The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, is pleased to feature an anthology of short stories we recently received from the publisher.
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A New Omnibus of Crime by Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert, editors
Oxford University Press (Trade Paperback)
Publication Date: May 2010
ISBN-13: 978-0-19-537071-3
In 1929, Dorothy L. Sayers published her landmark anthology, The Omnibus of Crime. In 2005, Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert decided it was time to produce a definitive new anthology representing the best of the genre since then, the result being A New Omnibus of Crime. This summer, the trade paperback edition of this updated anthology was published by Oxford University Press.
In an introduction, co-editor Rosemary Herbert outlines the process by which this anthology came into being: (1) Selecting stories from the 1930s to the 1970s that were groundbreaking in their day and influential on later writers; (2) Selecting stories published since 1980 that show the range of crime writing in our time; (3) Culling the stories to pick out the best, with the assistance of Sue Grafton and Jeffery Deaver; and (4) Using the omnibus format to present them.
Fittingly, first up is a 1932 short story written by Dorothy L. Sayers. Like all the other stories included here, it is preceded by an introduction to the author and their body of work. Most of the stories can be broadly categorized as either suspense novels (in short story format) or detective fiction (including amateur sleuth), though there are clearly some exceptions. The benefit most readers will get from this fine anthology is to experience in a relatively short time frame the wide range of writing styles of many authors whose books were (and for many, still are) bestsellers in their day.
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