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Title: Best of Mystery
Series:
----------
Editor: Alfred Hitchcock
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Crime Fiction
Pages:
745
Words: 304K
Publish: 1976
When I started this book of short stories, my intention was to take some notes, as I had kind of, sort of, maybe’ish glanced at the page numbers and my brain registered that this wasn’t one of the normal 200-250 page collections. However, I was using this as a buffer to get through both Skitarius and Tech-Priest (of which not even this book could save Tech-Priest). That didn’t lend itself well to taking notes, so I figured I would just do that after I ended up dnf’ing Tech-Priest.
The problem then became that this beast of a book became a crashing avalanche of stories that I dared not stop lest I become crushed under its ponderous weight. There are 63 stories in this volume. That is just too much. If I had stopped to take notes on even ten of these stories, I probably would have dnf’d this collection just out of despair at so much crime and evil being portrayed. So to continue with the avalanche imagery, I had to keep racing down the literary mountain trying to stay one story ahead. I managed it and I was ok, but I don’t think I’ll try to read another Hitchcock collection that is this big again in the future (not that I have any, mind you. I just looked and the next biggest one is just a shade over 400pages, which I think I can handle). The last time I read a collection this big was Tales of Terror, which had 58 stories.
I guess I’m going to chalk this up to a lesson learned, again. Hahahahaa.
★★★✬☆
Table of Contents:
WINTER RUN—Edward D. Hoch
YOU CANT BLAME ME—Henry Slesar
A FLOWER IN HER HAIR—Pauline C. Smith
THE COST OF KENT CASTWELL—Avram Davidson
PSEUDO IDENTITY—Lawrence Block
THAT RUSSIAN!—Jack Ritchie
GALTON AND THE YELLING BOYS—Hillary Waugh
BLIND DATE—Charles Boeckman
PRESSURE—Roderick Wilkinson
THE RUNNING MAN—Bill Pronzini
THE VIETNAM CIRCLE—F. J. Kelly
SADIE WHEN SHE DIED—Ed McBain
A VERY CAUTIOUS BOY—Gilbert Ralston
A TRY FOR THE BIG PRIZE—Borden Deal
VOICE IN THE NIGHT—Robert Colby
UNDERTAKER, PLEASE DRIVE SLOW—Ron Goulart
NEVER SHAKE A FAMILY TREE—Donald E. Westlake
HERE LIES ANOTHER BLACKMAILER—Bill Pronzini
DEAD DUCK—Lawrence Treat
GAMES FOR ADULTS—John Lutz
NIGHT OF THE TWISTERS—James Michael Ullman
VARIATIONS ON A GAME—Patricia Highsmith
CHILD’S PLAY—William Link and Richard Levinson
JUST A LITTLE IMPRACTICAL JOKE—Richard Stark
MURDERER #2—Jean Potts
THE THIRD CALL—Jack Ritchie
DAMON AND PYTHIAS AND DELILAH BROWN—Rufus King
GLORY HUNTER—Richard M. Ellis
LINDA IS GONE—Pauline C. Smith
FRIGHTENED LADY—C. B. Gilford
COME BACK, COME BACK . . .—Donald E. Westlake
ONCE UPON A BANK FLOOR—James Holding
WARRIOR’S FAREWELL—Edward D. Hoch
DEATH BY MISADVENTURE—Wenzell Brown
WITH A SMILE FOR THE ENDING—Lawrence Block
TELEVISION COUNTRY—Charlotte Edwards
ART FOR MONEY’S SAKE—Dan J. Marlowe
NOTHING BUT HUMAN NATURE—Hillary Waugh
MURDER, 1990—C. B. Gilford
PANTHER, PANTHER IN THE NIGHT—Paul W. Fairman
PERFECTLY TIMED PLOT—E. X. Ferrars
#8—Jack Ritchie
ALL THE NEEDLESS KILLING—Bryce Walton
A MELEE OF DIAMONDS—Edward D. Hoch
ONE FOR THE CROW—Mary Barrett
HAPPINESS BEFORE DEATH—Henry Slesar
I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT—Bill Pronzini
NEWS FROM NOWHERE—Ron Goulart
A CASE OF DESPERATION—Kate Wilhelm
AN INTERLUDE FOR MURDER—Paul Tabori
DEATH OVERDUE—Eleanor Daly Boylan
THE BEST-FRIEND MURDER—Donald E. Westlake
PATTERN OF GUILT—Helen Nielsen
A REAL, LIVE MURDERER—Donald Honig
DOCTOR APOLLO—Bryce Walton
THE PURSUER—Holly Roth
FINAL ARRANGEMENTS—Lawrence Page
COUNTDOWN—David Ely
MURDER BETWEEN FRIENDS—Nedra Tyre
CASE OF THE KIND WAITRESS—Henry Slesar
GHOST OF A CHANCE—Carroll Mayers
THE MONTEVIDEO SQUEEZE—James Holding
THE WHITE MOTH—Margaret Chenoweth
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