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Dr. Sam Hawthorne
All But Impossible: The Impossible Files of Dr. Sam Hawthorne
Northmont, Connecticut, seemed to be haunted by ghosts, ghouls, and impossibilities, until Dr. Sam Hawthorne explained the seemingly impossible. All But Impossible contains fifteen of Dr. Sam's most extraordinary cases solved between 1936 and 1940, including a newly murdered corpse in a sealed tomb in a cemetery; a body in a scarecrow; jug that turns water into wine -- poisoned wine; a disappearance from a swimming pool; a baby who becomes a child's doll on the way to being baptized; an unfound door; a room that appears and vanishes; And eight other ingenious problems for Dr. Sam
451 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2017
About the author
Edward D. Hoch
426 books45 followersEdward D. Hoch is one of the most honored mystery writers of all time.
* 1968 Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America): "The Oblong Room", The Saint Mystery Magazine, July 1967
* 1998 Anthony Award (Bouchercon World Mystery Convention): "One Bag of Coconuts", EQMM, November 1997
* 2001 Anthony Award (Bouchercon): "The Problem of the Potting Shed", EQMM, July 2000
* 2007 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award (awarded 2008): "The Theft of the Ostracized Ostrich", EQMM, June 2007
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 2000
* Grand Master (Mystery Writers of America), 2001
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Bouchercon), 2001
* 1968 Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America): "The Oblong Room", The Saint Mystery Magazine, July 1967
* 1998 Anthony Award (Bouchercon World Mystery Convention): "One Bag of Coconuts", EQMM, November 1997
* 2001 Anthony Award (Bouchercon): "The Problem of the Potting Shed", EQMM, July 2000
* 2007 Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award (awarded 2008): "The Theft of the Ostracized Ostrich", EQMM, June 2007
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Private Eye Writers of America), 2000
* Grand Master (Mystery Writers of America), 2001
* Lifetime Achievement Award (Bouchercon), 2001
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 2, 2022
Quite good for a book of short stories
September 29, 2022
I had never read anything featuring Dr. Sam Hawthorne before this. As a result, the Impossible Files were something new for me.
Initially I felt that these stories would be cozy mysteries. The first one (The Problem of the Country Church) bolstered that notion. But then I was pleasantly surprised, as the stories amazingly recreated the place, time— with all the crisis and tensions, and relationships, while conjuring truly intriguing mysteries. They involved lots of hard truths. But, with a warm and compassionate narrator like Dr. Hawthorne, the stories— even those involving adultery and various sinister motives— didn’t invoke any bitter aftertaste.
Most importantly, the writing is brilliant. One should study these stories to learn how entire characters can be drawn through only a few, deft lines.
Highly Recommended.
Initially I felt that these stories would be cozy mysteries. The first one (The Problem of the Country Church) bolstered that notion. But then I was pleasantly surprised, as the stories amazingly recreated the place, time— with all the crisis and tensions, and relationships, while conjuring truly intriguing mysteries. They involved lots of hard truths. But, with a warm and compassionate narrator like Dr. Hawthorne, the stories— even those involving adultery and various sinister motives— didn’t invoke any bitter aftertaste.
Most importantly, the writing is brilliant. One should study these stories to learn how entire characters can be drawn through only a few, deft lines.
Highly Recommended.
February 18, 2018
If John Dickson Carr was the master of the locked room novel, then Edward D. Hoch was the unquestioned master of the locked room and impossible crime short story. Hoch's task was even more difficult than Carr's, for he had to both create a seemingly insoluble puzzle and come up with a solution all in the space of some 20 pages or so. During his lifetime, Hoch wrote nearly 1,000 short stories, and some of his best, featuring small town physician Sam Hawthorne, are collected in All but Impossible: The Impossible Files of Dr. Sam Hawthorne.
Hawthorne is a general practitioner and one of the few doctors in the small town of Northmont, CT. Hawthorne, who narrates the stories, is not only a physician, but also a pretty good amateur detective to whom the sheriff comes for help when the need arises. And the need arises surprisingly frequently for such a small town, because, like Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove, Northmont appears to be the murder capital of North America, with local residents dropping like flies (in two consecutive stories in this collection, two different mayors of Northmont come to bad ends). And the residents don’t merely die, they do so in most unusual and seemingly impossible ways.
