The Book of Extraordinary Impossible Crimes and Puzzling Deaths: The Best New Original Stories of the Genre (Mystery & Detective Anthology) (The Series of Extraordinary Mystery Stories) Paperback – Import, 16 June 2020

First thing that made me suspicious was the first story penned by Martin Edwards. The usually trustworthy, consistent Edwards had produced a hashwork. From that point I went on my guard...And faced one after another venomous dud.First of all, many of these belonged to scifi genre. But unlike the Asimovian mysteries that relied upon actual, workable physics, these were based on pure pseudoscience. Even the most readable story of the collection— Ashley Lister's "Whatever Remains"— was based upon an improbable concept.Secondly, there were ghost stories, weird tales and other assorted stuff that were peddled in this book. That in itself is a crime and might have resulted in some serious damage to frontal lobes of the people who had selected these tales.Thirdly, except Keith Brooke's "By a Thread" (although it again relied upon something which is practically improbable) and Michael Brackett & Sandra Murphy's "Goobers" there were practically no police procedurals . Instead, heavy names have decided to dump some personal baggage in this collection in the name of 'Impossible Crimes'.Most of the remaining stories were utterly joyless, reading which the biggest 'How Can This Be' that arises in one's mind is about the selection of such works, at the expense of masters.I consider this book to be a classic example of extremely shoddy editorial work. It's precisely because of this type of bad work on part of Maxim Jakubowski (or whosoever is ghost-editing on his behalf) that I had decided to stay away from Mammoth anthologies. Unfortunately, Edward D. Hoch and Peter Lovesey had triggered my interest in 'Impossible' Mysteries. That had sort of forced my hand.Never again.

I like a good mystery and this anthology has a good mix of who one it and how. I look forward to checking out some other titled by Maxim Jakubowski.

Actor Kevin Kemp is very good at pacing his reading of the stories and really knows how to hold your attention. His reading of 'Murder in Pelham Wood' was especially entertaining, although the more so due to it being an excellent story. Although reading is an enjoyable experience itself, it can be very nice to have some one read to you when you are feeling too tired to make the effort. A psychological reversion to the childhood nursery, perhaps?

Though I much prefer the style and setting of the short story mysteries from the Golden Age, this modern collection can be easily recommended. There is no information on the publication dates of the stories in this book, but the plenty of references to Uber (and something like Uber Eats), tablets, and mobile devices indicate that we have left the Victorian and the pre-WWII world well behind.For starters, many of the stories are led by an investigator who follows a typical, modern crime scene procedural and the plots rely heavily on the forensics team and their evidence combing through the post mortem; what were the contents of his stomach, analysis of dried blood, DNA samples, etc. I am not a huge fan of these CSI type episodes as they become too official and therefore too bland for my tastes. I want literature, not a police report!As the book progresses, the stories become more varied in tone and style. Two notable entries worth mentioning are The Last Thing I Do and Whatever Remains. The first is about the investigation of murdered members of a King Author historical society, told in a whimsical style with plenty of metaphors and allusions to that Anglo Saxon and his pantheon. The second is a mixture of detection and sci-fi where the policeman investigates a murder at a university. This one left me tense and in angst for a very long time.There are plenty of rejects too. The Window is a silly escapist romance about a time travelling girl while exploring a castle in Scotland; it does not belong here. The Fire Inside has a mix of sci fi and stereotypical American private "dick" including a distressed damsel but fails to deliver due to the author's lack of technical background in explaining scientific principles. Other stories are somewhere between mildly interesting and forgettable.

Keeps you wanting to read more.

I was impressed with the vast majority of the crime stories contained in the author's compilations. Many times I can't get through compilations of a particular genre because I find the stories boring. This was certainly not the case with this book. For the most part the stories were well written and held my interest throughout my reading of them. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers.