The Best American Mystery Stories

Brief Description: "[Most of] these stories are portraits, in styles ranging from sly to harrowing, of how crimes occurred ... If you like all your characters living at the end of a story, this may not be the book for you." -- from the introduction by Scott Turow Best-selling author Scott Turow takes the helm for the tenth edition of this annual, featuring twenty-one of the past year's most distinguished tales of mystery, crime, and suspense. Elmore Leonard tells the tale of a young woman who's fled home with a convicted bank robber. Walter Mosley describes an over-the-hill private detective and his new client, a woman named Karma. C. J. Box explores the fate of two Czech immigrants stranded by the side of the road in Yellowstone Park. Ed McBain begins his story on role-playing with the line "'Why don't we kill somebody?' she suggested." Wendy Hornsby tells of a wild motorcycle chase through the canyons outside Las Vegas. Laura Lippman describes the "Crack Cocaine Diet." And James Lee Burke writes of a young boy who may have been a close friend of Bugsy Siegel. As Scott Turow notes in his introduction, these stories are "about crime -- its commission, its aftermath, its anxieties, its effect on character." The Best American Mystery Stories 2006 is a powerful collection for all readers who enjoy fiction that deals with the extremes of human passion and its dark consequences. Table of Contents: Foreword - ix Introduction by Scott Turow - xiv Karen E. Bender Theft - 1 C. J. Box Pirates of Yellowstone - 18 James Lee Burke Why Bugsy Siegel Was a Friend of Mine - 31 Jeffery Deaver Born Bad - 45 Jane Haddam Edelweiss - 63 William Harrison Texas Heat - 81 Alan Heathcock Peacekeeper - 93 Emory Holmes II A.k.a., Moises Rockafella - 112 Wendy Hornsby Dust Up - 129 Andrew Klavan Her Lord and Master - 144 Elmore Leonard Louly and Pretty Boy - 154 Laura Lippman The Crack Cocaine Diet (Or: How to Lose a Lot of Weight and Change Your Life in Just One Weekend) - 169 Ed McBain Improvisation - 180 Mike MacLean McHenry's Gift - 197 Walter Mosley Karma - 205 Joyce Carol Oates So Help Me God - 240 Sue Pike A Temporary Crown - 266 Emily Raboteau Smile - 278 R. T. Smith Ina Grove - 281 Jeff Somers Ringing the Changes - 309 Scott Wolven Vigilance - 320 Contributors' Notes - 345 Other Distinguished Mystery Stories of 2005 - 356 Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 08/07/2006 pg. 36 (EAN 9780618517473, Paperback)

Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2006 pg. 880 (EAN 9780618517473, Paperback)

Booklist 09/01/2006 pg. 60 (EAN 9780618517473, Paperback) - *Starred Review

Publishers Weekly 08/07/2006 pg. 36 (EAN 9780618517466, Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews 09/01/2006 pg. 880 (EAN 9780618517466, Hardcover)

Booklist 09/01/2006 pg. 60 (EAN 9780618517466, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Contributor Bio:  Turow, Scott Scott Turow is a practicing attorney and the author of eight novels, as well as nonfiction works such as One L and Ultimate Punishment. He frequently contributes essays and op-ed pieces to publications such asthe New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, Playboyandthe Atlantic. Turow s books have won a number of literary awards, including the Heartland Prize, the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, andTimemagazine s Best Work of Fiction. His books have been translated into more than twenty-five languages, sold more than twenty-five million copies worldwide, and have been adapted into a full length film and two television miniseries. Turow graduated from Harvard Law School in 1978 with top honors, was an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and served as president of the Authors Guild. He lives outside of Chicago. Contributor Bio:  Penzler, Otto Otto Penzler is the proprietor of the Mysterious Bookshop, the founder of the Mysterious Press, the creator of Otto Penzler Books, and the editor of many books and anthologies.