** advanced copy received via publisher **

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for the CWA Anthology of Short Stories, a collection of short mystery/crime stories edited by Martin Edwards and published by Orenda Books.

Many thanks to Karen Sullivan and Anne Cater for the opportunity to join the tour and for the advanced copy of the book.

Author : Various
Title : CWA Anthology of Short Stories : Mystery Tour
Pages : 276
Publisher : Orenda Books
Publication date : November 15, 2017 (ebook)

Crime spreads across the globe in this new collection of short stories from the Crime Writer’s Association, as a conspiracy of prominent crime authors take you on a world mystery tour. Highlights of the trip include a treacherous cruise to French Polynesia, a horrifying trek in South Africa, a murderous train-ride across Ukraine and a vengeful killing in Mumbai. But back home in the UK, life isn’t so easy either. Dead bodies turn up on the backstreets of Glasgow, crime writers turn words into deeds at literary events, and Lady Luck seems to guide the fate of a Twickenham hood. Showcasing the range, breadth and vitality of the contemporary crime-fiction genre, these twenty-eight chilling and unputdownable stories will take you on a trip you’ll never forget.

Oh, the dilemmas I was presented with when the opportunity to read this book came up. First of all, I’m not always interested in short sorties, unless they’re by my favourite authors but that’s more because I’m always worried I’ll miss out on something fabulous. For the most part though, I always feel short stories are … well, too short and just when I finally sink my teeth into them, they’re over and done with. But, this is Orenda and we love Orenda, we do! So, decision made and yes, I was going to read this book.

Which led me to dilemma two. How on earth do you tackle a collection like this? Do you pick out your favourite authors first? Do you dip in and out? Do you just start at the beginning like you would with a regular book and go from there? All of these would work perfectly well and it’s really up to your personal preference. I started from the beginning and worked my way to the end. That was just the easiest option for me or I would still be sitting here trying to decide which story to read first.

Edited by Martin Edwards, this anthology of short series takes us all over the world. From the UK to French Polynesia, from Iceland to Morocco, on trains and cruises and hikes. All have one theme in common. You guessed it, crime/mystery of course. This is such an incredible way to catch up with some of your favourite authors but also, a splendid way to be introduced to some you may not be familiar with.

Some of the stories are a tad longer than others but they’re all quite compelling and oozing atmosphere. It’s honestly incredibly impressive to see how much information the authors manage to squeeze into a short story. Remember my dilemma? Short they may be but they had plenty of meat on their bones for me to sink my teeth into.

There wasn’t one story in this collection that I didn’t enjoy. All are quite different in writing style and it’s a little bit like comparing apples with oranges but if you force me to pick one, I’d vote for the one written by Ragnar Jonasson. Days later, it’s still the one that pops into my head first. When you read it, you’ll see why. It carries quite the impact!

The CWA Anthology of Short Stories will be available in ebook format on November 15th.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads

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With contributions from Ann Cleeves, C.L. Taylor, Susi Holliday, Martin Edwards, Anna Mazzola, Carol Anne Davis, Caith Staincliffe, Chris Simms, Christine Poulson, Ed James, Gordon Brown, J.M. Hewitt, Judith Cutler, Julia Crouch, Kate Ellis, Kate Rhodes, Martine Bailey, Michael Stanley, Maxim Jakubowski, Paul Charles, Paul Gitsham, Peter Lovesey, Ragnar Jonasson, Sarah Rayne, Shawn Reilly Simmons, Vaseem Khan, William Ryan and William Burton McCormick.

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