First published 1985
Master anthologist Herbert van Thal brings together four complete collections in this expanded volume, featuring detective fiction's greatest names. The collection spans from nineteenth century pioneers like Wilkie Collins to modern masters including Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, G. K. Chesterton, Georges Simenon, and Raymond Chandler. Nine additional tales join classics by Dulcie Gray, Christianna Brand, June Thomson, E. C. Bentley, Michael Innes, Ellery Queen, John Wainwright, Antonia Fraser, and P. D. James. New stories include Lawrence Trent's "B as in Bludgeon," Elwyn Jones's "To Protect the Innocent," and F. Tennyson Jesse's "Lot's Wife." Sleuths employ superior intelligence, relentless determination, keen curiosity, and sharp intuition to crack cases like R. August Freeman's "The Moabite Cipher," Leslie Charteris's "The Mystery of the Child's Toy," and J. S. Fletcher's "The Judge Corroborates." Each tale delivers criminal schemes and murderous plots that challenge both detective and reader.
Genres: anthologies, 20th-century, mystery, crime, detective, 21st-century
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, mystery-solving
Period: 19th-Century, 20th-Century
640 pages · Paperback · Running Press