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Once upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem and Suspense
In Once Upon a Crime, some of the best mystery and crime writers in the nation offer up tales of tragedy and revenge, suspicion and intrigue. Among the award-winning contributors are S.J. Rozan, Sujata Massey, C.J. Box, William Kent Krueger, Pete Hautman, David Housewright, Lois Greiman and Mary Logue. The collection includes a Christmas tale that is not full of good cheer and the misadventures of a car thief who has stolen the wrong car. One humorous story involves a Botswana police detective who finds an unusual way to track down a murder suspect; another offers a chilling tale of the Holocaust.
- GenresMysteryShort Stories
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2009
About the author
Gary Bush
9 booksAnne Frasier is a USA Today bestselling author. Her novels have spanned the genres of suspense, mystery, thriller, romantic suspense, and paranormal, and have been printed in both hardcover and paperback and translated into twenty languages. Writing as Theresa Weir she won a RITA for romantic suspense (COOL SHADE), and a year later the Daphne du Maurier for paranormal romance (BAD KARMA). In her more recent Anne Frasier career, her thriller and suspense titles hit the USA Today list (HUSH, SLEEP TIGHT, PLAY DEAD) and were featured in Mystery Guild, Literary Guild, and Book of the Month Club. HUSH was both a RITA and Daphne du Maurier finalist. Frasier served as hardcover judge for the Thriller presented by International Thriller Writers, and was guest of honor at the Diversicon 16 conference held in Minneapolis in 2008. Frasier books have received high praise from print publications such as Publishers Weekly, Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Crimespree, as well as online praise from Spinetingler, Book Loons, Armchair Interviews, Sarah Weinmans Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind, and Ali Karims Shots Magazine. "
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 21, 2025
Favorites:
"An Issue of Women and Money" - tremendously fun story from two South African writers. Makes me want to read the rest of the series.
"Jibber-Jabber" - uncanny, effectively a horror story. Will definitely stick in my head for a while - in a good way.
"Pinked Off" - characters could have been just a tiny bit more well-drawn, but WOW that twist ending.
"Puck" - of the many "rude people getting what's coming to them" stories in this book (perhaps the most Minnesotan concept for a crime story I can imagine), this is the most entertaining. Great sense of humor.
Least favorites:
"Live Bait" - confusing rugpull of an ending. I'm still not entirely sure whether it's supposed to challenge or confirm the reader's assumptions about what happened earlier in the story.
"Why I Write Mysteries" - I'm not sure what the point of the story actually was. Feels like it could be semi-autobiographical but even that isn't really made clear.
"The Snow Birds" - Damon Runyon, this ain't, but man, does it ever try. Way too hard.
"The Surrogate" - this book has quite a few frustrating stories about people with relationship problems who can't bring themselves to discuss things like human beings, but this was by far the most frustrating - partially because of the out-of-left-field violence and partially because the twist ending doesn't make sense.
"An Issue of Women and Money" - tremendously fun story from two South African writers. Makes me want to read the rest of the series.
"Jibber-Jabber" - uncanny, effectively a horror story. Will definitely stick in my head for a while - in a good way.
"Pinked Off" - characters could have been just a tiny bit more well-drawn, but WOW that twist ending.
"Puck" - of the many "rude people getting what's coming to them" stories in this book (perhaps the most Minnesotan concept for a crime story I can imagine), this is the most entertaining. Great sense of humor.
Least favorites:
"Live Bait" - confusing rugpull of an ending. I'm still not entirely sure whether it's supposed to challenge or confirm the reader's assumptions about what happened earlier in the story.
"Why I Write Mysteries" - I'm not sure what the point of the story actually was. Feels like it could be semi-autobiographical but even that isn't really made clear.
"The Snow Birds" - Damon Runyon, this ain't, but man, does it ever try. Way too hard.
"The Surrogate" - this book has quite a few frustrating stories about people with relationship problems who can't bring themselves to discuss things like human beings, but this was by far the most frustrating - partially because of the out-of-left-field violence and partially because the twist ending doesn't make sense.
October 25, 2017
Most of the stories were pretty good ... but yikes the typos and other errors made it tough to read at times.
November 6, 2020
Fantastic collection of short stories, some brutal, misleading and eerie. Great authors! Highly recommended! Remember, shop independent bookstores, so important in these times.
August 29, 2024
Was expecting way more suspense and murder.....
October 30, 2015
An anthology published to help with the medical expenses of the owner of a mystery book store in Minneapolis. Very uneven, which is disappointing given the caliber of writers involved. Several of the contributions appear to be excerpts from longer works. Also surprised at how few of the stories have Minnesota settings.
August 23, 2014
Sometimes it is nice to be able to read something short and precise. Even though they are short stories you can really get involved.
November 30, 2010
I bought this book for the CJ Box short story.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews