The Perfect Crime edited by Maxim Jakubowski & Vaseem Khan

 

First Line from the Introduction: Few would dispute the fact that, until a couple of decades ago, crime and mystery writing was essentially "white", both in terms of the craftsmen and women practising its art and, slightly less so, in readership.

 

I love learning about the landscapes and the cultures of the world, and I've found that one of the best ways to do so is through the crime fiction that I choose to read. An excellent source to feed this addiction of mine has long been the extraordinary short story anthology series published by Akashic, and when I learned that this book was being published, I knew I had to read it. After all, it contained stories written by several of my favorite authors.

Consequently, I could enjoy stories by authors I knew (S.A. Cosby, Sulari Gentill, Rachel Howzell Hall, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Vaseem Khan, Walter Mosley, Abir Mukherjee, David Heska Wanbli Weiden) while finding new-to-me authors like Silvia Moreno-Garcia and John Vercher, more of whose work I want to read.

The Perfect Crime takes readers all around the globe and introduces them to many cultures. There's not a bad apple in this anthology barrel, but I have to give special shout-outs to Rachel Howzell Hall's "Clout Chaser" and Ausma Zehanat Khan's "The Yellow Line." The tastiest of them all? John Vercher's "Either Way I Lose" set in 1919 Omaha, Nebraska. This story simply blew me away with its truth, power, and visceral, deeply emotional, knockout punch. Absolutely one of the best things I've read all year.

If you're an armchair traveling sleuth, you definitely need to get your hands on a copy of The Perfect Crime. I hope readers will be treated to a second volume in the future.

 

The Perfect Crime: 22 Crime Stories from Diverse Cultures Around the World

Edited by Maxim Jakubowsli & Vaseem Khan

eISBN:9780008462345

HarperCollins © 2022

eBook, 448 pages

 

Short Story Anthology

Rating: A-

Source: Net Galley