ONCE UPON A CRIME (2009)

With "Jibber Jabber" by Reed Farrel Coleman

Edited by Gary Bush and Chris Everheart

Publisher: Nodin Press

In this lively anthology, some of the best mystery and crime writers in the nation offer up tales of tragedy and revenge, suspicion and intrigue. Among the award-winning contributors are S. J. Rozan, Sujata Massey, C. J. Box, William Kent Krueger, Pete Hautman, David Housewright, Lois Greiman, and Mary Logue. The collection includes a Christmas tale that is not full of good cheer, and the misadventures of a car thief who has stolen the wrong car. One humorous story involves a Botswana police detective who finds an unusual way to track down a murder suspect; another offers a chilling tale of the Holocaust.

ONCE UPON A CRIME is a group of stories collected and presented as a tribute to Pat Frovarp and Gary Shulze of Once Upon a Crime Bookstore in Minneapolis and booksellers & librarians everywhere.

Review

The warmth felt by the contributors toward the Minneapolis mystery bookstore that gives this all-original anthology its name is shown in the high quality of many of its 24 entries. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith who haven't encountered Michael Stanley yet will be grateful for the introduction after reading Stanley's whodunit set in contemporary Botswana, "An Issue of Women and Money."  Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins offer a new wrinkle on the spoiled city woman stuck in the sticks in "Flyover Country," with a foreseeable resolution that still packs a punch. Other contributors include C.J. Box, Ken Bruen, Reed Farrel Coleman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sujata Massey and S.J. Rozan. -Publishers Weekly

The readers are in for a spectacular ride as they read stories from the world’s top mystery and suspense authors. - Vince Flynn