Deadly Anniversaries


Book Description

A Best Book of 2020 from Suspense Magazine Deadly Anniversaries celebrates the 75th anniversary of the Mystery Writers of America with a collection of stories from some of the top names in crime fiction. An anniversary can honor many things: a birth, a wedding and sometimes even a death. In Deadly Anniversaries, editors Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini present new stories from some of the best contemporary authors to honor the diamond jubilee of the Mystery Writers of America, an organization founded on the principle that “Crime Doesn’t Pay—Enough.” Each author puts their own unique spin on what it means to recognize a certain day or event each year. These nineteen stories travel across a wide range of historical and contemporary settings and remind readers of how broad the mystery writing tradition can be, encompassing detective tales, domestic intrigue, psychological suspense, black humor and thrilling action. By the time this group of bestsellers and award-winners is through, none of us will ever look at anniversaries the same way again. Deadly Anniversaries is sure to shock, scare and delight mystery and suspense fans of all kinds, featuring the following contributors: Sue Grafton Laurie R. King Lee Child Margaret Maron S.J. Rozan Max Allan Collins Wendy Hornsby Jeffery Deaver Bill Pronzini Carolyn Hart Peter Lovesey Meg Gardiner Marcia Muller Julie Smith William Kent Krueger Peter Robinson Naomi Hirahara Doug Allyn Alison Gaylin Laura Lippman




Crime Hits Home


Book Description

*An Anthony Award 2023 Finalist* The newest anthology from Mystery Writers of America explores the theme of home and the crimes that endanger it, with stories by Ellen Hart, Naomi Hirahara, Walter Mosley, Sara Paretsky and more. Everyone comes from someplace. Everyone has somewhere they feel safe. Some people have found their home and are content where they are. Others feel trapped and yearn to go somewhere else. Many are somewhere else and yearn to go back. But evenin these safest of places, sometimes…crime hits home. What happens then? In this volume, MWA brings together some of today’s biggest crime writers—and some of our most exciting new talents—to consider this question. Each writer has defined home as they see fit: a place, a group, a feeling. The crime can come from without or within. What happens when crime hits home? Featuring stories from: Naomi Hirahara David Bart Sara Paretsky Susan Breen Gary Phillips Neil S. Plakcy Renee James Connie Johnson Hambley Gabino Iglesias A.P. Jamison Walter Mosley Tori Eldridge Ellen Hart G. Miki Hayden Jonathan Santlofer Jonathan Stone Ovidia Yu Bonnie Hearn Hill Steve Liskow S.J. Rozan







Odd Partners


Book Description

Unlikely pairs join forces to crack a slew of intriguing cases in an anthology edited by New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry, featuring original stories by Jacqueline Winspear, Jeffery Deaver, Allison Brennan, Charles Todd, and many more, including Perry herself. Throughout the annals of fiction, there have been many celebrated detective teams: Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. Nick and Nora Charles. Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings. Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. That last pair is the creation of beloved mystery writer Anne Perry, who, as the editor of Odd Partners and in conjunction with Mystery Writers of America, has enlisted some of today’s best mystery writers to craft all-new stories about unlikely duos who join forces—sometimes unwillingly—to solve beguiling whodunits. From Perry’s own entry, in which an English sergeant and his German counterpart set out to find a missing soldier during World War I, to a psychological tale of an airplane passenger who wakes up unsure of who he is and must enlist his fellow passengers to help him remember, to a historical mystery about a misguided witch-hunt and the unlikely couple that brings it down, each story deals in the wonderful complexities of human interactions. And not just human interactions: Honey bees avenge the death of their beekeeper, a wandering cat brings home clues to a murder, and a gray wolf and a fly fisherman in the Minnesota woods try to protect their land from a brash billionaire. Featuring work by New York Times bestselling authors, Edgar Award winners, and up-and-coming members of the Mystery Writers of America, these tales of friends, enemies, and pairs who lie somewhere in the middle will satisfy every type of mystery reader. With each author’s signature brand of suspense, these stories give new meaning to the word “teamwork.” Featuring stories by: Ace Atkins • Allison Brennan • Shelley Costa • Jeffery Deaver • Robert Dugoni • William Frank • Georgia Jeffries • Lou Kemp • William Kent Krueger • Joe R. Lansdale • Lisa Morton • Claire Ortalda • Anne Perry • Adele Polomski • Stephen Ross • Mark Thielman • Charles Todd • Jacqueline Winspear • Amanda Witt







When a Stranger Comes to Town


Book Description

ANTHONY AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST ANTHOLOGY Including NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly’s story “Avalon,” soon to be adapted for television by David E. Kelley. "The very best of what crime fiction should deliver." -New York Journal of Books The latest Mystery Writers of America story collection, featuring surprising, page-turning twists on the genre from some of the top bestsellers and award winners in crime fiction It’s been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there’s something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. No matter how or where they appear, strangers are walking mysteries, complete unknowns in once-familiar territories who disrupt our lives with unease and wonder. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, Dean Koontz and Joe Hill.




Reader, I Buried Them & Other Stories


Book Description

Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Peter Lovesey presents a collection of short fiction spanning fifty years, including the first story he ever published and three brand-new stories. More than fifty years ago, Peter Lovesey published a short story in an anthology. That short story caught the eye of the great Ruth Rendell, whose praise ignited Lovesey’s lifelong passion for short form crime fiction. On the occasion of his hundredth short story, Peter Lovesey has assembled this devilishly clever collection, eighteen yarns of mystery, melancholy, and mischief, inhabiting such deadly settings as a theater, a monastery, and the book publishing industry. The collection includes the career-launching story, as well as three never-before-published works. And surprising the author himself, the irascible Bath detective, Peter Diamond, "bulldozed his way" into this volume.




