Ellery Queen Presents Grifters, Gangsters, Hit Men, and Other Career Crooks 1

Ellery Queen Presents Stories of Grifters, Gangsters, Hit Men, and Other Career Crooks Volume 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction KELLER THE DOGKILLER by Lawrence Block THE GIN MILL by Doug Allyn A DAY AT THE BEACH by Helen Tucker LOSING MY RELIGION by Ken Bruen THE OLD STORY by Liza Cody MEXICAN GATSBY by Raymond Steiber SMILING JOE AND THE TWINS by Florence V. Mayberry THE RELUCTANT OP by Barbara Paul THE OCCUPATIONAL REHABILITATION OF COUSIN HENRY by Tom Tolnay A WAY WITH HORSES by Therese Greenwood THE KIM NOVAK EFFECT by Gary Phillips INVESTMENT IN VEVEY by Olen Steinhauer STALKING HORSE by Susan B. Kelly TO LIVE AND DIE IN MIDLAND, TEXAS by Clark Howard The Crooked Road: Ellery Queen Presents Stories of Grifters, Gangsters, Hit Men, and Other Career Crooks A story in the famous Keller series by Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Lawrence Block provides the first stop in this anthologys journey along the road taken by professional criminals of mystery fiction. Its a road that leads back to the gangsters heyday of Prohibition in stories by multiple Edgar Allan Poe Award winner Doug Allyn, Canadian writer Therese Greenwood, and one of EQMMs classic contributors, Florence Mayberry. The road also takes some forward turns in time: Theres a thriller by New York Times Editors Choice List author Olen Steinhauer about Internet-generated crime and a thoroughly modern grifters tale by Gary Phillips. Readers wont want to miss the humorous byways of the genre either, in stories by Liza Cody, Tom Tolnay, and Helen Tucker; or the rough alleys of a port city in the action-packed cliff-hanger by Barbara Paul. Finally, theres the dark end of the street, represented by Susan B. Kellys third-place winning story from MWAs Golden Anniversary Contest and Raymond Steibers 2003 Edgar Allan Poe Award winner for Best Short Story. Last but certainly not the least of the noir selections is a story from Irelands celebrated Ken Bruen. The journey comes to an end with Edgar Allan Poe Award winner Clark Howards story of a crook who lives and dies on the back roads of his own hometown.