Every story in All but Impossible, involves a so-called impossible crime, and the fun for readers isn’t in guessing whodunit but how it was done. Some of my favorite stories in the collection involve such puzzlers as a man who appears in a seemingly empty swimming pool, then winds up dead in that same pool an hour or so later with no one near him; a man who goes on a hike for several hours with Hawthorne and who is seen by several different people, all of whom later claim Hawthorne was alone; a water jug whose contents mysteriously change into poisoned wine; and an entire roadhouse that completely vanishes.
Hoch wrote the Hawthorne stories beginning in 1976, but the stories themselves take place for the most part between the two World Wars. The stories in All but Impossible take place between 1936 and 1940, but each story is pretty much independent of the others, so anyone not having read stories that took place in earlier years will not be at a disadvantage. The historical time frame of the stories means that neither the criminals nor Hawthorne employ state-of-the-art gadgetry, forensics, or computer wizardry to either commit or solve the crimes. Instead, the villains usually rely on misdirection and rather rudimentary devices, and Hawthorne, in turn, relies on simple observation and reasoning. In writing these stories, Hoch plays perfectly fair with the readers; all the clues needed to solve each mystery are in the story. In fact, I wound up reading a number of stories twice, to make sure that everything Hawthorne says when he solves the puzzle was mentioned earlier (they all were).
Beyond the puzzles themselves, however, there’s not much to the Hawthorne stories. A handful of characters make multiple appearances, but the only really recurring storyline is that of Hawthorne’s love life, or lack thereof. He’s a bachelor in his early 40’s who dates his nurse in a “just friends” relationship that allows for some kidding from the townsfolk. Other than that, the only recurring element in these stories is the run-up to World War II, as people wonder what effect a possible war will have on them. In addition, the historical international situation at that time plays a direct part in a couple of the stories whose outcome winds up directly related to the impending conflict. But, although the stories seem historically accurate, the characters don’t come to life the way characters in other small town mysteries often do. That’s partly because Hoch’s writing style is rather lean. He doesn’t get sidetracked into colorful anecdotes that have nothing to do with the main story, and his descriptions and dialogue are inevitably on point.
The stories in All but Impossible are very good impossible crime puzzles, and readers who enjoy this type of mystery will probably love this book in particular as well as Hoch’s writing in general. However, those readers who enjoy the folksiness of mysteries set in quaint little towns and villages and the quirky characters who often inhabit them may be a bit disappointed here. Even then, the historical context and accuracy of the stories and the occasional plot points that delve into the European conflict are also fascinating (and certainly more interesting than the far more mundane motives for most of the murders in the book). As one who enjoys both tricky whodunits and historical mysteries, I found it impossible not to enjoy All but Impossible.
Hawthorne is a general practitioner and one of the few doctors in the small town of Northmont, CT. Hawthorne, who narrates the stories, is not only a physician, but also a pretty good amateur detective to whom the sheriff comes for help when the need arises. And the need arises surprisingly frequently for such a small town, because, like Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove, Northmont appears to be the murder capital of North America, with local residents dropping like flies (in two consecutive stories in this collection, two different mayors of Northmont come to bad ends). And the residents don’t merely die, they do so in most unusual and seemingly impossible ways.
Every story in All but Impossible, involves a so-called impossible crime, and the fun for readers isn’t in guessing whodunit but how it was done. Some of my favorite stories in the collection involve such puzzlers as a man who appears in a seemingly empty swimming pool, then winds up dead in that same pool an hour or so later with no one near him; a man who goes on a hike for several hours with Hawthorne and who is seen by several different people, all of whom later claim Hawthorne was alone; a water jug whose contents mysteriously change into poisoned wine; and an entire roadhouse that completely vanishes.
