This was a great read and personally, I enjoyed all of the stories with the exception of the last one, which is did not enjoy as much because I found there was too much side banter. ( )

Peter Washington compiled an outstanding collection of detective stories in this volume. He roughly arranged stories from newest to oldest. I read this for our book club at work where we typically read one or two short stories per week and complete it in a semester. We began the collection back in January, reading the first selection. At that point we decided we would rather read them in reverse order--oldest to newest--so we could see the influence older authors might have on the newer ones. Of course, the book club was interrupted by COVID-19, so we did not resume our read until fall semester. We then did not meet in person, but on Zoom. We enjoyed the collection.

Stories included were "The Takamoku Joseki" by Sara Paretsky, "Window of Opportunity" by Ian Rankin, "People Don't Do Such Things" by Ruth Rendell, "Inspector Ghote and the Miracle Baby" by H. R. F. Keating, "Mademoiselle Berthe and Her Lover" by Georges Simonon, "Death and the Compass" by J. L. Borges, "Leg Man" by Erle Stanley Gardner, "I'll Be Waiting" by Raymond Chandler, "The Gatewood Caper" by Dashiell Hammett, "The Blue Geranium" by Agatha Christie, "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell, "The Blue Cross" by G. K. Chesterton, "Silver Blaze" by Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Stolen Cigar Case" by Bret Harte, "Long Looked-for, Come at Last" by James McLevy, and "The Purloined Letter" by Edgar Allan Poe.

If you are looking for a great selection of detective stories, I highly recommend this collection. It features a nice binding and a ribbon bookmark. It is not available on Kindle or other electronic formats. ( )

Outstanding collection of detective stories. They are printed in reverse chronological order from Sara Paretsky and Ian Rankin to Bret Harte and Edgar Allen Poe. Every story was excellent and it was the right mix and number of them. ( )

Outstanding collection of detective stories. They are printed in reverse chronological order from Sara Paretsky and Ian Rankin to Bret Harte and Edgar Allen Poe. Every story was excellent and it was the right mix and number of them. ( )

Ruth Rendell's simple story is unforgettable. ( )