A New Omnibus of Crime

by Tony Hillerman (Editor)

In 1929, Dorothy L. Sayers published her landmark anthology, The Omnibus of Crime . More recently, Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert decided it was time to produce a definitive new anthology representing the best of the genre since then - the critically acclaimed A New Omnibus of Crime . This extraordinary collection emphasizes the most exciting styles and voices in each genre, rather than taking a typical decade-by-decade approach. As a result, A New Omnibus of Crime boasts a broad range of engaging, page-turning, and spine-tingling selections from the past eight decades. Stories in this collection include Patricia Highsmith's "Woodrow Wilson's Necktie," Sue Grafton's "A Poison That Leaves No Trace," Alexander McCall Smith's "He Loved to Go for Drives with His Father," and many more. A New Omnibus of Crime is a marvelous achievement that brings together some of the greatest crime and mystery short fiction ever collected.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Short Stories, Crime, Anthologies

434 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 2005

About the author

Tony Hillerman, who was born in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, was a decorated combat veteran from World War II, serving as a mortarman in the 103rd Infantry Division and earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. Later, he worked as a journalist from 1948 to 1962. Then he earned a Masters degree and taught journalism from 1966 to 1987 at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, where he resided with his wife until his death in 2008. Hillerman, a consistently bestselling author, was ranked as New Mexico's 25th wealthiest man in 1996. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Carla Remy]

This book compiles a healthy assortment of "crime" stories from 1932 (Sayers) up to the 2000s. I was familiar with a good deal of the early stuff (Hammett/Chandler/Highsmith), but it was good to read it all again (because, honestly, my memory is only so good). The Frederic Brown story here is so entertaining I plan to read one of his novels. A Ross MacDonald one is so good it leaves me shocked that I've never read all of his shorter fiction. Disliking its title, I've always stayed away from the 2002 Elmore Leonard story When the Women Came Out to Dance. I still don't like what it's called for some reason, but of course it is amazing. I shouldn't judge stories by their titles!

[Charlie Eckhaus]

Another one of those significant collections I'm drawn to.
Informative introductions, relating this collection to the original Dorothy Sayers volume.
The Man Who Knew How by Dorothy Sayers: Tidy, psychological-themed.
The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Dashiell Hammett: Skipped this Continental Op story due to earlier familiarity
Red Wind by Raymond Chandler: Skipped this classic and frequently-quoted Phillip Marlowe story due to earlier familiarity
The Wench Is Dead by Fredric Brown: A perfect hardboiled story which reminded me (and in some ways made me realize for the first time) why the author has been a lifelong personal favorite, and made me wonder why his reputation, though solid, isn't even wider.
Gone Girl by Ross Macdonald: Two paragraphs in and I'm already mightily impressed. (Later) finished, and it's a classic like those that got me into hardboiled in the first place.
This is shaping up to be the landmark anthology it was intended to be.
The Couple Next Door by Margaret Millar: The situation is the puzzle here.
By the Scruff of the Soul by Dorothy Salisbury Davis: Something bout the style made it less penetrable, the first disappointment in the book.
Flowers That Bloom in the Spring by Julian Symons: Kept me guessing.
Woodrow Wilson's Necktie by Patricia Highsmith: Psycho in a wax museum of crime.
Loopy by Ruth Rendell: Unusual psychological piece.
Grand Aunt Annie's Flypapers by PD James: I've little experience with this author, but am now intrigued about her other work.
First Lead Gasser by Tony Hillerman: Interesting "interleaved" approach in what amounts to a vignette, but still affecting.
Chee's Ghost by Tony Hillerman: Skipping due to recent reading (and didn't take to it.)
Breathe Deep by Donald E Westlake: A mere tidbit, its presence here maybe just for name appeal
Rumpole and the Bubble Reputation by John Mortimer: My first Rumpole, a bit puffed up, but an enjoyable narrative
A Poison That Leaves No Trace by Sue Grafton: Likeable PI, and a glimpse of what one has to put up with from clients, but the importance of the title (and why the story appears to be a favorite of anthologists) eludes me.
Photo Finish by Sara Paretsky: Satisfying compact puzzler.
The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown by Peter Lovesey: OK.
Red Clay by Michael Malone: The surprise standout thus far from an author hitherto unfamiliar to me.
Barking at Butterflies by Ed McBain: Amusing but slight, hence out-of-place.
Running Out of Dog by Dennis Lehane: Another impressive meaty one, first I've read by this author.
Hostages by James Crumley: Got to give him (one of my least-enjoyed acclaimed authors) credit for outstanding sense of period and place) but shock value is played too high.
When the Women Come Out to Dance by Elmore Leonard: Failed to engage me.
The Hanged Man by Ian Rankin: Another author introduction for me, brief, but nicely done.
The Holly and the Poison Ivy by Catherine Aird: Not worth the bother.
Copycat by Jeffrey Deaver: Excellent cinematically-styled thriller, another best in book.
He Loved to Go for Drives with His Father by Alexander McCall Smith: Liked the writing but didn't get it.

