Nine Sons — Wendy Hornsby

No hit-or-miss anthology, this first-rate collection of 25 contemporary mysteries offers a cross-section view of the American detective, suspense and mystery short-story worlds. Gorman, editor of Mystery Scene, gathers the works of such masters as Tony Hillerman, Sharyn McCrumb, Ed McBain and Margaret Maron to fully support Jon L. Breen's introductory appreciation of ``the amazing breadth and depth of the present-day output.'' Margaret Millar's opening tale (one of the six stories with original copyright dates preceding the 1980s) sets the tone by warning readers to expect the unexpected when a little girl becomes infatuated with the new family in the neighborhood. Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone ferrets out a murderer at a clown convention; Bill Pronzini's Nameless Detective quickly puts together small clues to find a killer. Robert Bloch, Linda Grant, Lawrence Block, Joe Gores and Joan Hess are among the talented crew whose stories comprise this admirably representative, memorable collection. (Nov.)