I went into this collection expecting a lot, considering the contributors are all well respected authors in the genre. Admittedly, I have to read them all yet, but will hope to in the future, despite not enjoying every short story in this collection.

As with all short story collections, there should be something for everybody, and I thoroughly enjoyed some. I particularly enjoyed

- The Luncheon, by Chrisopher Fowler: great twists and the contrast of the setting to the conversation made this unforgettable. This may be the best structured story in the group.
- Silver Fox, by Michael Ridpath: a story of illusions and misunderstandings with a modern take that may have you thinking of those off-the-wall true crime documentaries you see all over the place now.
- Crimes Ancient and Modern, by LC Tyler: husband and wife writers try to outwit each other. It's slick and smart, and also blended with humour.
- Murder at Mousecomb, by Alison Joseph: a story I can easily imagine as a TV series. It was such a well told story that is dark but also with amazing characters and heart.
- An Old-Fashioned Murder, By David Stuart Davie: very short, but so engaging. This will also make you laugh. It's probably the quirkiest story in the collection.
Full Circle, by Abir Mukherjess: quite a dark tale, but so powerful and the characters are wonderful. This may be the most emotional tale in the collection.

The others stories are serviceable but not standouts for me. But the idea of being able to read a book of stories written by so many respected authors is something not to be missed. And every reader is sure to find something they love.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

(I got an advancing reading copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review).

To the delight of so many readers (like me!), we will have soon a new book written by the members of The Detection Club.

Playing Dead was written to honour Simon Brett for his 80th anniversary this year, as a way to celebrate his contributions to the Club, and includes short stories from 22 members of The Detection Club, including Simon Brett (President Emeritus of the Club) and Martin Edwards (editor of this anthology and current President of the Club).

According to Edwards, that organised and edited the collection, the contributors were encouraged to write whatever type of crime story they preferred, and this shows in a truly delightful way.

And indeed, what I loved the most about this collection was the diversity we get in terms of sub-genres, place (one of the stories takes us all the way to Iceland), time, and even form. We get historical mysteries, police procedurals, even satire, we get stories that occur today's, with cellphones and Internet as part of the story, as well as stories in the 1930's, we get stories that deal with writers and publishers and that add to the discussion of the genre hardboiled/cosy (can I call it a meta-fiction-essay? Delicious!), we also get stories with that twist or final kick that is so satisfying to read, we get stories that borrow characters from Simon Brett's works, but also writers like Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins as characters, and others that nod to Agatha Christie's characters and titles, we get short stories, but also an haiku and a non-fiction essay.

This exercise of inserting known characters into (and acting in) new contexts was really exciting to read, it was like seeing the writers making a new experiment, with pleasurable results.

At the same time, besides having this wonderful diversity, the collection also has an arching coherence, that was captured both in the title and by Piers Tilbury in the cover design: there is a regular theme of theatre, radio shows and studios, actors, and acting in general, which is really fitting: besides being an author of detective fiction, with several book series, Simon Brett is also a playwright, producer and writer for radio and television. I'm sure I'm being unfair with other works, but let me cite the BBC radio drama adaptations of Lord Peter Wimsey with Ian Carmichael, which the first six instalments were directed by Simon Brett, just because they are probably my favourite radio adaptations ever.

I would also like to highlight the final essay by Simon Brett sharing his memories about the Club. Not only it was delightful to read, but I think it is critically important as memory preservation for the Club's future history.

Finally, I knew other works by some of the authors, but not all of them, so I think this collection also gives us the opportunity to read sub-genres that we usually wouldn't pick to find new writers and new books.

An excellent set of short stories put together to commemorate Simon Brett’s time as Chairman of the Detection Club. I enjoyed the mix of stories ranging from those based on the Golden Age crime stories to the more modern.
A good cross section of writers too.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

This book of mystery short stories was collected by Martin Edwards in order to honor the popular author Simon Brett. So lucky for the reader that this project was undertaken as there is much to enjoy in these pages.

Following Edwards’ introduction, there are more than twenty stories as well as contributions by Brett himself. Biographical information on the contributors in also included.

