In 1930, several luminaries of British crime fiction (think Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, G. K. Chesterton) created the Detection Club, an organization dedicated, it seems, to having the authors get together now and then and eat sumptuous meals. It still exists, and this collection of original mystery stories was curated in honour of the 80th birthday of a recent president of the Club, Peter Lovesey. As a result, many of these stories reference Mr. Lovesey’s preferred settings (such as Bath) or characters or the man himself, although one does not need to be conversant with his work in order to enjoy the stories (I’ve only read a few of his short stories, for example). As with any anthology, each reader will have his/her favourites; mine include Catherine Aird’s “The Walrus and the Spy,” about Morse code and a telegram; Marjorie Eccles’ “The Suffragette’s Tale,” in which a thrown rock might have resulted in accidental death - or murder?; “The Super Recognizer of Vik,” by Michael Ridpath, which takes place in Iceland; and the very short and humorous “Digging Deep,” by Ruth Dudley Edwards. There are also good stories from Kate Ellis, L.C. Taylor, Ann Cleeves, Susan Moody and others - 20 in all - plus an afterward by Mr. Lovesey himself and a bibliography and list of his awards. Quite entertaining; recommended! ( )

With an introduction by Martin Edwards who edited this collection, a foreword by Len Deighton, a final response by Peter Lovesey himself this is a lovely collection of specially written short stories honoring Peter's 80th birthday.

Like so many of the contributors I remember reading Peter's debut novel WOBBLE TO DEATH, and have followed his writing over the years, both in his various series, and his stand alone novels.

Reviewed on this blog are
MAD HATTER'S HOLIDAY
SKELETON HILL
THE REAPER
5.0, STAGESTRUCK
5.0, COP TO CORPSE
4.5, THE HEADHUNTERS
4.8, THE TOOTH TATTOO
4.7, DOWN AMONG THE DEAD MEN
4.7, THE STONE WIFE
4.5, ANOTHER ONE GOES TONIGHT
and I read a great many before that.

Many of the contributors paid homage by setting their story in one of the settings that Peter has used.

If, like me, you like crime fiction short stories, you'll enjoy this collection. ( )