English is, undoubtedly, the most spoken and written language in the
world. That is why most countries use it as their official language.
English fiction is the best in the world. Instead of writing in their
local and national language, many fiction writers, from all over the
globe, have tried their hand at English fiction and succeeded.
To compile a readable book of detective stories is as difficult as it
is to write a short story. It would have been ever harder for Ms
Patricia Craig to compile The Oxford Book of Detective Stories - An
international selection as she had to come up with short stories from
different parts of the world! The freelance critic and reviewer, who
has edited several other books for Oxford like English Detective
Fiction and Modern Women’s stories, selects the very best for
readers.They will be in high spirits after reading the book. The book
has, between Emile Gaboriau and Ian Rankin — its opening and closing
contributors — a vast number of writers ranging from Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, Raymond Chandler to Dashiell Hammett and Ted Wood. The
intriguing collection features 37 detective stories from all around the
world with all kinds of detectives — the serious, the amateur, the
sinister and the silly! This selection of short stories has it all.
Stories from countries where detectives stories have been non-existent
like Italy and Holland, to England where Sherlock Holmes and Hercule
Poirot surprised the readers with their detection.
Murder, robbery, suicide, impersonation, all kinds of genre of
detective fiction can be found in this book which has nearly 600 pages
with brief notes about the writers. It is a must buy for those who care
for the very best because the best doesn’t come every day.