This veritable who’s who has entries by so many of my favorite authors. To name some of them: Ann Cleeves, Peter Lovesey, Kate Ellis, Elly Griffiths and Frances Brody. Readers will no doubt find their own favorites here. That said, a short story is an ideal way to find a new favorite author and I now have even more books that I will want to read after discovering the author here.

Sometimes a short story is “just the ticket.” Dip in and out of this title for a bit of mystery refreshment. No story is too long so each is perfect for a brief break in the day.

Highly recommended to lovers of the genre and these authors.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for this title. All opinions are my own.

Playing Dead is a collection of 22 short stories by members of the venerable Detection Club, written to celebrate former president Simon Brett's eightieth birthday.

Normally with short story collections there's variable quality, but in this case all the authors are notable masters of their craft and have offered up excellent tales. Some of them have added Simon Brett-related Easter eggs, for example by giving roads the names of Brett's famous detectives or having a character read a Brett book within the story. Current president of the Detection Club Martin Edwards acts as editor (and presumably cajoler and requester of the stories) and has done a wonderful job of collecting the stories as he so often has before.

A first class collection, recommended to lovers of classic detective fiction.

This collection of short stories, by different authors made for interesting reading. All were very different in style and some much better than others. There were none that blew me away and a couple I read and thought what?? The mix made for an easy and overall enjoyable read. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early release of this novel

The Detection Club which is made up of famous crime fiction writers, has produced these short stories in honour of Simon Brett's eightieth birthday. The book's introduction is by current President Martin Edwards who succeeded the previous incumbent - Simon Brett.
I have not read many anothologies of short stories, mainly because i prefer to get to know a book's characters over the book's length. However as this comprises twenty two stories by famous authors, it deserves special praise.
I enjoyed most of the stories, but particularly enjoyed John Harvey's Charlie Resnick, it was good to catch up with the now retired police man based in Nottingham ( although i would have prefered a happier ending!). It was great treading the boards with Charles Paris again, and enjoyed him getting it wrong again! Also Ann Cleeves always tells a good tale and "Sleeping Beauty" is no exception. Elly Griffiths "Woman in White" is a very interesting take on a Wilkie Collins classic.
The book ends with Simon Brett's personal memoir of being a Detection Club member for forty five years, fourteen of those as President. It then lists the past presidents and surprisingly since the inauguration in 1930 there have only currently been eight.
If you enjoy crime fiction I would recommend this anthology.

Playing Dead, short stories by members of the detection club by multiple authors, whenever you have an anthology or collection of short stories written by many different authors, they’ll be some love and some not so much as a fan of mysteries I must say I truly enjoyed most of these, although my favorite was the mic drop ending of The Luncheon, there were others that really came close. There was one. I really didn’t understand it, but I won’t mention which one it is because I don’t want to ruin it for that author nor anyone who’s a future reader of this awesome collection of stories. #NetGalley,#SeverinHouse, #TheBlindReviewer, #PlayingDead, #MartinEdwards,

As with any short story collection, these are a bit hit and miss. There are some absolute crackers, some weird tales and some where the authors are being over clever. Worth a read for the good ones.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This is a short story collection that has a bunch of stories by authors who are in the detection club. This was written as a celebration for the former president's 80th birthday.

I thought this collection was just ok. I think it had some good stories and some that were not the best. None of them really stood out as amazing to me though.

Collections like this don't normally work for me so I think it is more a me problem than anything.

This may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but it is exactly the type of book I love: a collection of short stories by current members of the Detection Club. I’m an avid fan of classic mysteries, and an enthusiastic reader of the original Club founders. This collection features stories from authors whom I already know and love, as well as others that were new to me, and there isn’t a single bad one. Since they are part of an institution, all the writers show a deep knowledge and love for the genre. They understand all the tropes so well that they can play with them to surprise the readers. It was shocking to find that most of these characters are our contemporaries and carry cell phones and use the internet. My favorites were the humorous ones, especially Ruth Dudley Edwards’ “Publish and be Damned” and David Stuart Davies’ “An old-fashioned murder.” Michael Ridpath’s entry tackles a very contemporary problem. Legends like Catherine Aird and Peter Lovesey also collaborated. Extra points for Simon Brett’s own recollections of belonging to the Club. Dame Agatha would be proud of her successors.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Severn House.

