Daggers Drawn edited by Maxim Jakubowski

I would like to thank Sarah from Titan for an advance copy of this anthology in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Titan

Published - Out Now

Price - £17.99 hardback £9.49 Kindle eBook

A cutthroat collection bringing together the greatest crime fictions authors such as Ian Rankin, Jeffery Deaver, John Connolly, Denise Mina, John Harvey and many more!

Maxim Jakubowski has edited all the great names in crime fiction and stories from his anthologies have won the CWA Dagger six times. Now he has collected 19 Dagger award-winning stories in one volume, making it the first retrospective deep dive into the CWA’s archive of Dagger Award winners.

Anthologies have many purposes. They cna explore a theme and how stories can play a multitude of variations but they can also offer a snapshot of history. A good collection can also say this is what this particular genre can achieve in one year or unusually a period. The Crime Writer’s Association in the UK is nearly 70 years old and has an annual awards ceremony known with affection as the Daggers. In 1982 a Short Story dagger was created initially a open competition for stories that mentioned particular objects in a skilful story but then became a more standard best short story collection. Maxim Jakubowski has assembled 19 past winning stories to provide a fascinating look at the evolution of the crime story over nearly 40 years,

Among the stories I enjoyed were

Swiftwing 98 by Peter O’Donnell - a surreal puzzler of a potential Cold War assassination threat being investigated by a new Detective pairing. This story goes ina very meta direction to the one I was expecting but has an affectionate(ish) tribute to the author who created many a fine short story long ago.

Funny Story by Larry Beinhart - this is a skilled piece of storytelling. A rascally grandfather has decided to tell his 7 year old grandson about when he was a thief in pre-war Berlin. This tale explores family ties, the Holocaust and guilt in some fascinating ways and the way the backstories of all the characters is delivered very smartly and with a dark sense of humour. One of my favourites in the collection

Herbert in Motion by Isn Rankin- as our lead character contemplates suicide after an event with the PM Rankin grabs you into a tale of art forgery. As well as the rising tension of our forger being found out a starry about the value and power of art. Really entertaining and again thought-provoking.

Roots by Jerry Sykes - this is a much more disturbing tale of a childhood murder told by an accomplice. Sykes captures the feel of childhood bullies and again a tension of what happened next twenty years later with the threat of a year 2000 time capsule being the catalysts for the finale.

Martha Grace by Stella Duffy - another powerful story of an affair between a young college student and an older woman mocked for her unattractiveness. Duffy makes this a tale of lust, love and quiet but powerful revenge. One of the darkest stories in the collection.

The Weekender by Jeremy Deaver - a thief talks about his robbery gone wrong thanks to his violent accomplice. They have kidnapped a witness who is also a top salesmen. It’s a tale of negotiation and getting what you want but as always with Deaver there is a sting in the tale. But the dialogue is a joy to read.

Homework by Phil Lovesey - a tale that is excellent thanks to the choice of character a year ten pupil working an essay about Hamlet until suddenly it’s clear this is a tale for her teacher to pay attention to. Revenge is delivered here beautifully - smart, funny and ingenious.

ON THE ANATOMIZATION OF AN UNKNOWN MAN (1637) BY FRANS MIER (actually by JOHN CONNOLLY - this bewitching eerie tale is someone telling us about a piece of art that may or may not exist. Art critique as confession is a tale that grabs and disturbs you.

The Dummies Guide to Serial Killing by Danuta Reah - another amusing tale of a would be serial killer who via the Dark Net has discovered a manual on how to become a Serial Killer. A tale with a dark thread of humour as it unwinds with its hopeless main character and a rather delicious final pub.

This is an overall entertaining tale of short stories with quite a few enjoyable tales to entice the reader. Also interesting to see how the genre has developed over nearly forty years - some have dated - the Costa Del Sol criminals and Cold War tales elsewhere in the collection really do feel dated in approach but crim fans should find that too enlightening. Good fun