Deadly Anniversaries


Book Description

An anniversary can honor many things: a birth, a wedding and sometimes even a death. In Deadly Anniversaries, award-winning authors Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini present new stories from some of today's best mystery and crime authors, including:Sue Grafton Laurie R. King Lee Child Margaret Maron S.J. Rozan Max Allan Collins Wendy Hornsby Jeffery Deaver Bill Pronzini Carolyn Hart Peter Lovesey Meg Gardiner Marcia Muller Julie Smith William Kent Krueger Peter Robinson Naomi Hirahara Doug Allyn Alison Gaylin Laura Lippman




Steppe Dreams


Book Description

Steppe Dreams concerns the political significance of temporality in Kazakhstan, as manifested in public events and performances, and its reverberating effects in the personal lives of Kazakhstanis. Like many holidays in the post-Soviet sphere, public celebrations in Kazakhstan often reflect multiple temporal framings—utopian visions of the future, or romanticized views of the past—which throw light on present-day politics of identity. Adams examines the political, public aspects of temporality and the personal and emotional aspects of these events, providing a view into how time, mighty and unstoppable, is experienced in Kazakhstan.




Deadly Fate


Book Description

The woman’s bright blonde hair floats in the breeze. She almost looks like she could be resting on the soft green grass. But her brown eyes stare unblinking up at the sky, and the final cut across her mouth is dark with blood. Her words silenced forever… Late one evening, as the final church bell rings out, Sandra Deakin’s cold and lifeless body is found in the overgrown graveyard with multiple stab wounds. When Detective Kim Stone rushes to the scene, the violence of the attack convinces her that this murder was deeply personal. What could have caused such hate? As the team dig into Sandra’s life, they discover she believed she could communicate with the dead. Was that why she was targeted? The last people to see her alive were a group of women who had a session with her the night before she was killed, and as Kim and her team pay them a visit, they soon learn each of the women is lying about why they wanted Sandra’s help… Kim realises she must dig deep and open her mind to every avenue if she’s going to stand a chance at solving this case. And when she learns that Sandra was banned from the church grounds and had been receiving death threats too, she’s ever more certain that Sandra’s gifts are at the heart of everything. But just when she thinks she’s found a lead, the broken body of a nineteen-year-old boy is found outside a call centre – a single slash across his mouth just like Sandra’s. Kim knows they are now racing against time to understand what triggered these attacks, and to stop a twisted killer. But they might be too late. Just as Kim sits down at a local psychic show she discovers something that makes her blood run cold. Both Sandra and the call centre were named in an article about frauds. And this show stars the next name on the list. She looks around the audience with a feeling of utter dread, certain the killer is among them… Totally addictive with a final twist that will leave you shouting out loud, you’ll want to inhale Deadly Fate in one sitting. Fans of Karin Slaughter, Val McDermid and Robert Dugoni will love the new crime thriller from the number one multi-million-copy bestselling author Angela Marsons. Can be read as a standalone. Read what everyone is saying about the Detective Kim Stone series: ‘Wowsers! I’m once again blown away!… captivating… seriously wonderful… Fabulous… I can’t wait for the next Kim Stone novel!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Absolutely fantastic!!! If anything, it’s better than fantastic!!… Kim Stone is the best detective going, Angela Marsons is the best crime writer around! What more can I say! Fab, fab, fab!’ Stardust Book Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Amazing… someone might call me to say the roof has fallen down, I would tell them I would deal with that detail later on, after I finished my utterly captivating book… I loved this… 5 stars.’ B for Book Review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oh my giddy aunt!!… outstanding… totally and utterly enthralled throughout the whole book!… there were times whilst reading this book that I had to remember to breathe… 5 huge sparkly stars!!’ The Fiction Café, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘THIS is my most favourite of all time!!!… totally flawless. As always 5* just isn’t enough. If you haven’t yet read this full series SHAME ON YOU!’ @bookreviewercakemaker, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow!! Honestly, every time I read a book in this series I think it can't get better than the last incredible one, and every time I am proven wrong! Incredible pace as always, amazing storyline and character arcs and a heartracing cliff hanger. What more can you want?!’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Incredible, can’t put it down, have to read, don’t start before dinner time as the kids won’t get fed, book… Fabulous… Highly recommended.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Marsons has done it again!… grabs the reader from page one and doesn’t let go till you turn that final page… outstanding.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Omg talk about a rollercoaster read, wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout… I had trouble putting this down!’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Angela Marsons’ books seriously need to come with a warning… because believe me, as soon as you turn that first page, you have no escape, Marsons’ tentacles reach out, wind themselves around you and suck you right in… She ends with a bang as usual, it gave me all the feels – a rush of warmth but also the cold fingers of fear running down my spine – I need book 19 like yesterday!… you would be crazy to miss it!’ Chapter in my Life, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A cracker of a book that readers will devour. Smart, gripping and packed with enthralling characters, this darkly addictive tale will reel you in from the get-go… keeps you hooked from the first page until the last… brilliant… outstanding… I would highly, highly recommend.’ The Book Review Café, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘You know you’re reading an absolute belter of a book when you wake up at 5am and your first thought is “I need to finish this book”… A fabulous five-star read.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Grabs the reader’s attention from the very first page and the tension increases page after page… And the conclusion! Waiting for book nineteen will be brutal!’ Robin Loves Reading, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Brilliant series… brilliant ending… brilliant author.’ Goodreads reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