John Creasey's Crime Collection, 1986

An anthology of modern British mystery stories features the work of such authors as Julian Symons, H.R.F. Keating, Simon Brett, Peter Lovesey, Michael Gilbert, Andrew Garve, and Ted Allbeury

The latest collection from members of Britain's Crime Writers' Association can only be counted a disappointment unless one is a fan of facile, unlikely plots acted out by stereotypes. Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine can be blamed for only seven of the 16 stories here but, except for Tony Wilmot's very short ``The Last of the Midnight Gardeners,'' all the tales exhibit stunning unoriginality. Ella Griffiths's ``The Dead Don't Steal'' (translated from Norwegian) also shows a flagrant disregard for playing fair with the reader. There are some top writers hereTed Allbeury, Simon Brett, Victor Canning, Andrew Garve, H.R.F. Keating, Julian Symons among othersbut they're obviously saving their top stories. The best that can be said of these selections is that they are short, minimizing the pain. (January 12) Copyright 1986 Cahners Business Information.