THE WORLD’S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES
First Annual Collection
edited by Ed Gorman
Editor Gorman’s 1992–99 annuals, formerly titled The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories, have sprouted a new title, landed a new publisher, and grown by half again their length into this behemoth. Though the title is a bit misleading—most of the 38 grade-A authors (Allyn, Block, Deaver, Estelman, Hoch, Howard, Kaminsky, King, Matera, McBain, Muller, Oates, Perry, Rankin, Walters, Westlake, Wheat, et al.) are from the US or England—nobody’s likely to quarrel with the volume’s inclusiveness, with Jon L. Breen’s 25-page state-of-the-genre introduction, or with the hope that the subtitle turns out to be accurate.