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The Best British Mysteries
British crime and mystery writing is popular all over the world. And how could it not be? After all these are the shores that saw the talents of Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers and so many others flourish. From the Golden Age of classic mystery writing onwards, British talent has captured the imagination of readers in a unique way, and the modern era has been no exception. The art of the short story has always been one that mystery writers have excelled at, and here we are proud to present 25 examples of the bite-sized mystery from the very best authors in Great Britain today. The stories cater for every criminal taste -- from the locked-room puzzle to the action-packed vignette -- and several have been shortlisted or winners of prestigious awards. Tour the British Isles with this superb collection -- you’re bound to enjoy the journey! Contributors Ian Rankin, Anne Perry, Edward Marston, Martina Cole, Peter Robinson, Stella Duffy, Jerry Sykes, Liza Cody, Marin Edwards, Marion Arnott, Amy Myers, Bill James, Peter Turnbull, Robert Barnard, Peter Lovesey, Val McDermid, Mat Coward, Denise Mina, Stephen Gallagher, Judith Cutler, David Williams, John Harvey, Carol Anne Davis, Nicholas Royle, Sally Spedding
320 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2003
7 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Maxim Jakubowski
284 books163 followersMaxim Jakubowski is a crime, erotic, and science fiction writer and critic.
Jakubowski was born in England by Russian-British and Polish parents, but raised in France. Jakubowski has also lived in Italy and has travelled extensively. Jakubowski edited the science fiction anthology Twenty Houses of the Zodiac in 1979 for the 37th World Science Fiction Convention (Seacon '79) in Brighton. He also contributed a short story to that anthology. He has now published almost 100 books in a variety of areas.
He has worked in book publishing for many years, which he left to open the Murder One bookshop[1], the UK's first specialist crime and mystery bookstore. He contributes to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and was for eight years the crime columnist for Time Out and, presently, since 2000, the crime reviewer for The Guardian. He is also the literary director of London's Crime Scene Festival and a consultant for the International Mystery Film Festival, Noir in Fest, held annually in Courmayeur, Italy. He is one the leading editors in the crime and mystery and erotica field, in which he has published many major anthologies.
His novels include "It's You That I Want To Kiss", "Because She Thought She Loved Me", "The State Of Montana", "On Tenderness Express", "Kiss me Sadly" and "Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer". His short story collections are "Life in the World of Women", "Fools for Lust" and the collaborative "American Casanova". He is a regular broadcaster on British TV and radio and was recently voted the 4th Sexiest Writer of 2,007 on a poll on the crimespace website.
Jakubowski was born in England by Russian-British and Polish parents, but raised in France. Jakubowski has also lived in Italy and has travelled extensively. Jakubowski edited the science fiction anthology Twenty Houses of the Zodiac in 1979 for the 37th World Science Fiction Convention (Seacon '79) in Brighton. He also contributed a short story to that anthology. He has now published almost 100 books in a variety of areas.
He has worked in book publishing for many years, which he left to open the Murder One bookshop[1], the UK's first specialist crime and mystery bookstore. He contributes to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and was for eight years the crime columnist for Time Out and, presently, since 2000, the crime reviewer for The Guardian. He is also the literary director of London's Crime Scene Festival and a consultant for the International Mystery Film Festival, Noir in Fest, held annually in Courmayeur, Italy. He is one the leading editors in the crime and mystery and erotica field, in which he has published many major anthologies.
His novels include "It's You That I Want To Kiss", "Because She Thought She Loved Me", "The State Of Montana", "On Tenderness Express", "Kiss me Sadly" and "Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer". His short story collections are "Life in the World of Women", "Fools for Lust" and the collaborative "American Casanova". He is a regular broadcaster on British TV and radio and was recently voted the 4th Sexiest Writer of 2,007 on a poll on the crimespace website.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 20, 2016
The only story I really liked was the one by Anne Perry. There were two more that were okay, but for the most part this was not my cup of tea. The two star rating reflects the average of a five star Anne Perry and a couple of three stars and the rest were zeroes.
June 7, 2021
I was so excited about this book - a huge volume of the *best* British mysteries!! I read three of them, neither one was a mystery. Such a massive downer.
August 30, 2014
Although I enjoyed several of the stories the editor failed to arrange them in a detectable order. The pacing was therefore " off" . As I only paid $1 at a library sale I cannot complain about not getting my money's worth.
April 2, 2015
I just didn't find most of these engaging. I was able to see the twist in several stories and some I couldn't get into, although all were short. There were a few really good ones that saved the collection though.
February 15, 2015
First read this 30 May 2005.
December 13, 2015
uneven but worth it for some very dark, cynical mysteries that had me longing for the early Christopher Brookmyre crime books. Give me unflinching life and cops why make wry jokes about it, please.
July 1, 2016
Uneven quality of the writing in this collection of short stories.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews