These vibrant tales transport readers from the home front in Great Britain where ominous clouds of war will soon lead to the trenches of France, to the bloody front lines where Lieutenant Rutledge must risk his life to save his men. And finally to the exotic, dangerous India of Bess Crawford's youth. Together they create a fascinating glimpse into the extraordinary backgrounds of two of mystery's most popular characters.

    After passing out on his bed for five hours, he comes downstairs to discover communication has been cut off forever - by a hole in the middle of her forehead. Down at the club, passions run high, on and off the field. This is a home game for Detective Superintendent Andrew Dalziel who knows all the players, male and female. But Sergent Peter Pascoe whose loyalties lie with another code has a few ideas of his own. This is the first appearance together on any field for Dalziel and Pascoe, and already we can feel that electricity of opposite but complementary skills which will take them into the topmost division

    In a wry send-up of the classic “locked room” puzzle, an Egyptian sage ponders the mystery of a locked tomb. In another tale, a Roman slave’s investigation of a theft leads him to people in very high places. Edgar Allan Poe’s Auguste Dupin has been resurrected for a new adventure, as have historical figures, from William Shakespeare—hot on the trail of Christopher Marlowe's murderer—to Samuel Johnson, with Boswell playing his Dr. Watson! (And speaking of Watson… the wizard of Baker Street, Sherlock Holmes himself, appears in an original story written by the son of Arthur Conan Doyle!) These 23 tales comprise a mixed bag of delicious crime capers designed to tickle the fancy of any dedicated mystery buff.Contents: The locked tomb mystery / Elizabeth Peters — The thief versus King Rhampsinitus / Herodotus — Socrates solves a murder / Brèni James — Mightier than the sword / John Maddox Roberts — The treasury thefts / Wallace Nichols — A Byzantine mystery / Mary Reed and Eric Mayer — He came with the rain / Robert van Gulik — The High King’s sword / Peter Tremayne — The price of light / Ellis Peters — The confession of Brother Athelstan / Paul Harding — The witch’s tale / Margaret Frazer — Father Hugh and the deadly scythe / Mary Monica Pulver — Leonardo da Vinci, detective / Theodore Mathieson — A sad and bloody hour / Joe Gores — The Christmas Masque / S. S. Rafferty — Murder lock’d in / Lillian de la Torre — Captain Nash and the Wroth inheritance / Raymond Butler — The Doomdorf mystery / Melville Davisson Post — Murder in the Rue Royale / Michael Harrison — The gentleman from Paris / John Dickson Carr — The Golden Nugget poker game / Edward D. Hoch — The case of the Deptford horror / Adrian Conan Doyle — Five rings in Reno / R. L. Stevens — Afterword : Old-time detection / Arthur Griffiths

    New Orleans has always had a heart of noir.Brand-new stories by: Thomas Adcock, Ace Atkins, Patty Friedmann, David Fulmer, Barbara Hambly, Greg Herren, Laura Lippman, Tim McLoughlin, James Nolan, Ted O'Brien, Eric Overmyer, Jeri Cain Rossi, Maureen Tan, Jervey Tervalon, Olympia Vernon, Christine Wiltz, Kalamu Ya Salaam, and Julie Smith, who also edited the collection.

    Together these stories form The Weird, and its practitioners include some of the greatest names in twentieth and twenty-first century literature.Exotic and esoteric, The Weird plunges you into dark domains and brings you face to face with surreal monstrosities. You won't find any elves or wizards here... but you will find the biggest, boldest, and downright most peculiar stories from the last hundred years bound together in the biggest Weird collection ever assembled. The Weird features 110 stories by an all-star cast, from literary legends to international bestsellers to Booker Prize winners: including William Gibson, George R. R. Martin, Stephen King, Angela Carter, Kelly Link, Franz Kafka, China Miéville, Clive Barker, Haruki Murakami, M. R. James, Neil Gaiman, Mervyn Peake, and Michael Chabon.

