Denim, Diamonds and Death offers a fine collection from authors supporting the 50th Anniversary of the Mystery Writers of America’s annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Dallas, Texas. Here are fifteen stories that run the gamut from heists to revenge, intricate plots to secrets uncovered, and more than a few tales that defy easy classification. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the 2019 Bouchercon’s official charity, Literary Instruction for Texas (LIFT). Edited by Rick Ollerman with stories by Carole Nelson Douglas, John M. Floyd, Dana Haynes, Thomas Luka, Michael Allan Mallory, Angela Crider Neary, Laura Oles, Josh Pachter, John Shepphird, Debra Luttanzi Shutika, Julie Tollefson, Tim P. Walker, Robb White, Kenneth Wishnia, and Mark Wisniewski.

DENIM, DIAMONDS AND DEATH: Bouchercon Anthology 2019 edited by Rick Ollerman.

Mickey Finn: 21st Century Noir, Volume 2, the second entry of the hard-hitting anthology series, is a crime-fiction cocktail that will again knock readers into a literary stupor. Contributors push hard against the boundaries of crime fiction, driving their work into places short crime fiction doesn’t often go, into a world where the mean streets seem gentrified by comparison and happy endings are the exception rather than the rule. And they do all this in contemporary settings, bringing noir into the 21st century. Like any good cocktail, Mickey Finn is a heady mix of ingredients that packs a punch, and when you’ve finished reading every story, you’ll know that you’ve been “slipped a Mickey.” The nineteen contributors, including some of today’s most respected short-story writers and new writers making their mark on the genre, include: Trey R. Barker, John Bosworth, Michael Bracken, Scott Bradfield, S.M. Fedor, Nils Gilbertson, J.D. Graves, James A. Hearn, Janice Law, Hugh Lessig, Gabe Morran, Rick Ollerman, Josh Pachter, Robert Petyo, Stephen D. Rogers, Albert Tucher, Joseph S. Walker, Sam Wiebe, and Stacy Woodson.

In a career spanning nearly four decades, Bill Crider published more than sixty crime fiction, westerns, horror, men’s adventure and YA novels. In this collection 20 of today’s best and brightest, all friends and fans of Bill’s, come together with original stories to pay tribute to his memory. Authors include: William Kent Krueger, Bill Pronzini, Joe R. Lansdale, Patricia Abbott, Ben Boulden, Michael Bracken, Jen Conley, Brendan DuBois, Charlaine Harris, David Housewright, Kasey Lansdale, Angela Crider Neary, James Reasoner, James Sallis, Terry Shames, S. A. Solomon, Sara Paretsky, Robert J. Randisi, SJ Rozan, and Eryk Pruitt. William Kent Krueger (Ordinary Grace, the Cork O’Connor series) brings us a story of romance and grift. Bill Pronzini (the Nameless Detective and Carpenter & Quincannon series) offers a taut episode of a midnight raid. Joe R. Lansdale (The Bottoms, the Hap and Leonard series) tells a tale of two hit men working through their differences. James Sallis (Drive, the Lew Griffin series) shows us how a deadly figure once helped out a man called Bill. Charlaine Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse and Midnight, Texas series) reminds us to be careful of what we wish for. Sara Paretsky (the V.I. Warshawski series) shows how truly deadly a terrible storm can be. These and fourteen more stories are offered here in the appreciation of our friend and colleague, Bill Crider. These stories were written for him.

A New York City ex-cop with too many rules and a Spanish ex-spy with too few make the perfect bounty hunters to track down the world’s most wanted. St. Nicholas Salvage & Wrecking Michael Patrick Finnigan and Katalin Fiero Dahar of St. Nicholas Salvage & Wrecking, a largely illegal bounty hunting operation, get the assignment to track down and save a group of kidnapped Middle Eastern refugee children. But when they discover that the perpetrator is a Serbian mobster, the partners reach out to their “friends” to find justice. Sirocco A serial bomber is wreaking havoc throughout Europe. Former cop Michael Finnigan and former assassin Katalin Fiero—the brains behind St. Nicholas Salvage & Wrecking—may be the only ones who can stop the carnage. As the partners learn who they can—and can’t—trust, they come face-to-face with shocking secrets at the highest echelons of the world’s intelligence communities. The Saint of Thieves When Michael gets a panicked call that Sally Blue is in trouble, he and Katalin head to Rome to help. Sally’s a friend, and her outfit of thieves, the Black Harts, have proved themselves invaluable to St. Nicholas on numerous ops in the past. But saving Sally gets more complicated by the minute, for she’s set her larcenous sights on astronomically valuable goods.

From the hand of skilled surgeon Dr. John Raffensperger, writing as John Luck M.D., comes a penetrating medical thriller that lays the essence of corrupt 1950s Chicago open to the bone, deftly weaving a story that is equal parts mob, murder and medicine. When a local gangster loses the priceless diamonds he planned to steal from his mob boss, a doctor is suspected of recovering the loot from a wounded bagman hurt during the melee. For Cook County Hospital's Dr. Tom Slocum, a returning Korean war veteran in doubt of his ability as a doctor after losing a buddy during a battlefield surgery, the last thing he needs is another war-this time with the Chicago mafia, corrupt city workers and cops on the take. Will Dr. Slocum's scalpel save his own life as he tries to choose whom to trust? Will diamonds be the death of him?