Murder and Obsession

Kent Anderson * Edna Buchanan * Amanda Cross * James Crumley * Philip Friedman * James W. Hall * Ed McBain * Michael Malone * Joyce Carol Oates * Shel Silverstein * Eric van Lustbader

Her toenails were bloodred, her lips were blue in Edna Buchanan's "The Red Shoes," a riveting tale that takes us into the life of a foot fetishist who steps into the middle of a murder....What happens when a hard-nosed insurance investigator lights up a joint and sniffs out a case of arson? It's a tale that only Elmore Leonard could tell, in "Sparks."...Elizabeth George reaches into English history in "I, Richard," as an academic obsessed by a priceless artifact plots a deadly course of seduction--only to discover that fate is the most quixotic mistress of all.

From lethal spikes to fatal kisses, from mad dogs to battle-crazed Englishmen, here indeed is Murder and Obsession, in these and 12 other all-new stories from Anne Perry, Dennis Lehane, Eric van Lustbader and others.  For these are the best of the best, America's favorite writers exploring a deliciously chilling subject: obsession at its most insidious.

Otto Penzler is the owner of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City, Los Angeles, and London.  The founder of The Mysterious Press and Otto Penzler Books, he is also the editor of the acclaimed collections Murder for Love and Murder for Revenge.  He received an Edgar Award for the Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection, and was honored by the Mystery Writers of America in 1994 with the Ellery Queen Award for his contributions in the publishing field.  He lives in New York City.