Tales of the Black Widowers

The Black Widowers are an amusing (if chauvinistically all-male) group of bickering friends who meet once a month for dinner, with an invited guest to provide variety. Over the twelve courses presented, they (invariably Henry the waiter) develop a tradition of solving some problem or mystery for the guest. Some of the twists are better than others but the setting adds charm to the stories, all of which I found eminently enjoyable.

This is a review of the entire series of Black Widower books.

I'm a bit of a sucker for classic mysteries, so when I found out that Isaac Asimov, one of my favorite childhood authors, had published a number of short mysteries in the style of Agatha Christie, I immediately searched them out at the library.

His mysteries all follow the same short story format. The Black Widowers, a fictional men-only dinner club, meet monthly at a restaurant to dine, socialize, and interview the host's guest. The guest (or occasionally the host) presents a puzzle drawn from his personal or professional life, and the Black Widowers attempt some armchair detective work before Henry, the waiter, invariably deduces the solution. These are not forensics and show more footprints crime cases, obviously. In fact, in many instances, no crime took place. There was the story of a man whose wife disappeared from a restaurant and turned up at home safe and sound, one in which a man who is convinced that his lover has cheated at an academic exam, and several instances of guests who need to unravel a riddle to claim an inheritance from a deceased, idiosyncratic friend. Etc. Generally, the solution rests upon peeling away irrelevant information to reveal a simple, obvious explanation. Kind of like Miss Marple meets Encyclopedia Brown (historical facts and trivia have been the crux of the issue on many occasions).

However, it's the structure in addition to the (rather mundane) mysteries that makes these stories so appealing. The six (seven, counting Hentry) members of the Black Widowers are caricatures, but nonetheless solidly consistent in their characterization. (I wouldn't say that any of the regulars involve themselves in any sort of character arc or personal growth, but that's not really the point. Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple never really grew, either.) My problem with them is that Asimov relies too much on the same idiosyncracies, such that a number of people are loud and opinionated, and as they all participate equally in all conversations on all subjects, it becomes difficult to differentiate between them. Nonetheless, their very presence is reassuring; when you read a Black Widower story, you know exactly what you'll get. The stories generally devote half their length to whatever subject Asimov feels like discussing, whether it's extrasensory perception or extraterrestrial life or English grammar, and I found that just as enjoyable as the puzzle-solving half.

Most of the stories were published in various mystery or science fiction magazines before being collected by Asimov in several 12-story anthologies. Asimov himself writes a little blurb after each one describing its history, and his comments are charming to read. The last book was published after Asimov's death and collects a few stories that were not anthologized in the previous volumes. It also contains a rather sappy foreward by Harlan Ellison, somewhat cluttered with in-jokes and personal references, reprints of the "best of" stories as selected by Charles Ardai, and two original stories not by Asimov. I actually haven't finished reading this last one yet. Once I do, there will be no more Black Widower stories, and they have been such superb comfort fare that I find myself saving the last few for when I truly need them. show less

Asimov may be best known for his science fiction, but he was also a master of murder mysteries. Each Black Widowers book is an anthology of short stories with the same group of characters. The "Black Widowers" is a men's club that meets once a month to host a guest for dinner. Each guest always has a mystery that needs to be solved, and the butler Henry (also a club member) always solves it. These mysteries are heavily based on logic and are actually more puzzles than mysteries. Readers have to think carefully to "solve" the case without waiting for the author to introduce a villain, or device to move the plot. Great brain teasers that really satisfy - fabulous! It is a terrible shame these books are OOP.

Fun little mysteries written in Asimov's approachable, friendly style. Not terribly deep, but one shouldn't crack open a book of short, formulaic stories expecting that anyway.

Well thought out plots as per the usual Isaac standards.

I think he rivals Arthur Conan-Doyle here.

First volume of Asimov's interesting fellows in the Black Widowers and their entertaining mystery stories.

Short puzzle stories rather than crime and detection tales, each resolved by Asimov's Sherlock Holmes, namely Henry the impassive waiter and confidante of members of the Black Widowers dining club.