THE WORLD'S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES VOL. 1

[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with THE WORLD'S FINEST MYSTERY AND CRIME STORIES VOL. 2.]--The stories in these two anthologies range from good to excellent. They cover the entire spectrum of the genre, from the coziest of the cozies to the toughest hard-boiled tales, with stories by such authors as Ed McBain, Joyce Carol Oates, Lawrence Block, Anne Perry, Ruth Rendell, and Gillian Linscott. With such variety, not every story will be every listener's cup of tea. All the more reason why a list of contents should have been included in the liner notes. The packages, the first containing 9 tapes and the second 10, each contain about 20 stories. But there's no way of knowing which stories are included in the package, and no way to locate a particular story--assuming you know it's included--without fast-forwarding through the entire kit and caboodle. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 02]