'An exhilarating mixture of the violent and the profane, some of it obscure, a good deal of it surprising . . . A collection full of such energy, humour and sheer brazen originality . . . Dibdin has rendered crime fiction an enormous service and, in the process, done a great deal to redefine the genre' Independent on SundayA revelation . . . his research and breadth of spirit have discovered a satisfying trove of the unexpected' The Times 'Murder remains one of the fine arts, at least in print . . . Michael Dibdin makes the point in his addicts' appetite-whetting anthology . . . His approach is thematic, his judgements acute and his list of contributors - from Chekhov to Barbara Vine - is impressive . . . The central point, that at its best crime writing is a class act, is well made' Guardian 'Ample, eclectic anthology . . . imaginatively varied (Zola, Chandler, Hammett, Symons, Roy Fuller, Barbara Vine) . . . Dibdin demonstrates that there is a richness, diversity and risk taking in crime writing which gives it a vigour sadly lacking in much straight fiction' Literary Review