Edited by: Robert J. Randisi

The third volume in this "indispensable" (Publishers Weekly) series offers more of our favorite fictional detectives' inaugural cases- and includes two never-before-published stories. Meet a diverse group of gumshoes as they commense their sleuthing careers...

Follow Tony Hillerman's Jim Chee as he investigates rumors of witchcraft in the steamy Southwest. Join Laura Lippman's Tess Monaghan when she looks into a suspicious house fire in Baltimore. Compare the detecting tactics of Maxine O'Callaghan's pioneering private eye Delilah West with those of contemporary lady sleuths like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum and Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak. See Victorian England through the eyes of Anne Perry's Lady Vespasia. Explore modern-day Manhattan with Lawrence Block's Chip Harrison. From classic to conterporary, from hard-boiled to cozy, this wide-ranging collection of stories includes a tale for every taste.

Contents:

• Her Dagger Before Me by Talmage Powell
• A Change of Clients by Maxine O’Callaghan
• Chee’s Witch by Tony Hillerman
• Death of the Mallory Queen by Lawrence Block
• Snow by Stuart M. Kaminsky
• Someone Else by John Lutz
• Polo at the Ritz by Jerry Kennealy
• The Pig Man by Les Roberts
• And Pray Nobody Sees You by Gar Anthony Haywood
• Nooses Give by Dana Stabenow
• Salad Days by Wendi Lee
• The Last Peep by Janet Evanovich
• Orphans Court by Laura Lippman
• An Affair of Inconvenience by Anne Perry