The World's Finest Mystery & Crime Stories (2nd Annual Collection) [Hardcover]

Ed Gorman (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2001 | Series: World's Finest Mystery & Crime Stories

It’s not easy to collect, in a single volume, the finest mystery and suspense fiction the world has to offer, but The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Second Annual Collection rises to that challenge, inviting you to discover what Kirkus Reviews dubs “ . . . the year’s anthology of choice.”

In his Second Annual collection, Ed Gorman once again brings together the year’s most powerful fiction by such outstanding authors as Lawrence Block, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Ed McBain, Joyce Carol Oates, Ian Rankin, and Donald E. Westlake. The volume also abounds with fresh new stories by newer authors, from U. S. publications, and also from sources on other shores, including England, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Ed Gorman set benchmark for great mystery and suspense fiction with the First Annual Collection. Overflowing with award-winning authors and terrific stories, The World’s Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Second Annual Collection also promises to be a treasure for anyone who loves a mystery.

More than 200,000 words of superlative mystery and suspense fiction from around the world, with stories by:

Lawrence Block
Jan Burke
Dorothy Cannell
Clark Howard
Peter Lovesey
Joyce Carol Oates
Nancy Pickard
Bill Pronzini
Ian Rankin
And many others

A Banquet of Mystery and Crime Fiction

For those who love outstanding mystery and crime reading, award-winning author and editor, Ed Gorman, has once again collected the best stories of the year from around the world. Immerse yourself in stories that baffle, tantalize, and delight, by the following authors:

Miguel Agustí
Doug Allyn
Noreen Ayres
Robert Barnard
Lawrence Block
Jan Burke
Dorothy Cannell
Stanley Cohen
Mat Coward
Peter Crowther
Brendan DuBois
Jurgen Ehlers
Pete Hamill
Joseph Hansen
Edward D. Hoch
Clark Howard
Stuart M. Kaminsky
Richard Laymon
Gillian Linscott
Peter Lovesey
John Lutz
Christine Matthews
Ed McBain
Bob Mendes
Denise Mina
Joyce Carol Oates
Gary Phillips
Nancy Pickard
Bill Pronzini
Robert J. Randisi
Ian Rankin
Les Roberts
Peter Robinson
S. J. Rozan
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Donald E. Westlake

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first 50 pages of this giant volume are packed with valuable and fascinating material and you haven't even gotten to the stories yet. Jon L. Breen's roundup of the year 2000 in mystery and crime fiction is a deft and compact survey that manages to be both personal and wide-ranging. Edward D. Hoch's "yearbook" is equally idiosyncratic as well as most useful, while reports from such foreign parts as Great Britain, Australia, Canada, Germany and the Republic of Mystery Fandom are fascinating. As for the stories (41 different entries from 35 writers, plus a Pete Hamill New Yorker profile of Evan Hunter, which seems a bit out of place), they literally provide something for every mystery taste. There are double helpings from Kristine Kathryn Rusch (now writing a fine series as Kris Nelscott), as well as from Brendan DuBois, Clark Howard, Mat Coward, Edward D. Hoch and Jan Burke. Other fine writers from Doug Allyn to S.J. Rozan have standout single stories. "The Sleeping Detective," by Gary Phillips, could well stand as a perfect example of the pleasures to be found by reading (if not carrying around in a backpack) this weighty second annual collection from two smart and hard-working editors. Phillips puts his Los Angeles detective and donut shop owner Ivan Monk into a waking dream that manages to incorporate so many other mystery films, novels, TV and radio shows that it should be part of a test to see how deep your genre knowledge goes. (Dec. 18)Forecast: An improvement over last year's selection, this is excellent value for the money. Crime aficionados will want both this volume and the rival Best American Mystery Stories 2001 (Forecasts, Sept. 10).

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A standout among mystery anthologies, which often do nothing more than throw together the past year's offerings with a tired "history of the genre" introduction. This collection, the second in an annual series, has heft and authority, and it breaks the typical Anglo-American bias by including stories from writers the world over, including, for example, Bob Mendes of Belgium, Miguel Agusti of Spain, and Jurgen Ehlers of Germany. Heavy hitters like Bill Pronzini, Donald Westlake, and Ed McBain weigh in with their latest (Pete Hamill's appreciation of McBain is reprinted from the New Yorker). Capers, cozies, character puzzles, mysteries that hinge on wordplay, excursions into noir, and comic jaunts are all represented. And there's a wealth of introductory material: an able overview of current mystery trends; reports on mystery fiction from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and Germany; and a host of "best" lists, including best Web sites for mystery lovers (the editors highly recommend a site maintained in Denmark [http://www.webfic.com/mysthome/mysthome.htm]. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (October 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076530029X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765300294
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,923,139 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delightfully varied mystery buffet, January 25, 2010

By 

Candace Drimmer "a.k.a. Candi Boggs" (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The World's Finest Mystery & Crime Stories (2nd Annual Collection) (Paperback)

The beauty of a book of this sort--with dozens of mysteries, is like a buffet--if you don't like it--you spit it out and go to the next short story. With a delightful eclectic mixture of genres and leads--everything from a purloined stone hidden in a ham sandwich, to a cat in the Pharonic times of Egypt--who narrates the tale, this is a delightful book. Not only did I read it, 5 years latter I fell across a book-on-tape version, and could enjoy it all over again--one does understand it different with words on paper versus words in the ear.