So, a top-notch, though short of perfect anthology.

[Gabriel Valjan]

Editors Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert and Contributing Editors Sue Grafton and Jeffrey Deaver put together a new collection of crime fiction – the “new” is a tip of the hat out of respect for Dorothy L. Sayers, who had edited previous omnibuses and no slouch in the genre herself, with her Harriet Vane and Lord Peter Wimsey creations.

There is a little something for everyone here and the stories almost flow in chronological order of publication. I do think that you’ll see how tastes have changed – exposition versus dialog (note slang) – but the meat and potatoes of excellent storytelling are all here.

Fast note: I knew of Frederic Brown as a sci-fi writer, so I was surprised to see him here. The Elmore Leonard story was the late author’s favorite of his short stories. I liked all of them for different reasons, but Chandler’s “Red Wind” is a knockout. Hillerman points to the late James Crumley as a Chandler successor, with respect to use of language.

You can’t go wrong with this collection.

Dorothy L. Sayers: The Man Who Knew How
Dashiell Hammett: The Girl with the Silver Eyes
Raymond Chandler: Red Wind
Frederic Brown: The Wench Is Dead
Ross Macdonald: Gone Girl (Is this where Gillian Flynn got her title?)
Margaret Millar: The Couple Next Door
Dorothy Salisbury Davis: By The Scruff of the Soul
Julian Symons: Flowers That Bloom in the Spring
Patricia Highsmith: Woodrow Wilson’s Necktie
Ruth Rendall: Loopy
P.D. James: Great Aunt Allie’s Fly Papers
Tony Hillerman: First Lead Gasser
Tony Hillerman: Chee’s Witch
Donald E. Westlake: Breathe Deep
John Mortimer: Rumpole and the Bubble Reputation
Sue Grafton: A Poison That Leaves No Trace
Sara Paretsky: Photo Finish
Peter Lovesey: The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown
Michael Malone: Red Clay
Ed McBain: Barking at Butterflies
James Crumley: Hostages
Elmore Leonard: When the Women Come Out to Dance
Ian Rankin: The Hanged Man
Catherine Aird: The Holly and the Poison Ivy
Jeffrey Deaver: Copycat
Alexander McCall Smith: He Loved to Go for Drives with His Father

[Jim]

I picked this up because a friend of mine was recommending books by Fredric Brown, and this collection includes one of Brown's short stories. It's a good story in fact, one that unexpectedly ends happily.

Overall, most of the stories in this collection are good or better than.

My favorites were all by authors I have heard of but never read: "Running Out of Dog" by Dennis Lehane, "Hostages" by James Crumley and "The Hanged Man" by Ian Rankin.

There were only a few I truly did not care for, perhaps my least favorite was "Crime of Miss Oyster Brown" by Peter Lovesey.

[Frances]

Picked this one up because I've already read seven of the twenty-seven stories (and that's just based on recognizing the titles; it's entirely possible I've read the Rumpole story and some of the others as well), and they are good stories, so that gives very good odds for the stories I haven't read yet being good as well.

Returned to the library on July 9th, as part of clearing out space.

[Steve]

CONTENTS

◾"The Man Who Knew How" - Dorothy L. Sayers

◾"The Girl with the Silver Eyes" - Dashiell Hammett

◾"The Wench Is Dead" - Fredric Brown [Brown's first name is consistently misspelled here as "Frederic."]

