Small Felonies 2

50 short-short stories told in first-person, third-person, present as well as past tense, and in epistolary format; tales of detection (three feature long-running series character, the “Nameless Detective”), psychological suspense, historical noir, light and dark fantasy, satirical humor, horror, the biter-bitten, the O. Henry twist, a shaggy dog story or two, even a shameless futuristic Hemingway pastiche. The earliest entry, “I Know a Way,” was published in 1971; the most recent, “Such Things As Nightmares Are Made Of,” appears here for the first time. Fourteen were written in collaboration with Barry Malzberg. More than a score were first printed in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine; others in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance, The Strand Magazine, Analog Science Fiction, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine; the balance in anthologies. 50 crime stories… each a connoisseur’s delight!

Bill Pronzini has been a full-time professional writer since 1969, and has published 90 novels, including seven in collaboration with his wife, Marcia Muller, and 46 in his popular “Nameless Detective” series. He is also the author of four nonfiction books, 20 collections of short stories, and scores of uncollected articles, essays, and book reviews; and he has edited or coedited numerous anthologies. His work has been translated into nineteen languages and published in nearly thirty countries. In 2008 Pronzini was named Mystery Writers of America Grand Master―their highest award―and has received six nominations for MWA’s Edgar Allan Poe award, as well as three Shamus Awards, two for best novel, and the Lifetime Achievement Award (presented in 1987) from the Private Eye Writers of America. Pronzini and his wife live in Petaluma, California.