, another proof of the camaraderie and helpfulness between proponents of the genre before the advent of the Internet.

Samuel Hopkins Adams - The Flying Death

An epistolary story recounted by several of the players involved. A number of men staying at a boarding house in Long Island come across the body of a man lying dead on the beach. The only prints in the sand looks like pteranodon tracks.

Okay, it's hard to believe that reasonable men like scientists and journalists would ever believe in dinosaurs when the real answer to the impossibility is what it is. Otherwise, this is a pretty good story with a workable solution. I don't really like that the murderer is never really in the story.

Jacques Futrelle - The Case of the Mysterious Weapon

Previously discussed in this post (under its alternative title "An Absence of Air").

E. C. Bentley - The Flying Shot

Philip Trent  hears the story of a man who was killed while golfing. He was playing alone, and entered a bunker and fired off a golf shot. The next pair of golfers find him lying dead with burned clothes and hair.

I liked this a lot. A clever set-up with a likewise clever solution.

Margery Allingham - One Morning They'll Hang Him

Albert Campion is asked to take a look at a case where an old woman has been shot and killed. The main suspect is her nephew who had joined her for dinner, which ended in a heated argument. He is later seen not far from her house at the time the murder was committed. Only problem is, the weapon cannot be found...

A poignant and clever story by Allingham, which is only marginally impossible. The twist is very affecting.

Cornell Woolrich - Mystery in Room 913

Previously discussed in this post (under the alternative title "The Room With Something Wrong").

Ellery Queen - The Disappearance of James Phillimore

A playscript by Queen, so I won't discuss it here.

Vincent Cornier - The Shot That Waited

Previously discussed in this post (under the alternative title "Duel of Shadows").

John Dickson Carr - The Crime in Nobody's Room

Previously discussed in this post.

Eric Ambler - Case of the Overheated Flat

Refugee Dr. Jan Czissar comes to the help of Scotland Yard in a case where a man is suspected of killing three wives, all from gas poisoning. The latest death took place while the husband was away from the flat, and a janitor can swear that the wife was alive when he left.

Ambler wrote a series of stories about Jan Czissar, formerly of the Prague police, who always annoys Scotland Yard detective Mercer by upsetting his cases with new insights. This is a clever story where the reader will need some technical knowledge to be able to see the correct solution.

Hugh Pentecost - The Day the Children Vanished

Previously discussed in this post.

Joseph Commings - Death by Black Magic

Previously discussed in this post.

Harry Kemelman - The Man on the Ladder

A professor has died, apparently from an accident where he fell down in a worksite. Some time later, another man dies while trying to install a new antenna. He falls down from the ladder while climbing on to the roof.

Kemelman's short stories about professor Nicky Welt where all written before he broke through with his stories about Rabbi David Small. I enjoy these short stories more, to be honest. In this case, this is a fine impossibility with a simple and great solution.

Edward D. Hoch - The Problem of the Old Oak Tree

Previously discussed in this post.

Bill Pronzini - Proof of Guilt

Previously discussed in this post.

William Brittain - The Man Who Read Ellery Queen

In a residential home for the elderly someone has stolen an old coin. One of the residents, an ardent admirer of Ellery Queen, takes it upon himself to find out who stole it and where it is hidden.

This is not an impossible mystery, but it's still a clever one. As befits a story with an homage to Ellery Queen it also features a challenge to the reader. The solution is quite simple but good - and very reminiscent of some of Queen's "fun and games" stories.

Arthur Porges - The Rescuer

Scientists have invented a great and very important machine after more than thirty years of work. One day, two scientists decide to destroy it.

This isn't an impossible mystery either. Instead it's an SF mystery with a terrific sting in the tail - though it's one of those things that's often discussed in this type of story. Another great one.

Conclusion

This was the first anthology I ever read, way back when I didn't really have any concept of what an impossible mystery was. Therefore, all of these stories will always have an aura of nostalgia about them, which probably makes me enjoy them more than someone else would.

Still, I do think that Broberg chose some very worthy stories for this anthology, and I think that is corroborated by the fact that several of them have been featured in other people's collections.

In an attempt to apply an objective view of these stories, I've decided to include the stories by Adams, Bentley and Kemelman in my own impossible project.