A moment on the edge : 100 years of crime stories by women

Well known for her Inspector Lynley series, George here collects short mysteries by women, bracketing the 26 entries with two tales about the death of abusive husbands, written more than 80 years apart. Between them springs an entertaining assortment of locked-room murders, theatrical whodunits, white-collar-crime and detective stories, and psychological puzzlers, each headed by revealing author notes. Agatha Christie, praised by George in the volume's enlightening introduction, isn't represented, but her contemporaries in the ''Golden Age of Mystery in Great Britain'' are: Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy Sayers, and Margery Allingham. Dorothy Davis, Charlotte Armstrong, Minette Walters, and Ruth Rendell are here as well, and sleuths Sharon McCone, Jemima Shore, and V. I. Warshawski, each one now a star of her own long-running detective series, make appearances. Here, too, are writers not associated primarily with the genre, including Joyce Carol Oates and Nadine Gordimer, whose tragic tale about the consequences of an interracial affair in South Africa is both mystery and political fiction. From start to finish, a first-rate anthology. Stephanie Zvirin Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved Review From start to finish, a first-rate anthology. (Booklist ) An absolutely first-rate anthology...a thoughtful and intelligent paean to crime fiction. (--New York Sun ) A solid selection...the stories themselves speak for the part women have played in the development of the modern mystery. (Denver Post ) A huge feast of female-authored short crime stories....you'll find everything from cozies to outright terror. (Bookreporter.com ) Sterling examples of both British stories a la Agatha Christie and distinctively American tales. (Publishers Weekly )

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George serves up a century's worth of superb crime fiction penned by women. This veritable all-star team delivers tales of dark deeds that will keep you reading long into the night. Included are these works:

• A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell
• The Summer of People by Shirley Jackson
• The Irony of Hate by Ruth Rendell
• Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer
• Wild Mustard by Marcia Muller
• Murder-Two by Joyce Carol Oates

A Moment on the Edge is a rare treat not only for fans of crime fiction but also for anyone who appreciates a skillfully written, deftly told story.

Publishers Weekly

Crime is mankind on the edge... stepping out of the norm, Elizabeth George writes in the introduction to her anthology A Moment on the Edge, a wide-ranging collection of crime stories by 20th-century British and American women. Perennial favorites (Dorothy L. Sayers, Marcia Muller) mingle with more mainstream writers (Joyce Carol Oates, Nadine Gordimer). Arranged chronologically, the volume includes sterling examples of both British stories a la Agatha Christie and distinctively American tales, such as Susan Glaspell's stark story of frontier misery, A Jury of Her Peers, which heads the collection. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

A collection of twenty-six crime stories, written by top women authors during the past century, includes pieces by Dorothy L. Sayers, Sara Paretsky, Shirley Jackson, Ngaio Marsh, Ruth Rendell, J.A. Jance, and other notables. Susan Keating Glaspell (1876-1948) was born in Davenport, Iowa, attended Drake University and the University of Chicago, and worked as a journalist before turning to full-time fiction-writing in 1901. Title from eBook title screen (viewed on August 1, 2006).