Criminal Tendencies: Great Stories from Great Crime Writers [Paperback]

Lynne Patrick (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

Val McDermid, Reginald Hill, and Peter James are just some of the 24 top selling crime writers who have contributed stories to Criminal Tendencies, an exciting new crime short collection. Alongside the big names will be stories from first-time authors Chris Nickson and Caroline Shiach, winners of Criminal Tendencies 2009, Creme de la Crime's latest international search for new crime writing talent. ""This fine anthology showcases many of today's top British crime writers."" Publishers Weekly ""...a damn heavy weight collection.""--Crimespree Magazine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Divided equally between reprints and original entries, this fine anthology showcases many of today's top British crime writers, from seasoned veterans like Peter Lovesey and Reginald Hill to newer names like Zoë Sharp and Roz Southey. The creepy opening tale, Carla Banks's Twilight Zone–like Out of Her Mind, which features a writer and a knife-wielding killer, contrasts nicely with the humorous story that soon follows, Simon Brett's Work Experience, in which burglars plot to rip off a coin dealer's cache stored above a police station. On balance, the 26 selections tend to the scary side, as shown by Ann Cleves's Games for Winter, in which a teacher's decision to try his survival skills in a remote part of Alaska has fateful consequences. In one of the book's best tales, Sophie Hannah's unsettling The Octopus Nest, a babysitter's chance look at a couple's photo album reveals a stalker. Proceeds from the volume benefit breast cancer charities in the U.K. (Sept.)
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Review

This fine anthology showcases many of today's top British crime writers. --Publishers Weekly

A damn heavy weight collection --Crimespree Magazine

Product Details

• Paperback: 321 pages
• Publisher: Creme de La Crime; paperback / softback edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955707854
• ISBN-13: 978-0955707858
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,988,068 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Juicy crime-tales, July 7, 2009

By 

D I Norris "Will write for chocolate" (Geneva, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Criminal Tendencies: Great Stories from Great Crime Writers (Paperback)

Criminal Tendencies

Crime-writing is a bit like a melon - the title description isn't always a good indication of what you'll find inside. Then you cut it open - never sure whether it'll be juicy and delicious or disappointing and bitter. The tales in this collection of twenty-six crime short stories are all juicy - some less than others, but none disappoint.

Starting with Out of Her Mind by Carla Banks - the story of a writer who writes obsessively, until the inevitable end which writes itself - the reader gets sucked in right away and discovers a fascinating range of tales (from `cozies' to slightly more gory stories, but, never excessively so). Petty thieves, robbers, murderers as well as cops and private detectives, even a professional female bodyguard - are all present in a well-woven web of crime and, often, punishment.

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