What a grand love affair people have with food, the only thing that can simultaneously delight all five senses. The sound of a porterhouse steak as it sizzles on the grill... the sight of a golden brown turkey roasting in the oven... the cool feel of watermelon on a steamy day... the smell of apple pie as it bakes to perfection...all fill us with delight and joy. But the final most glorious sense–taste–is sated with the first delectable bite.

Some people's appetite for food is exceeded only by their appetite for crime. As our demand for creative dishes has increased, so has the opportunity for evil epicureans to combine their talent for wickedness with their love of good food and drink. Thus they are able to lay their victims low in one fell swoop, using nothing more than a well-cooked meal or specially concocted libation.

This menu of eighteen stories of culinary crimes and death beckons everyone. Readers are advised to quiet any hunger pangs before turning the pages, for the meals described may be worth dying for. As an added bonus, recipes pertinent to each story's flavor are included, making this savory concoction, indeed, a true collection of Murder Most Delectable.

Contents:

• Introduction by John Helfers
• The Last Bottle in the World by Stanley Ellin
• Takeout by Joyce Christmas
• The Case of the Shaggy Caps by Ruth Rendell
• The Cassoulet by Walter Satterthwait
• Tea for Two by M.D. Lake
• The Second-Oldest Profession by Linda Grant
• Connoisseur by Bill Pronzini
• Gored by Bill Crider
• Day for a Picnic [as by Pat McMahon] by Edward D. Hoch
• Guardian Angel by Caroline Benton
• The Main Event by Peter Crowther
• The Deadly Egg by Janwillem van de Wetering
• Dead and Breakfast by Barbara Collins
• Recipe for a Happy Marriage by Nedra Tyre
• Death Cup by Joyce Carol Oates
• Poison Peach by Gillian Linscott
• Of Course You Know that Chocolate Is a Vegetable by Barbara D’Amato
• Poison à la Carte by Rex Stout
• Authors’ Biographies