◾"Gone Girl" - Ross Macdonald

◾"The Couple Next Door" - Margaret Millar

◾"By the Scruff of the Soul" - Dorothy Salisbury Davis

◾"Flowers That Bloom in the Spring" - Julian Symons

◾"Woodrow Wilson's Necktie" - Patricia Highsmith

◾"Loopy" - Ruth Rendell

◾"Great Aunt Allie's Fly Papers" - P. D. James

◾"First Lead Gasser" - Tony Hillerman

◾"Chee's Witch" - Tony Hillerman

◾"Breathe Deep" - Donald E. Westlake

◾"Rumpole and the Bubble Reputation" - John Mortimer

◾"A Poison That Leaves No Trace" - Sue Grafton

◾"Photo Finish" - Sara Paretsky

◾"The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown" - Peter Lovesey

◾"Red Clay" - Michael Malone

◾"Barking at Butterflies" - Ed McBain

◾"Running Out of Dog" - Dennis Lehane

◾"Hostages" - James Crumley

◾"When the Women Came Out to Dance" - Elmore Leonard

◾"The Hanged Man" - Ian Rankin

◾"The Holly and the Poison Ivy" - Catherine Aird

◾"Copycat" - Jeffrey Deaver

◾"He Loves to Go for Drives with His Father" - Alexander McCall Smith



An excellent collection.

Back in 1928, noted mystery author Dorothy L. Sayers edited a mystery anthology, The Omnibus of Crime. I read this many years ago, but I still recall how good Ms. Sayers' introductory material was.

A New Omnibus of Crime, edited by Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert, is an attempt to do for the mystery short story from the 1920's up to 2005 what Ms. Sayers' anthology did for the mystery fiction of an earlier era. There are twenty-six* stories included. All the stories were written in the English language. The only author with more than one story in the book is Tony Hillerman. The oldest story is from 1924; the most recent ones are from 2005. There is also an unusually complete index.


*I see from another review that some copies of this book have twenty-seven stories, because they include Raymond Chandler's story Red Wind. My copy is paperback; I am guessing that the hardbound edition includes the Chandler story.

[Somali]

I very much liked some of the stories in it!
The wide variety of crime writings selected for the book deserves huge appreciation. I wonder whether the editors could choose another story instead of including two from one of the editors himself! In the details sections, they could have written "(...) broad range of engaging, ...... selection of past eight decades, based on US and UK based literary gems." It's hard to believe, there weren't enough writers from other cultures producing interesting crime fiction or that those weren't translated in English.

[SoulSurvivor]

This is an amazing compilation of great crime short stories for those that enjoy that genre . I am a huge fan of the police procedural genre , so this was a satisfying read . Added 6 new authors I want to sample via a novel due to their skill with a short piece .

[James S.]

A few good stories, a few decent ones, and a lot of mediocre ones. Of the 27 stories, I had already read 5 of them elsewhere.

Good ones:
5s:
- "The Man Who Knew How", Dorothy Sayers
- "The Wench is Dead", Frederic Brown
- "Flowers That Bloom in the Spring", Julian Symons
- "Woodrow Wilson's Necktie", Patricia Highsmith
4s:
- "Loopy", Ruth Rendell
- "Running Out of Dog", Dennis Lehane
- "The Hanged Man", Ian Rankin

2.9 average rating. Decent, but lots of filler.

[Melinda]

Very good selection of authors and stories.

[Betty Stoneking]

i had a hard to get in the book

[Betty Stoneking]

If like muder you like this books it talk all kindof people that have got kill aver the yous

[J.R.]

Three-quarters of a century ago, Dorothy L. Sayers, the doyenne of mystery writers, assembled an anthology of work by her peers that provided an overview of the genre in 1928.

Now, Tony Hillerman and Rosemary Herbert have followed suit in providing a new anthology which seeks to do the same for mystery writing in the modern era.

Whether they have succeeded in providing a gathering equivalent to that of Miss Sayers may depend as much on personal taste of the reader as on the quality of the assembled works. That they have gathered an impressive collection of works by writers from the 1930s to the present goes without saying. The collection also illustrates the changes which have taken place in style, characterization and attitude.

[Stefania]

A must read for readers of crime fiction and also for those who aren't into crime novels but want a taster of the genre.
The book covers a century of crime writing. The short stories portray a changing genre. Instead of focusing mainly on the omnicient sleuth/detective who is presented with a case to solve, the stories mostly focus on the criminal's psyche. Varying themes threaten the balance of the psyche and force a sometimes sane person into crime: love/hate for women and for pets is a main instigator.

[Robin]

Fine blend of different styles and stories. Personally, I didn't like the Dorothy L Sayers and some of the older stories, though Hammett was a great contrast to the cosies. Tony Hillerman's Navajo detective Chee was interesting, but my faves were by Ed McBain, Dennis Lehane and Elmore Leonard. Superb.

[Bja]

,,