From Publishers Weekly
Edited by crime-fiction veterans Cody and Lewin, the Crime Writers' Association Annual offers a choice, eclectic gathering of largely unpublished crime short stories. Peter Lovesey evokes the spirit of Baker Street as some English criminal types enlist an eccentric hacker to do battle with Scotland Yard's new computer, and events become distinctly ghostly and Holmesian. Margaret Yorke follows an unhappy couple on vacation: although both husband and wife hatch plans to end their unhappiness, the wishes of only one approach realization. In Reginald Hill's "True Thomas," a bitter copper tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but for 24 hours--with comic, chaotic results. Tony Hillerman's contribution is an unexpected piece: a somber study of death in which a killer goes to the gas chamber and a reporter struggles with words and deadlines. Elsewhere readers can take a break with a series of droll cartoons, attempt a cryptic word puzzle (not recommended for the dilettante crime lover) and sample other fine tales, from, among others, Scotland's Ian Rankin and California's Sue Grafton.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
There's something for everyone in the British Crime Writers Association's second annual collection, which features not only a lineup of the usual suspects--23 stories, all but three of them new--but also some offbeat items: another double-crostic and a brace of Clewsey cartoons, verse by Susan Kelly, a reprint of Eric Ambler's rueful look back on his first novel, and historian Carole Rawcliffe's survey of the more flagrantly criminal members of medieval Parliaments. The more orthodox entries, though not notable for originality, are almost uniformly accomplished, especially Ellis Peters's ghostly whimsy, Eric Wright's stolid tale of petty revenge gone awry, Anthea Fraser's piquant variations on a bit on the side, Ian Rankin's lethal hostage-taking, and Robert Barnard's nimble dispatching of a tabloid king. Even the more routine stories (by Margaret Yorke, Antonia Fraser, Peter O'Donnell, Jonathan Gash, et al.) revel in extra twists and turns, and the reprints--Peter Lovesey's ``The Curious Computer,'' Tony Hillerman's ``First Lead Gasser,'' and Sue Grafton's ``A Little Missionary Work''--are equally strong. The level of craftsmanship and the variety of tone and technique are impressive. All in all, a model anthology. --
Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