    Blessed by great wealth, they can get what they want, even what they shouldn't have. Cursed by great wealth, they become the targets of others who will risk everything to become affluent. In THE RICH AND THE DEAD, bestselling author Nelson DeMille introduces twenty original tales by today's most elite mystery writers who explore the life (and death) styles of the rich and infamous. In Ted Bell's ?The Pirate of Palm Beach, ? an arrogant society columnist feels the unsociable ? and deadly ? backlash from his poison pen. In Lee Child's ?Addicted to Sweetness, ? a swaggering drug lord plots a nasty payback against a thieving underling. In David Morrell's ?The Controller, ? a seasoned protection specialist may need to be protected from the mercurial finance titan who purchases his services... and tests his loyalties. From multinational boardrooms to palatial mansions to exotic playlands, these suspenseful, gold-standard tales reveal in scary, funny, and riveting ways just how much trouble money can buy. Featuring stories by Nelson DeMille, Ted Bell, Peter Blauner, Karen Catalona, Tim Chapman, Lee Child, Michael Connelly, Frank Cook, David DeLee, Joseph Goodrich, Daniel J. Hale, Roberta Isleib, Harley Jane Kozak, David Morrell, Carolyn Mullen, Twist Phelan, S. J. Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, Elaine Togneri, and Angela Zeman.

    The collection boasts great variety from "famous to first-timers, sifted from major magazines and little reviews, grand and little worlds" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), ensuring yet another rewarding, eduring edition of the oldest and best-selling Best American.The idiot President / Daniel Alarcón --Yurt / Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum --Rubiaux rising / Steve de Jarnatt --Beyond the pale / Joseph Epstein --A shadow table / Alice Fulton --NowTrends / Karl Taro Greenfeld --The farms / Eleanor Henderson --Sagittarius / Greg Hrbek --Hurricanes anonymous / Adam Johnson --The anniversary trip / Victoria Lancelotta --A man like him / Yiyun Li --The briefcase / Rebecca Makkai --Magic words / Jill McCorkle --One dog year / Kevin Moffett --Modulation / Richard Powers --Them old cowboy songs / Annie Proulx --Into the gorge / Ron Rash --Ostracon / Alex Rose --The peripatetic coffin / Ethan Rutherford --Muzungu / Namwali Serpell --Contributors' notes --100 other distinguished stories of 2008 --Editorial addresses of American and Canadian magazines publishing short stories

    Until, that is, he reappeared in London in 1894. Holmes remained mostly quiet on the events of those years and for over a century speculation has run riot about what really happened during the 'hidden years.' Now in this original collection, the truth is finally revealed. Including stories by Peter Beagle, Rhys Bowen, Bill Pronzini, Carolyn Wheat, Gary Lovisi, and others, Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years is a must-have book for every fan who has ever wondered what really happened to the world's most famous consulting detective during his mysterious missing years.

