Murder Short & Sweet (Chicago Review Press), edited by Paul D. Staudohar

Along with science fiction, fantasy and horror, the murder-mystery genre has retained an avid readership as mainstream "literary" fiction has receded. Indefatigable anthologist Paul Staudohar gathered a broad collection of mostly 20th-century stories into the aptly titled Murder Short & Sweet. It can't be called a representative survey, but the volume includes masters of the form beginning with Arthur Conan Doyle and ending with recent award-winners Clark Howard and Lawrence Block. Several stories have seldom been anthologized and may be out of print. Surprises include a psychologically acute piece by Agatha Christie and a crime story by Lord Dunsany, a fantasist best remembered for his influence on H.P. Lovecraft.