I wasn’t wrong in thinking that Edward D. Hoch was known for his short stories. In fact, he wrote over 950 of them, some with series characters. Constant Hearses and Other Revolutionary Mysteries contains stories featuring two of those characters. Most of the stories are about Alexander Swift, an investigator and spy for George Washington during the Revolutionary War and even after. Five stories are about Sir Gideon Parrot, and those are Hoch’s homage to Hercule Poirot and John Dickson Carr’s Dr. Gideon Fell.

The Alexander Swift stories actually follow one on the other. I’m glad I read them all at one time, rather than to wait a month for the next one to appear in a magazine. I do know novels were once serialized, but I’m happy that I was able to follow along with Swift. In the course of the stories, Swift travels often to New York City, where he once lived until his wife left him for a British soldier. In the course of the stories, we see Swift build a relationship with another woman, marry and start a family. But, he’s always willing to investigate on behalf of Washington. And, beginning with the story “The Uninvited Guest”, in which he attends General Benedict Arnold’s wedding to Peggy Shipton, Swift’s stories follow Arnold’s career because Swift suspects Benedict Arnold of treachery long before his betrayal. These stories are a fascinating way to learn more about Benedict Arnold.

The five Sir Gideon Parrot stories are standalones, told by an unnamed narrator, a friend who Parrot sees when he visits New York City. The narrator serves as Parrot’s Watson, recording his adventures and accompanying him, such as in “Lady of the Impossible”. In that story, the victim points out there will be “a victim, a detective and his Watson, a prime suspect, a pair of young lovers, a least suspected person, and an author”, the entire cast of a traditional “Golden Age” mystery. And, as expected, there is a gathering of the suspects so the detective can reveal the solution. Very satisfying detective stories.

I’ll admit it took me a little while to get through the Alexander Swift stories. I spent time going down rabbit holes, and the stories are rich in detail. The Sir Gideon Parrot stories are lighter and faster paced. It was a pleasure to read all of these mysteries by a master of the art of the short story.

Constant Hearses and Other Revolutionary Mysteries by Edward D. Hoch. Crippen & Landru Publishers, 2022. ISBN 9781936363643 (paperback), 270p.


FTC Full Disclosure – The publishers sent a copy of the book, hoping I would review it.