cover image A Classic English Crime

A Classic English Crime

. Mysterious Press, $16.95 (215pp) ISBN 978-0-89296-456-7

These sure-to-delight original short mysteries, written by a baker's dozen of today's masters to celebrate the centenary of Agatha Christie's birth, display the wit, acuity and range that distinguish the work of the woman they honor. Following the sole directive to set the stories in the years between the world wars, such authors as Peter Lovesey, Susan Moody, David Williams and Celia Dale demonstrate their talents. Notable even in such a stellar collection is Julian Symons's ``Holocaust at Mayhem Parva,'' in which characters from the game Clue are joined by a certain Miss Hstet arple for a poisonous tea at the vicar's table. In Margaret Yorkes's insightful ``Means to Murder,'' the country-house way of life--and death--is recollected in something less than tranquility. Heald pits Miss Marple against Poirot in ``Experts for the Prosection,'' while H.R.F. Keating uses his ear for foreign twists on the English language in ``Jack Fell Down.'' Also included are the versatile Paula Gosling, Catherine Aird, Liza Cody, Robert Barnard and Simon Brett. Not a single story disappoints. (June)