    Go on vacation with Allison Brennan's Lucy Kincaid, where she saves a man from drowning, only to discover he is in far greater danger on land. Meet Roxanne St. Claire's "bullet catcher"-bodyguard Donovan Rush-who may have met his match in the sexually charged "Diamond Drop." Debut author William Simon shows us what happens when the granddaughter of the president of the United States is kidnapped. And Lee Child's pitch-perfect "I Heard a Romantic Story" puts a whole new spin on Love Is Murder.Bodyguards, vigilantes, stalkers, serial killers, women (and men!) in jeopardy, cops, thieves, P.I.s, killers-these all-new stories will keep you thrilled and chilled late into the night.Love Is Murder is the third Thriller anthology written exclusively by members of International Thriller Writers, Inc. Barely seven years old, ITW has a roster that reads like a who's who of thriller writing, with 1,635 members representing 28 countries worldwide and over three billion books in print. Headed by current copresidents Douglas Preston and Kathleen Antrim, its board of directors has included such notables as Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Steve Berry, James Rollins, M. J. Rose, Carla Neggers, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell and David Hewson. More information is available on the ITW website, www.thrillerwriters.org.SANDRA BROWNSandra Brown is the author of sixty New York Times bestselling novels. Writing professionally since 1981, she has published more than seventy novels and has upward of eighty million copies of her books in print worldwide.She holds an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Texas Christian University, and in 2008 she was named Thriller Master, the top award given by the International Thriller Writers Assoc.DIAMOND DROP by Roxanne St. ClaireCOLD MOONLIGHT by Carla NeggersPOISONED by Beverly BartonSPEECHLESS by Robert BrowneLOCKDOWN by Andrea KaneSPIDER’S TANGO by William SimonNIGHT HEAT by Laura GriffinB.A.D. MISSION by Sherrilyn KenyonDEADLY FIXATION by Dianna LoveHOT NOTE by Patricia RosemoorLAST SHOT by Jon Land & Jeff AyersGRAVE DANGER by Heather GrahamWITHOUT MERCY by Mariah StewartEVEN STEVEN by D.P. LyleDYING TO SCORE by Cindy GerardTHE NUMBER OF MAN by J.T. EllisonHARD DRIVE by Bill FloydAFTER HOURS by William BernhardtBLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT by Brenda NovakWED TO DEATH by Vicki HinzeTHE HONEYMOON by Julie KennerEXECUTION DOCK by James MacomberIN ATLANTIS by Alexandra SokoloffBREAK EVEN by Pamela CallowDIRTY DOWN LOW by Debra WebbBROKEN HALLELUJAH by Toni McGee CauseyHOLDING MERCY by Lori ArmstrongVACATION INTERRUPTED by Allison BrennanI HEARD A ROMANTIC STORY by Lee Child

    The founding and early members were amongst the most famous and best loved figures in the golden age - Agatha Christie, G. K. Chesteron, Dorothy Sayers, John Dickson Carr (the only American ever to be a member) among others - and membership remains by invitation only.      Now to celebrate the impending seventy-fifth anniversary of The Detection Club, its members have produced The Detection Collection - a collection of eleven new stories from the best and the brightest in the British crime field. This original volume includes never-before-published stories from Lindsey Davis, P.D. James, Robert Barnard, Colin Dexter, John Harvey, Reginald Hill, Peter Lovesey, and others, as well as an introduction and history of the Detection Club from the current Club president Simon Brett.  This outstanding collection is a true must-have volume for mystery lovers around the world.

    Terrifying urban myths, malicious ghosts, cursed architecture, malignant city deities, personal demons (in business or relationships) twisted into something worse virtually anything that inspires the contributors to imagine some bit of urban darkness."

    The title story, Quantum of Solace, lends its name to the upcoming James Bond film, slated to release in Fall 2008. This collection will be published to coincide with the film's release, as well as to continue Penguin's centenary celebrations of Fleming's birth.

    Cain, Chester Himes, Ross MacDonald, Walter Mosley, Naomi Hirahara, Margaret Millar, Joseph Hansen, William Campbell Gault, Jervey Tervalon, Kate Braverman, and Yxta Maya Murray.Editor Denise Hamilton is the author of the Eve Diamond series and the editor of "Los Angeles Noir." Her latest novel, "Los Angeles Times" bestseller "The Last Embrace," has been compared to works by James Ellroy and Raymond Chandler. She lives in Los Angeles.

    Featured writers include Ellen Hart, Judith Guest, William Kent Krueger and Carl Brookins. This is a must-have for mystery buffs.

    A female sheriff in a flooded town attempts to cover up a murder. When a farmer harvesting a field accidentally runs over his son, his grief sets him off walking, mile after mile. A band of teens bent on destruction runs amok in a deserted town at night. As these men and women lash out at the inscrutable churn of the world around them, they find a grim measure of peace in their solitude.Throughout Volt, Alan Heathcock's stark realism is leavened by a lyric energy that matches the brutality of the surface. And as you move through the wind-lashed landscape of these stories, faint signs of hope appear underfoot. In Volt, the work of a writer who's hell-bent on wrenching out whatever beauty this savage world has to offer, Heathcock's tales of lives set afire light up the sky like signal flares touched off in a moment of desperation.