It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in September 1984, and in paperback by the Fawcett Crest imprint of Ballantine Books in June 1986.

[1] This book is the fourth of six that describe mysteries solved by the Black Widowers, based on a literary dining club he belonged to known as the Trap Door Spiders.

Nine of the stories were previously published; "The Driver," "The Wrong House" and "The Intrusion" are new to this collection.

A few are based on facts that are, perhaps, not generally known to the public – Asimov was a frequent writer of popular science and his inclination to explain anything and everything for the general public carried over into other fields, such as history and sociology – but all the mysteries play fair with the reader, who is given either enough information to figure out the solution or a satisfying conclusion that is based on previously given facts and personality qualities.

Dave Langford reviewed Banquets of the Black Widowers for White Dwarf #70, and stated that "I like detective stories, but Asimov tries the patience with trivial, moronic 'puzzles'.