A solid collection of great shorts. Perfect for those of us who sometimes suffer from a short attention span. This collection contains all the author's mystery short stories (as of the publication date in 1999) except for a handful of stories published in the late '50s that - in the author's own words - he could "see no justification for inflicting them on the general reader".

The majority of these stories are good or better -- with more than a few being absolutely great -- and then there are two or three that I found to be a little mediocre. Along with the standard formula short stories, where the reader can more or less guess where the plot is headed, there are many that are truly inventive and offer surprising twists.

I particularly liked the section featuring slick criminal defense attorney Martin Ehrengraf who rarely goes to court as his clients somehow almost always end up being innocent before going to trail (anyone familiar with the TV show Breaking Bad will see a certain similarity, in a much cruder form, in that shows resident shyster Saul Goodman).

All in all, if you're a fan of short mystery stories I don't see how you can go wrong with this collection from Lawrence Block. ( )

For any Lawrence Block fan, or any fan of the mystery in short story form, this is a terrific compilation to have. ( )