This new collection will pick up where Dorothy L. Sayers' The Omnibus of Crime (1929) left off - "in the heart of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction" - bringing together monumental, entertaining works of mystery short fiction from the early 1930s to the present, from the inter-war years of the twentieth century to first years of the twenty-first century. Herbert will introduce each story, placing the selection in the context of the author and the genre's literary history. Emphasis will be placed upon representing the most exciting styles and voices in the genre rather than a slavish servitude to a decade-by-decade approach. Stories on the short list include Norman Mailer "The Killer", P.D. James "Great Aunt Allie's Fly Papers" or "The Victim", Sue Grafton "The Parker Shotgun", Frankie Y. Bailey "Since You Went Away", John Cheever "Montraldo", Paul Theroux "The Johore Murders", Tony Hillerman "First Lead Gasser", David Winser "The Boat Race Murder", James M. Cain "Cigarette Girl", Dorothy L. Sayers "The Necklace of Pearls", Linda Barnes "Lucky Penny", Cornell Woolrich "Death at the Burlesque", Raymond Chandler "Red Wind", Dennis Lehane "Running Out of Dog", and James Crumley "Hot Springs".