Starting in 1971, Isaac Asimov wrote a series of mystery short stories about a men-only dinner club called the Black Widowers. Most of the stories were first published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, with a few in Fantasy & Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and the various books. 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Dr. Isaac Asimov enthroned with symbols of his lifes work (Rowena Morrill) Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ... Mystery fiction is a distinct subgenre of detective fiction that entails the occurrence of an unknown event which requires the protagonist to make known (or solve). ... This article is in need of attention. ... Ellery Queens Mystery Magazine is a monthly fiction digest magazine specializing in crime fiction, particularly detective fiction. ... F&SF April 1971, special Poul Anderson issue. ... Asimovs Science Fiction is a science fiction magazine, first published in 1977 as Isaac Asimovs Science Fiction Magazine or IASFM for short. ...

The stories always follow the same convention: the six club members and a guest sit down to dinner, served by the incomparable waiter, Henry. During the meal it always comes out that the guest has a problem which the club members try to solve, but only Henry sees the correct (and usually very simple) answer.

The Black Widowers were based on an all-male club Asimov belonged to, the Trap Door Spiders. Members of the Widowers were based on real life Spiders, some of them famous writers in their own right.

• Geoffrey Avalon (L. Sprague de Camp)
• Emmanuel Rubin (Lester del Rey)
• James Drake (Doc Clark)
• Thomas Trumball (Gilbert Cant)
• Mario Gonzalo (Lin Carter)
• Roger Halsted (Don Bensen)

Henry was based upon P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves. Lyon Sprague de Camp, (November 27, 1907-November 6, 2000) was a science fiction and fantasy author born in New York City. ... Lester del Rey (Ramon Felipe Alvarez-del Rey) (June 2, 1915 - May 10, 1993) was an American science fiction author and editor. ... Gilbert Cant (September 16, 1909-August 1, 1982) is a London-born American journalist. ... Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 - February 7, 1988) was an American science fiction/fantasy author, editor and critic. ... Called English literatures performing flea, P. G. Wodehouse, pictured in 1904, became famous for his complex plots, ingenious wordplay, and prolific output. ... Reginald Jeeves, here portrayed by Stephen Fry in ITVs Jeeves and Wooster series, is P. G. Wodehouses most famous character. ...

Books

The books each contained twelve stories. In most cases, nine stories were first published in various magazines while three were first published in the book. As was usual with Asimov's collections, many stories had chatty forewords or afterwords.

• Tales of the Black Widowers
• More Tales of the Black Widowers
• Casebook of the Black Widowers
• Banquets of the Black Widowers
• Puzzles of the Black Widowers
• Return of the Black Widowers (published posthumously)

External link

• List and index of Black Widowers stories