~ finding the right voice ~
Sayers first began compiling anthologies of the best crime stories in the 1920s and ’30s, the genre was in the flush of its first golden age. While it is hard to imagine today—after every possible mystery plot has been told, retold, subverted, and played straight again by hundreds of writers over nearly a century—in Sayers’s day there were still twists that had never been seen, and machinations of crime that would shock even jaded Jazz Age readers. Now today’s fans of mystery and crime can experience a handpicked collection featuring 26 outstanding stories from this era, originally chosen by Sayers and newly introduced by Otto Penzler. As a prolific writer of the genre, Sayers understood the balance between solvability and obfuscation that is the defining feature of great crime stories—and these are some of the greatest. This is a treasure trove for fans of classic mystery stories! --back cover