I actually throughly enjoyed this book, although for me, it felt like the collection was uneven at times. Some stories excelled for me while others fell short. But overall the highlights of the book made my experience overall worthwhile.

Thank you to netgalley for the ARC

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A collection of short stories written as a celebration of the eightieth birthday of Simon Brett, the former president of the Detection Group, by the group members – recognized and respected crime writers, among them Ann Cleeves, Christopher Fowler, Elly Griffiths and Kate Ellis.
It is surely a nice tribute to honour Simon Brett's lifework, but to be completely honest – a not very memorable one. The stories are interesting, for the most part, usually well written and quite fun, but I probably will forget them in a few weeks. There's not one story to truly shine, to stand out as really brilliant, original, twisted or suspenseful. Still, they are well crafted and entertaining, so overall a nice read.

#PlayingDead #NetGalley

A very hit and miss selection of short stories in tribute to the 80th birthday of Simon Brett, former chair of the Detection Club. It’s a great opportunity to bring together the current members of the detection club to each write a story, and with writers as good as this there are some real stand outs. However… I think some of the writers are too reliant on being a bit clever, over-emphasising the connections to Simon Brett and his work (which was new to me), or toying with the principles of detective stories. Many are based around the theatre, home of Simon Brett’s Charles Parris (a fun story in here makes me interested in reading more). Some favourites are Crimes Ancient and Modern by LC Taylor, Dead Ground by Andrew Taylor and The Luncheon by the late great Christopher Fowler.

Worth a punt as for every average story a good one will be along soon enough.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

I’m starting to love short stories more and more, especially when they’re as good as these ones!

This book of short stories sounded really cool and I was definitely looking forward to reading it. However, I feel like I'm not the target audience for this one. A lot of people really enjoyed these stories, unfortunately I was not one of them. From the first 12 stories, I gave 4 stars to two of them, but the rest were 3 star or less and just didn't hold my interest. One story, I didn't even understand what the mystery was supposed to be. I did like the concept of the book being short stories from members of the Detection Club as they celebrated the 80th birthday of Simon Brett. Happy Birthday, ol' chap!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying the eARC in return for an honest review.

Severn House provided an early galley for review.

I was not familiar with the Detection Club, so I appreciated Edwards' introduction that outlined the group's long history. And the book closes with Brett's own look back at his time with the group. In between is a variety of tales to keep the mystery enthusiast engaged.

Short stories can be a tricky format as is, but adding the overlay of a mystery/crime genre to it makes it even more so. Some of the authors in this collection rose to that challenge; others (in my eyes) appear to have struggled a little with it. I do find that tends to be the case with any anthology collections I pick up - some just hit better than others.

What A Joy…!
A truly joyous anthology of short stories from members of the Detection Club as they celebrate the 80th birthday of Simon Brett. With a true mixed bag of crime fiction from cozy to hard boiled, from historical to dark and dangerous and all from esteemed authors in their field and edited by Martin Edwards - a special mention here of the return of much adored amateur sleuth Charles Paris from the wonderful Simon Brett himself. Wholly entertaining and endlessly enjoyable.

Martin Edwards’ Playing Dead is a masterful collection of crime stories that delve into the theme of deception and hidden motives. Each story showcases Edwards’ talent for crafting intricate plots and vivid characters, keeping readers engaged from start to finish. With twists and unexpected revelations, the book is a treat for mystery enthusiasts. Edwards’ ability to balance suspense with human drama makes Playing Dead a standout in the genre. Highly recommended for fans of clever and atmospheric mysteries.

A Fantastic variety of short stories in this collection to celebrate the 80th Birthday of Simon Brett... Happy Birthday, ole Chap! Eye, Eye! :D
This was Absolutely my cup of tea! Loved it! This reminds me of the mystery magazines i subscribed to back in the day and was So much fun to read!
I definitely had several favourites and would be hard pressed to pick my top five. Only maybe 2 or 3 weren't really speaking to me, but what an Amazing Collection overall!
Thank you to Severn House and Netgalley for this ARC, it is Top Notch :)