This new collection will pick up where Dorothy L. Sayers'' The Omnibus of Crime (1929) left off - "in the heart of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction" - bringing together monumental, entertaining works of mystery short fiction from the early 1930s to the present, from the inter-war years of the twentieth century to first years of the twenty-first century. Herbert will introduce each story, placing the selection in the context of the author and the genre''s literary history. Emphasis will be placed upon representing the most exciting styles and voices in the genre rather than a slavish servitude to a decade-by-decade approach. Stories on the short list include Norman Mailer "The Killer", P.D. James "Great Aunt Allie''s Fly Papers" or "The Victim", Sue Grafton "The Parker Shotgun", Frankie Y. Bailey "Since You Went Away", John Cheever "Montraldo", Paul Theroux "The Johore Murders", Tony Hillerman "First Lead Gasser", David Winser "The Boat Race Murder", James M. Cain "Cigarette Girl", Dorothy L. Sayers "The Necklace of Pearls", Linda Barnes "Lucky Penny", Cornell Woolrich "Death at the Burlesque", Raymond Chandler "Red Wind", Dennis Lehane "Running Out of Dog", and James Crumley "Hot Springs".
Industry Reviews
"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
"A worthy successor to Dorothy L. Sayers's classic Omnibus of Crime (1929)." --Publishers Weekly
"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
"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