An ex-con undergoes a mesmerizingly sinister temptation in Lawrence Block's "In for a Penny." In newcomer Phil Lovesey's "Under the Knife," an ex-patient puts his doctor through a terrifying ordeal. A woman and her friends tumble through a challenging rescue during the French Revolution of "The Escape" by Anne Perry. A paranoid rock star leads a tale of unexpected discovery in Melodie Johnson Howe's "Killing the Sixties." Many of the characters portrayed in Crème de la Crime catapult through adventures culminating in stultifying twists. This compendium of mysteries features crime of various moods and high anxiety. Often suspenseful, deliciously haunting, and even delightfully satirical, Crème de la Crime offers more than your basic mystery, but if you desire a traditional whodunit, that's here, too, included within a satisfying group of stories of distinguished originality. Incorporating elements of whimsy, turbulence, and enough stomach-churning suspense to satisfy the most hard-boiled, Crème de la Crime is documented excellence, chosen and edited by Janet Hutchings, written by winners of the world's top mystery awards.

Contents:

• Introduction by Janet Hutchings
• In for a Penny by Lawrence Block
• Triangle by Jeffery Deaver
• Spooked by Carolyn Hart
• Out of Control by Clark Howard
• Da Capo by Janet LaPierre
• The Serpent’s Back [Cullender] by Ian Rankin
• Saint Bobby by Doug Allyn
• Best Behaviour by Simon Brett
• Hoops by S.J. Rozan
• The Carer by Ruth Rendell
• The Safest Little Town in Texas by Jeremiah Healy
• Because It Was There by Peter Lovesey
• The Third Manny [Owen Keane] by Terence Faherty
• Details by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• One Bag of Coconuts [Jeffrey Rand] by Edward D. Hoch
• The Sky-Blue Ball by Joyce Carol Oates
• The Wrong Hands by Peter Robinson
• Not Enough Monkeys by Benjamin M. Schutz
• Big Sister [Underground] by Andrew Vachss
• Poppy and the Poisoned Cake [Gordianus the Finder] by Steven Saylor
• Rumpole and the Absence of Body [Horace Rumpole] by John Mortimer
• Killing the Sixties [Diana Poole] by Melodie Johnson Howe
• Trade Wars by Brendan DuBois
• Under the Knife by Phil Lovesey
• The Escape by Anne Perry
• Joyce’s Children [Lew Fonesca] by Stuart M. Kaminsky
• Of Course You Know that Chocolate Is a Vegetable by Barbara D’Amato