Hoch wrote the Hawthorne stories beginning in 1976, but the stories themselves take place for the most part between the two World Wars. The stories in All but Impossible take place between 1936 and 1940, but each story is pretty much independent of the others, so anyone not having read stories that took place in earlier years will not be at a disadvantage. The historical time frame of the stories means that neither the criminals nor Hawthorne employ state-of-the-art gadgetry, forensics, or computer wizardry to either commit or solve the crimes. Instead, the villains usually rely on misdirection and rather rudimentary devices, and Hawthorne, in turn, relies on simple observation and reasoning. In writing these stories, Hoch plays perfectly fair with the readers; all the clues needed to solve each mystery are in the story. In fact, I wound up reading a number of stories twice, to make sure that everything Hawthorne says when he solves the puzzle was mentioned earlier (they all were).
Beyond the puzzles themselves, however, there’s not much to the Hawthorne stories. A handful of characters make multiple appearances, but the only really recurring storyline is that of Hawthorne’s love life, or lack thereof. He’s a bachelor in his early 40’s who dates his nurse in a “just friends” relationship that allows for some kidding from the townsfolk. Other than that, the only recurring element in these stories is the run-up to World War II, as people wonder what effect a possible war will have on them. In addition, the historical international situation at that time plays a direct part in a couple of the stories whose outcome winds up directly related to the impending conflict. But, although the stories seem historically accurate, the characters don’t come to life the way characters in other small town mysteries often do. That’s partly because Hoch’s writing style is rather lean. He doesn’t get sidetracked into colorful anecdotes that have nothing to do with the main story, and his descriptions and dialogue are inevitably on point.
The stories in All but Impossible are very good impossible crime puzzles, and readers who enjoy this type of mystery will probably love this book in particular as well as Hoch’s writing in general. However, those readers who enjoy the folksiness of mysteries set in quaint little towns and villages and the quirky characters who often inhabit them may be a bit disappointed here. Even then, the historical context and accuracy of the stories and the occasional plot points that delve into the European conflict are also fascinating (and certainly more interesting than the far more mundane motives for most of the murders in the book). As one who enjoys both tricky whodunits and historical mysteries, I found it impossible not to enjoy All but Impossible.
June 17, 2021
I’m a little obsessed with Dr. Hawthorne. (I’ve come to picture doc and his pal, the sheriff, as young William Windom and Ron Masak. And I pretend CT is ME.) But I just want to vent a little bit about something.
I love this book’s publisher, Crippen & Landru. I think they have done the world of detective fiction a hell of a service in bringing to print some unparalleled classic stories. My book shelves and my Kindle both are filled with Crippen & Landru titles. Many of them, physical and digital, have errors. Typos, formatting kinks, spelling errors, etc. (My least favorite are the paragraph indents—sometimes dialogue is cut to a new paragraph making it appear like a character is talking to himself—very confusing especially in impossible crime stories where the devil’s in the details.) It seems the problem has gotten worse in he last few years. The first three volumes of Hoch’s Hawthorne weren’t bad. This, the fourth, is riddled with errata. It’s sad. It’s sad that these problems go unaddressed by Crippen & Landru. It’s sad that nobody else complains about them. If I want to enhance my reading experience of a significant portion of Hoch’s oeuvre, I will have to do it myself. That means reading not like a reader but an editor then fixing all the mistakes. What an undertaking.
These errors aren’t hard to find. They’re blatant. I just don’t understand how a company seemingly so dedicated to such a worthy cause can at the same time be so haphazard about it.
Judging by particular errors (for example, ‘lie’ instead of ‘he’) I think it’s safe to assume these old stories are simply scanned with an OCR text extractor and bundled together between front and back matter, and not exactly lovingly so. A lot of so-called vulture e-publishers do the same, often with public domain content, to much criticism. I’m happy to be proven wrong.
Regardless, I will still buy Crippen & Landru content. I will still recommend them. I will certainly still read them. But, as a born and bred Yankee, I reserve my right to bitch about things that need bitching about.
