As part of its 70th anniversary celebration, the Mystery Writers of America has published an anthology of crime stories set in Manhattan, where the MWA national office is located. Manhattan Mayhem, edited by Mary Higgins Clark, boasts a handsome cover depicting a map of the island and the location of each story; inside are 17 contributions from authors including Lee Child, Thomas H. Cook, T. Jefferson Parker, S.J. Rozan and Clark herself.
As with any collection, there are standout stories and less successful efforts. The strongest ones include Ben H. Winters's "Trapped," a witty entry written in the format of a play about the murder on the set of a Chelsea production of the Broadway thriller Deathtrap; Cook's "Damage Control," which reveals a heartbreaking misunderstanding between a Hell's Kitchen resident and his former foster daughter; and Nancy Pickard's "Three Little Words," about the tragic consequences of an Upper West Side, terminally ill woman's attempts to tell only the truth in her remaining days. Child's and Rozan's stories feature their series characters Jack Reacher and Lydia Chin, respectively, though Chin is referenced only because her amateur-sleuth mother takes the focus.
Even when the stories are less satisfying, they're accompanied by pictures and maps of landmarks to aid readers in planning a trip to the city and exploring a metropolis that always seems to have more stories to tell. Fans can also learn some local history and perhaps wax nostalgic about bygone days. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, blogger at Pop Culture Nerd