Tangled Web UK Review April 2008
The Mammoth Book of Best British Mysteries by
Maxim Jakubowski
pbk out April 08
(Robinson)
at £7.99
Maxim Jakubowski is one of the elder statesmen of British - and international - crime fiction. He is famous as a retailer (Murder One in Charing Cross Road), editor (too numerous to mention), and writer (long and short fiction and non-fiction in several categories). In 2002 he performed a great service for crime fiction enthusiasts - both readers and writers - by proposing the first collection of the best of British. The result was the appearance of The Best British Mysteries in 2003, featuring twenty-five short stories from the previous year. Although the series has undergone changes in publisher and numeration, this is the fifth volume, covering stories first published in 2006. There are a whopping thirty-seven of them in this five hundred and thirty page tome, indicative of the comprehensive and definitive nature of Mr Jakubowski’s concept.
This is the collection of British crime fiction for 2006.
Simon Kernick’s The Debt is a gripping and wry thriller, all the more remarkable for actually being an extended advertisement for BMW’s 7 Series. An unlikely origin for a crime story, it is nonetheless the highlight of the collection. Peter Crowther is better known as a writer of speculative fiction, but The 45 Steps is a masterpiece in murder mystery. Set in the fictional Luddersedge, a sleepy West Yorkshire town, the steps in question refer to the stairs leading to the magnificent toilets in the otherwise seedy Regal Hotel. Two more stories deserve individual mention. The Bookbinder’s Apprentice by Martin Edwards follows the misadventures of the amoral Joly in Venice: a slow-burner of suspense that explodes in a spine-chilling conclusion. Stepping Up is one of Mark Billingham’s best, and shows the wide range of fiction that ‘crime’ actually covers - one of the many attractions of the genre. His story concerns a retired petty criminal, and...step aerobics.
One of the advantages of producing such a large compilation is that justice can be done to the complete spectrum of crime fiction - from historical to contemporary, and thriller to mystery; another, is that there is genuinely something for everyone. As with the rest of the series this is a must-read for lovers of crime fiction worldwide, and will also appeal to anyone who enjoys the short story as a literary form.
(
Rafe McGregor
Rafe's own site - www.rafemcgregor.co.uk)
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