As these come out in the summer, I tend to think of them rather like an adult holiday special. The various authors put their usual sleuths through their paces, with tales of hoards of treasure, a man skinned alive in Westminster Abbey and college riots to name three. If you are not a reader of these authors’ usual work then I won’t advise reading this, as it is aimed at fans and specifically those fans who are up to the sleuths’ latest adventures. The content can perhaps be unfairly described as "more of the same" for obvious reasons, but it is an entertaining more of a rather good same! One of my two favorite stories is by Ian Morson, who has abandoned well-trodden paths (which are getting rather eroded) and blazed his own trail with a Venetian conman in 13th century Russia. You can almost hear the icy winds moaning during his taut, atmospheric story told in the first person by his engaging new sleuth. Joining the happy band for the first time is C J Sansom, who has a surprise for readers in the shape of the final story from not the distant past, but the future. He paints a grimly realistic picture of the 22nd century and a waterlogged, despoiled earth that seems as prophetic as the Black Book of Bran.