I love this book’s publisher, Crippen & Landru. I think they have done the world of detective fiction a hell of a service in bringing to print some unparalleled classic stories. My book shelves and my Kindle both are filled with Crippen & Landru titles. Many of them, physical and digital, have errors. Typos, formatting kinks, spelling errors, etc. (My least favorite are the paragraph indents—sometimes dialogue is cut to a new paragraph making it appear like a character is talking to himself—very confusing especially in impossible crime stories where the devil’s in the details.) It seems the problem has gotten worse in he last few years. The first three volumes of Hoch’s Hawthorne weren’t bad. This, the fourth, is riddled with errata. It’s sad. It’s sad that these problems go unaddressed by Crippen & Landru. It’s sad that nobody else complains about them. If I want to enhance my reading experience of a significant portion of Hoch’s oeuvre, I will have to do it myself. That means reading not like a reader but an editor then fixing all the mistakes. What an undertaking.
These errors aren’t hard to find. They’re blatant. I just don’t understand how a company seemingly so dedicated to such a worthy cause can at the same time be so haphazard about it.
Judging by particular errors (for example, ‘lie’ instead of ‘he’) I think it’s safe to assume these old stories are simply scanned with an OCR text extractor and bundled together between front and back matter, and not exactly lovingly so. A lot of so-called vulture e-publishers do the same, often with public domain content, to much criticism. I’m happy to be proven wrong.
Regardless, I will still buy Crippen & Landru content. I will still recommend them. I will certainly still read them. But, as a born and bred Yankee, I reserve my right to bitch about things that need bitching about.
June 15, 2025
A collection of Sam Hawthorne 'locked room' mysteries that first appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine starting in the 70s.
Hoch was a very prolific writer, having a short story appear in every EQMM for decades (not always Sam Hawthorne, Hoch had several character series going at once). Despite having read these as a kid years ago (I started out picking then up monthly at the Rexall Drug store on the town square and eventually subscribed), nearly all stumped me.
The stories themselves are more 'how-dunnit's, the 'who-dunnit' being secondary and the 'why-dunnit' not really integral to the solution in most cases.
This is the first of four volumes (I told you he was prolific). I look forward to the rest.
Hoch was a very prolific writer, having a short story appear in every EQMM for decades (not always Sam Hawthorne, Hoch had several character series going at once). Despite having read these as a kid years ago (I started out picking then up monthly at the Rexall Drug store on the town square and eventually subscribed), nearly all stumped me.
The stories themselves are more 'how-dunnit's, the 'who-dunnit' being secondary and the 'why-dunnit' not really integral to the solution in most cases.
This is the first of four volumes (I told you he was prolific). I look forward to the rest.
August 1, 2022
The always-entertaining mystery stories about New England country doctor Dr. Sam Hawthorne continue to stimulate and delight in this fourth volume, which covers the years 1936-to the middle of 1940. As history marches on, the locked-room puzzles and "impossible crimes" begin to reflect the changing political situation in the United States, as Nazi sympathizers sow discord even in bucolic Northmont. Dr. Sam finds changes in his personal life, too, as his long-time nurse April finds love at last and Sam must find a new nurse (no easy task), and the position of mayor of Northmont continues to be as dangerous as drummer for Spinal Tap. Fine entertainment.
September 18, 2017
The penultimate collection of Dr. Sam Hawthorne stories by Edward D. Hoch. There are only 15 more to be collected folks and that's it. Out of all of his series characters, I believe this one is my favorite and I'm so happy to have so many of them in single collections. More ingenious and seemingly impossible crimes to be enjoyed here.
September 10, 2017
Excellent locked room mysteries by the late Edward Hoch.
November 21, 2017
One of the finest collection of locked room short stories ever. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com
January 17, 2019
Very interesting and entertaining short stories
May 15, 2020
These stories are such good fun.
March 20, 2021
Another great Dr San short story set
Country short mysteries set in New England, this time just before World War II. On the cozy side of puzzle mysteries. Recommended
Country short mysteries set in New England, this time just before World War II. On the cozy side of puzzle mysteries. Recommended
August 21, 2022
Excellent book from a new author for me but I have heard other readers online really gripped by his books and I have to agree that he is very special.
February 12, 2023
Not the best entry in the series but still fun.
July 28, 2023
Entertaining mysteries. I like that he plays fair with the reader.
August 11, 2023
Another collection of locked room mysteries with series character Dr. Sam Hawthorne.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews