Challenge the Impossible: The Final Problems of Dr. Sam Hawthorne

The fifth collection of MWA Grand Master Hoch’s superior impossible crime short fiction (after 2016’s All But Impossible), all starring investigator Dr. Sam Hawthorne, amply demonstrates his seemingly infinite ingenuity. The 15 stories present challenging scenarios to the reader that include a cat strangled in a locked room, for no obvious motive; a hospital ghost whose hauntings turn deadly; a murder implicating Dr. Sam’s close friend, Sheriff Lens of Northmont, Conn.; and an orchard purportedly possessed by Satan. Given the limits of the short story format, Hoch is especially good at hiding clues that become relevant and obvious only retrospectively. “The Problem of the Yellow Wallpaper” is perhaps first among equals. A husband confines his mentally ill wife to a locked attic room, with barred windows, supposedly for her own safety; the husband, who’s preoccupied with the paper adorning her walls, later vanishes. As usual, Hoch unobtrusively includes changes in his lead’s life, such as his engagement, as well as events in the larger world. This is a must-have for whodunit fans. [em](Oct.) [/em]