Review: THE PERFECT CRIME

THE PERFECT CRIME, edited by Vaseem Khan & Maxim Jakubowski (Penguin, 2022)

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson

Around the world in 22 murders… MURDER. BLACKMAIL. REVENGE

From Lagos to Mexico City, Australia to the Caribbean, Toronto to Los Angeles, Darjeeling to rural New Zealand, London to New York – twenty-two bestselling crime writers from diverse cultures come together from across the world in a razor sharp and deliciously sinister collection of crime stories.

Featuring: Oyinkan Braithwaite, Abir Mukherjee, S.A. Cosby, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, J.P. Pomare, Sheena Kamal, Vaseem Khan, Sulari Gentill, Nelson George, Rachel Howzell Hall, John Vercher, Sanjida Kay, Amer Anwar, Henry Chang, Nadine Matheson, Mike Phillips, Ausma Zehanat Khan, Felicia Yap, Thomas King, Imran Mahmood, David Heska Wanbli Weiden and Walter Mosley.

A few years ago, a good friend in the crime writing community told me about attending a Bouchercon and being struck by how in a conference with well over a thousand mystery readers and writers in attendance, she was one of only three black people in the room. A stark reminder of the work needed in our favourite genre, along with many others, to welcome and support a diverse array of different voices.

Fortunately, as THE PERFECT CRIME shows, progress has been made (belatedly), and while the work must continue there’s now a host of crime writers of colour all over the world bringing exceptional voices, fresh perspectives, and greater breadth and depth to a genre that’s been hugely popular for a century plus.

Editors Vaseem Khan (author of the Baby Ganesh Detective Agency novels) and Maxim Jakubowski have curated an exceptional collection of 22 stories from black, Hispanic, Asian, and indigenous authors on several continents. From legends like Walter Mosley and Mike Phillips to newer stars like SA Cosby, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Nadine Matheson, John Vercher, Sheena Kamal, Rachel Howzell Hall, and JP Pomare, The Perfect Crime is a wonderful showcase of superb crime writing. And frankly, it’s further evidence that there’s no excuse nowadays for any major event to have all-white line-ups.

Could the best crime book of the year be a short story collection rather than a novel? There may be a debate to be had after reading The Perfect Crime. It’s a high-quality buffet of voices and perspectives historically overlooked, spanning locations from Lagos to the Caribbean, Toronto to Darjeeling.

In “Hooch”, Lakota author David Heska Wanbli Weiden takes us into the dangerous world of reservation bootlegging. Sulari Gentill offers a bite-sized rural mystery set in 1920s Australia in “A Murder of Bridges”. Cosby delivers a gritty, evocative tale with “The Mayor of Dukes County”, Pomare gives us a tale of revenge on a New Zealand sheep farm in “For Marg”, Silvia Moreno-Garcia takes us into mid-century Mexico, and Khan transports a classic mystery into the tea fields of mountainous India.

There are gems galore in this excellent anthology – it’s a veritable treasure trove which you could enjoy by dipping in and out of or devouring straight through. A must-have for mystery lovers’ shelves.

Craig Sisterson is a lawyer turned features writer who's interviewed hundreds of crime writers and talked about the genre on national radio, top podcasts, and onstage at festivals on three continents. He's been a judge of Australian, Scottish, and NZ crime writing awards, and is co-founder of Rotorua Noir. He's the author of the HRF Keating award-shortlisted non-fiction book SOUTHERN CROSS CRIME, and the series editor of acclaimed anthology DARK DEEDS DOWN UNDER. You can heckle him on Twitter.