The authors are a mixture of some of the biggest names in the business, such as Robert B Parker, Jeffery Deaver, and Laurie King, paired with a few lesser known and new-to-me authors. The stories themselves range nicely. Basketball has been called "The City Game," and most of them have a decidedly urban flavor, but they cover territory from playing to the edgy hip-hop beat of life in the projects of modern DC to back in the 1930s before the NBA existed, when pro hoops was "the college sport's ugly little sister" and New York and Philly had Jewish barnstorming teams.

I really enjoyed this anthology. The stories were of consistently high quality, with one of the biggest surprises being how much I enjoyed ones by authors whose usual novels aren't necessarily wholly to my taste. All of them are filled with the rhythm of the game, and as any real hoops fan knows, the game is all about rhythm, from the staccato beat of a point guard's dribble to the smooth flow of a well synchronized fast break or backdoor pass. That is not to say the mysteries play second fiddle to the basketball. There are puzzles to solve with a variety of twists and surprises; and while one of my favorites isn't exactly a mystery in the classic sense, it pulses with so much vivid life that you don't really care. Otto Penzler's introduction is classic Penzler: curmudgeonly, opinionated, but with knowledge and smarts backing those opinions. Clearly, he and the writers know and love both hoops and mysteries, making this a perfect read for readers like me who feel the same. Highly recommended.