From Booklist
Mystery writer Hillerman and critic Herbert (aided and abetted by Sue Grafton and Jeffery Deaver as contributing editors) draw a vivid chalk outline of the body of crime fiction since Dorothy Sayers published her overview of the genre,
The Omnibus of Crime, in 1929. The goal of this anthology is to demonstrate the ways in which crime fiction has changed since Sayers' collection. The editors include mystery fiction from the 1930s through the 1970s that they consider groundbreaking (so we find Sayers herself, as well as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Ed McBain as representative crime-fiction revolutionaries). The editors also take on the range of mystery writing since 1980, including stories by Hillerman, Ian Rankin, and Alexander McCall Smith. There are 26 stories in all, from authors around the globe, and each story is accompanied by an introduction that explains the author's style and how he or she influenced mystery writing. Catch this omnibus.
Connie FletcherCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A worthy successor to Dorothy L. Sayers's classic Omnibus of Crime (1929)."--Publishers Weekly
"The best and most satisfying mystery bargain to come along in years. It will give readers countless hours of pleasure and surprise in one volume."--Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Not a clunker in the bunch.... Dorothy Sayers edited a classic 1920 collection of short stories called `The Omnibus of Crime.' There have been numerous collections since then, but until now, none has had the depth, intelligence and chutzpah to call itself `A New Omnibus of Crime'"--Bloomberg News
"Picking up where Dorothy L. Sayers's 1920 classic, The Omnibus of Crime, left off, this collection gathers works of short mystery fiction from the end of World War I to today, including pieces by Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Dashiell Hammett, Elmore Leonard, Ruth Rendell and P.D. James."--Good Housekeeping (Holiday Gift Picks)
"A New Omnibus of Crime is essential for anyone with more than a passing interest in detective fiction. Brilliantly assembled, and beautifully edited by people who know what they're doing." -- Robert B. Parker, author of Double Play and Cold Service
"This recent anthology boldly evokes the title of Dorothy Sayers's classic anthology of 1920. The editors aim to showcase the work of the four-score-and-seven years since. Here you'll find the whole gamut, from the tough-guy patter of hard-boiled Raymond Chandler ("He looked tough, but he looked as if he thought he was a little tougher than he was") to the more decorous detection practiced by Miss Sayers." - David Lehman, Wall Street Journal
