I love a mystery story anthology! So many different stories -- different authors -- varied characters! Vintage Crime caught my eye at first because I absolutely LOVE the front cover! And then I peeked at the story list....a variety of who-dunnits from the 1950s to present written by some familiar names and several new-to-me authors! I knew a CWA anthology would be filled with outstanding writing!

And I wasn't disappointed!

Because Covid19 has absolutely kicked my job (social services) into high gear, my reading time is precious at the moment. Normally, I savor mystery anthologies -- I read one story at a time, think over my opinions, look up the author for a bit of research, add other books/stories from the author to my TBR list....and then move on to the next. But because I was reading a review copy, I felt a bit rushed. I loved each story but didn't have the time to really savor and research. I solved this problem by ordering a lovely hardback copy all my own just before I started writing this review....MINE!! And I can read it as slowly as I choose the second time.....Can't wait!

I thought and thought and tried to pick a favorite story. Impossible. I enjoyed them all! And I'm not saying one word about what they were about...best to read mystery stories with no prior information. But I can say this -- I liked every author in this collection. Once I get my own copy, I have the feeling I'm going to be adding a lot of other books and stories to my already ponderous TBR list. I love how this collection spans several decades. It really brought home how mystery writing has evolved and changed since the 1950s!

Lovely, lovely collection! Definitely has a home on my keeper shelf!

**I read a review copy of this story collection from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. I will say this -- I review many books for Flame Tree Press and have never been disappointed. Not one time! That opinion is also 100% my own!** ( )

This is a nice collection of crime stories from the Murder Mystery Archive of the Crime Writers Association. The stories range in date from a couple written before 1960 through a slew of stories from the 1990’s and the 2000’s. When did the 1990’s and 2000’s become vintage territory? I was expecting a lot of earlier titles, but any good murder mystery should give you the unexpected. The book starts off with a story by Michael Gilbert that I thought was a weak introduction to the collection. It didn’t reach out and grab me, or pull me relentlessly into the rest of the collection. A better first story might have been Celia Fremlin’s, “The Woman Who Had Everything”. This is about a woman who would rather kill herself than be ignored by her husband. Though ofttimes the best laid plans…. As in most anthologies there are some great stories and some good stories. Some that are to the readers taste and some that are not. By and large the collection rises to expectations and gives the reader a fine taste of some of the vintage writing by the members of the Crime Writer’s Association. ( )