Changes

At just over forty stories, no one could accuse Jakubowski of a misleading title – this is definitely mammoth! Packed inside it are some of the best known crime writers currently active on these shores, with Ian Rankin's long-awaited Rebus return, ''The Very Last Drop'', probably being the highlight in terms of anticipation, at least tothose of us who didn't catch it when it was originally published on the Royal Blind website to raise money for the charity. There's no doubt that this is one of the best stories in the collection – it's intriguingly plotted and has a great resolution despite being very short – but my personal favourite would be Simon Kernick's ''RobertHayer's Dead''. Kernick is fast becoming the crime writer I most anticipate new work from and this is exceptional, featuring a tormented father, a terrified child, and a stunning twist. Other standouts for me include a pair of authors I hadn't previouslyencountered, Mick Herron whose ''Dolphin Junction'' is absolutely ingenious and very well written, and Stuart MacBride whose ''The Ballad of Manky Milne'', which starts with the title character up to his neck in a septic tank, is incredibly entertaining. I think both Manky Milne, and the protagonist of Gerard Brennan's ''Hard Rock'', may be a little too over the top for some readers but thought that the humour of both stories shone through well despite the level of violence.

Having said that, there are a significant number in the collection which did rather little for me – Allan Guthrie's ''The Turnip Farm'', which starts with a man making love to some turnips and somehow goes downhill, was a particular offender but at least stood out, even if it was for the wrong reason. Looking at six or seven of the others, Ican't remember which was which from the first few lines because they were so unmemorable, and I wonder whether Jakubowski should have tried for more consistently high quality by slimming the book down a little. Given there's a fair few lesser known authors here as well, I also think it's a shame not to have included any biographical details or information about the authors before the individual stories, instead