Crème de la Crime
Description:... The modern crime story is not just about whodunit anymore. Hutchings's (The Cutting Edge, ed., 1998, etc.) 27 prime selections from Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (which she edits), 1995-99, reflect the state of the art of the mystery short story, showing off the range and top-quality writing of mostly name-brand, award-winning writers. O. Henry twists, historicals, thrillers, cozies, and traditionals are all here, in an enlightening and enjoyable collection. One of the best: Kristine Kathryn Rusch's EQMM Readers Award tale, 'Details'; compelling and noirish, it flashes back to a post-WWII, Nevada small town and a septuagenarian's nightmarish account of racism and regrets. Edward D. Hoch's clever but coy Anthony Award-winning story, 'One Bag of Coconuts, ' relies on puns and double-crosses involving rare Madagascar radiated tortoises. Barbara D'Amato's delightfully whimsical triple-award winner (Anthony, Agatha, Macavity), 'Of Course You Know That Chocolate is a Vegetable, ' offers a writer's sweet revenge against a devastatingly cruel reviewer. Other strong entries: Carolyn Hart's fully developed characters and vivid regional and period details in 'Spooked'; Joyce Carol Oates's brief, psychologically surreal 'The Sky-Blue Ball, ' in which a lonely 14-year-old girl tosses a ball over a red-brick wall to an invisible playmate; Simon Brett's poignant study of a boy's 'Best Behaviour'; and S.J. Rozan's 'Hoops, ' which slam-dunks the hot-button topic of AIDS in a story of justice served. Unfortunately, there are a few misfirings (overlong efforts with anticlimactic resolutions, others with wrenching punch-line endings). By and large, however, Hutchings's compendium should serve readers well through many a dark and stormy night.
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