Past Crimes

by Martin Edwards (Editor), H.R.F. Keating (Contributor), Anne Perry (Contributor)

Following the first two CWA anthologies from Severn House, Perfectly Criminal, whose story Herbert in Motion by lan Rankin won the 1996 CWA Short Story Dagger, and Whydunit?: Perfectly Criminal II, whose story On the Psychiatrist's Couch by Reginald Hill won the 1997 CWA Short Story Dagger, this thrilling collection focuses on historic crimes, from ancient Greece to the Middle Ages to World War II. This theme has inspired many contributions original to the anthology from such distinguished names asCatherine Aird
Eileen Dewhurst
Edward D Hoch
H R F Keating
Ruth Rendell
Mat Coward
Marjorie Eccles
Susanna Gregory
Amy Myers
Anne Perry
and many more...
To add to the collection's desirability, each contributor introduces their story to the reader -- setting the scene and explaining their own inspiration.

Genres: Short Stories

222 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Martin Edwards has been described by Richard Osman as ‘a true master of British crime writing.’ He has published twenty-three novels, which include the eight Lake District Mysteries, one of which was shortlisted for the Theakston’s Prize for best crime novel of the year and four books featuring Rachel Savernake, including the Dagger-nominated Gallows Court and Blackstone Fell, while Gallows Court and Sepulchre Street were shortlisted for the eDunnit award for best crime novel of the year. He is also the author of two multi-award-winning histories of crime fiction, The Life of Crime and The Golden Age of Murder. He has received three Daggers from the Crime Writers’ Association and two Edgars from the Mystery Writers of America and has also been nominated three times for Gold Daggers. In addition to the CWA Diamond Dagger (the highest honour in UK crime writing) he has received four other lifetime achievement awards: for his fiction, short fiction, non-fiction, and scholarship. He is consultant to the British Library’s Crime Classics, a former Chair of the CWA, and since 2015 has been President of the Detection Club.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not usually a great fan of short story collections, but this is really a superb group of stories. Each features not only a mystery, but also demands that the mystery be set in the past, defined as before 1953. There's a terrific collection of authors represented, and there are really no misses in the book. Sure, there are some stories I liked more or less, but the general average is really high.

[Amy Rosenkoetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really excellent crime stories. I really liked the book!