The Vicious Circle: Mystery and Crime Stories by Members of the Algonquin Round Table

As mystery expert Penzler admits in his introduction, this volume contains “little classic detection… and less nail-biting suspense” than the usual crime fiction anthology, but those curious about the legendary figures of the Algonquin Round Table—a group of New York City writers and critics from the 1920s, many affiliated with the New Yorker —will get at least a taste of the wit and sophistication for which they were known. Of the dozen selections, the highlights are three parodic pieces by S.J. Perelman, notably the laugh-out-loud “Farewell, My Lovely Appetizer,” a send-up of the hard-boiled genre that's a clear literary precursor to Woody Allen's Kaiser Lupowitz stories. Another standout is the wickedly absurd “The Mystery of the Poisoned Kipper” by Robert Benchley, perhaps best known today as the grandfather of the author of Jaws . While some tales disappoint, readers new to these authors may be inspired to sample more of their work. (Dec.)