Most Wanted

Stanley Hastings # (Faking It)

by Robert J. Randisi (Editor), Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky

The line-up: three New York Times bestselling authors, four Edgar Award winners, and other critically acclaimed past presidents of the Private Eye Writers of America.

THE DETECTIVES: the authors' most famous P.I.s.
THE STORIES: the authors' personal favorites.
PLUS: a special behind-the-crime-scene introduction to each author's creative process.

Genres: Mystery

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 3, 2002

About the author

Robert Joseph Randisi was a prolific American author, editor, and screenwriter, best known for his work in detective and Western fiction. He wrote over 650 books, including The Gunsmith series under the pen name J.R. Roberts, and edited more than 30 anthologies. A co-founder of Mystery Scene magazine, the American Crime Writers League, and Western Fictioneers, he also established The Private Eye Writers of America and created the Shamus Award. Randisi collaborated on novels with Eileen Davidson and Vince Van Patten, and created memorable characters such as Miles Jacoby, Joe Keough, and The Rat Pack. He received multiple lifetime achievement awards and the John Seigenthaler Humanitarian Award.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most Wanted is a very good mystery anthology from The Private Eye Writers of America. Each of the twelve authors was at one time president of the PWA. Each story features a continuing character from a series by that author.

Contents:

"Wrong Place, Wrong Time" (featuring the Nameless Detective) by Bill Pronzini -2002

"The Merciful Angel of Death" (featuring Matthew Scudder) by Lawrence Block -1993

"Eighty Million Dead" (featuring Dan Fortune) by Michael Collins - 1984

"Dearly Beloved" (featuring Joe Puma) by William Campbell Gault - 1956

"Second Story Sunlight" featuring Alo Nudger) by John Lutz - 2002

"A Poison That Leaves No Trace" (featuring Kinsey Millhone) by Sue Grafton - 1990

"Aftermath" (featuring Rory Calhoun) by Jeremiah Healy - 2002

"The Pig Man" (featuring Saxon) by Les Roberts - 1995

"Faking It" (featuring Stanley Hastings) by Parnell Hall - 2002

"Laying Down to Die" (featuring Nick Delvecchio) by Robert J. Randisi -
1994

"The Maltese Cat" (featuring V. I. Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky -
1990

"Natural Death, Inc." (featuring Nate Heller) by Max Allan Collins - 1999

All the stories are, naturally, about private detectives. The four dated 2002 are all original to this book.

Some of the stories are partly humorous (Grafton, Hall, Lutz). Some deal with very serious subjects (Block [AIDS], Healy [9/11/01], Roberts [CIA]); none of these seem exploitive.

The Gault story is the oldest one in this book and the one that has the most traditional portrait of a private detective. The lead character, Joe Puma, can outfight any man and is irresistible to women (but his strong sense of morality keeps him from acting on this inappropriately). The other stories are more realistic.

I don't think that there is a story in this book that is less than good. For people who enjoy private eye stories or mystery stories in general, I would certainly recommend Most Wanted.

[Elmer Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of the private -eye genre, this title caught my eye primarily because of Block and Grafton, both stories supported my choice to pick this one up.

This anthology from The Private Eye Writers of America has as many stories as the Editor, Randisi, has pseudonyms, as he contributes an introduction to each story, along with the lineage of how each author supported the PWA, and a story of his own.

Contributions include 4 new (in 2002) stories for this collection:
"Wrong Place, Wrong Time" (with the Nameless Detective) by Bill Pronzini /2002
"Second Story Sunlight" (with Alo Nudger) by John Lutz /2002
"Aftermath" (with Rory Calhoun) by Jeremiah Healy /2002 -9/11 story
"Faking It" (with Stanley Hastings) by Parnell Hall /2002

and 8 previously released tales that compliment the theme:
"Dearly Beloved" (with Joe Puma) by William Campbell Gault /1956
"Eighty Million Dead" (with Dan Fortune) by Michael Collins /1984
"A Poison That Leaves No Trace" (with Kinsey Millhone) by Sue Grafton /1990
"The Maltese Cat" (with V. I. Warshawski) by Sara Paretsky /1990
"The Merciful Angel of Death" (with Matthew Scudder) by Lawrence Block /1993
"Laying Down to Die" (with Nick Delvecchio) by Robert J. Randisi /1994
"The Pig Man" (with Saxon P.I.) by Les Roberts /1995
"Natural Death, Inc." (with Nate Heller & Eliot Ness) by Max Allan Collins /1999

All were enjoyable in their own right, nice introductions to each detective within their own environs for those who haven't had the pleasure to experience them. Intriguing to see the "gum-shoe" of many stripes in similar, yet uniquely personalized, scenarios. Surprised they all don't own a fedora as part of the uniform, lol, although that felt accurate within this batch of stories.

Standard misdoings by suspects for greed, love, respect, or even through misunderstanding, stakeouts, false clues, and sleuthing made this anthology highly engaging with each chapter. Not a bad one in the bunch, and that is just the starting point.

Thanks for reading.

[Nranger7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This came with a bunch of Sue Grafton books I bought on ebay. I'm not big on short stories but some of these were pretty good.