The Year's Best Mystery and Suspense Stories, 1990
(1990)An anthology of stories edited by Edward D Hoch
Publisher's Weekly
The 15th annual collection from Hoch has four gems: Brendan DuBois's ''Fire Burning Bright,'' about rural arson, is sadly chilling; Ruth Graviros's ''Ted Bundy's Father'' is a wrenching, plausible what-if with a great final twist; James Powell's ''A Dirge For Clownstown'' (winner of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award) is a delicious procedural set in a totally logical city of circus clowns; Donald E. Westlake's Edgar-winning ''Too Many Crooks'' sets his unlucky thief Dortmunder in the middle of a hostage situation that is, of course, hilarious--and this time Dortmunder makes some money. There is one dud, Elizabeth's Peters's ''The Locked Tomb Mystery'' (Egyptologists may demur); but on the whole the remaining nine stories are nicely done. With Hoch's Year's Best list of mystery and suspense novels, bibliography, awards, necrology and honor roll, this volume is a must for mystery fans.
School Library Journal
YA-- Number 15 of this annual mystery collection is one of the best ever, with selections from Antonia Fraser, Peter Lovesey, Elizabeth Peters, and Ruth Rendell as well as promising new writers. Victorian ghosts, locked Egyptian tombs, and an embroidered denim jacket are just three of the intriguing items used to whet readers' appetites.
Genre: Mystery
The 15th annual collection from Hoch has four gems: Brendan DuBois's ''Fire Burning Bright,'' about rural arson, is sadly chilling; Ruth Graviros's ''Ted Bundy's Father'' is a wrenching, plausible what-if with a great final twist; James Powell's ''A Dirge For Clownstown'' (winner of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Award) is a delicious procedural set in a totally logical city of circus clowns; Donald E. Westlake's Edgar-winning ''Too Many Crooks'' sets his unlucky thief Dortmunder in the middle of a hostage situation that is, of course, hilarious--and this time Dortmunder makes some money. There is one dud, Elizabeth's Peters's ''The Locked Tomb Mystery'' (Egyptologists may demur); but on the whole the remaining nine stories are nicely done. With Hoch's Year's Best list of mystery and suspense novels, bibliography, awards, necrology and honor roll, this volume is a must for mystery fans.
School Library Journal
YA-- Number 15 of this annual mystery collection is one of the best ever, with selections from Antonia Fraser, Peter Lovesey, Elizabeth Peters, and Ruth Rendell as well as promising new writers. Victorian ghosts, locked Egyptian tombs, and an embroidered denim jacket are just three of the intriguing items used to whet readers' appetites.
Genre: Mystery
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