Once Upon a Crime Anthology Coming September 1

Once Upon a Crime: An Anthology of Murder, Mayhem, and Suspense Nodin (Baker & Taylor, dist.), $16.95 (256p) ISBN 978-1-932472-85-1

From Publishers Weekly:

The warmth felt by the contributors toward the Minneapolis mystery bookstore that gives this all-original anthology its name is shown in the high quality of many of its 24 entries. Fans of Alexander McCall Smith who haven’t encountered Michael Stanley yet will be grateful for the introduction after reading Stanley’s whodunit set in contemporary Botswana, “An Issue of Women and Money.” Anne Fraiser’s “Santa’s Little Helper” is a bit of a misfire, a very short procedural about the gunning down of a man dressed as Kris Kringle whose shock ending might have been more effective if the story had more meat on its bones. Max Allan Collins and Barbara Collins offer a new wrinkle on the spoiled city woman stuck in the sticks in “Flyover Country,” with a foreseeable resolution that still packs a punch. Other contributors include C.J. Box, Ken Bruen, Reed Farrel Coleman, Libby Fischer Hellmann, Sujata Massey and S.J. Rozan. (Sept.)