A collection of short mystery stories by New Zealand's premier mystery writer. Also included are the author's essays about her major character, Detective-Inspector Rodericl Alleyn.

 Considered one of the "Queens of Crime"--along with such greats as Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and Margery Allingham--Ngaio Marsh (1895-1982) was a gifted writer and a celebrated author of classic British detective fiction, as well as a successful theater director. Best known for the 32 detective novels she published between 1934 and 1982, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in 1966. Based on years of original research by the curator of the Ngaio Marsh House in Christchurch, New Zealand, this book explores the fascinating literary world of Dame Ngaio.

Edgar Award-winning author Dana Stabenow is best known for her Kate Shugak series of crime novels, but the unifying protagonist of almost all her writing, be it crime, fantasy, horror, or science fiction, is Alaska. This genre-spanning collection of sixteen short stories features familiar characters like Kate and Jim, Liam and Wy, and Bill and Moses, but also ranges farther afield than many readers will expect, leaping from modern-day Anchorage to twenty-second-century Mars to the fantasy kingdom of Mnemosynea. Remarkably disparate, but indisputably Stabenow, a writer whose fertile imagination is anything but predictable. Titles in this collection are 'Nooses Give', 'Conspiracy', 'Under the Influence', 'Wreck Rights', 'Cherchez la Femme', 'Siren Song', 'The Eyak Interpreter', 'Any Taint of Vice', 'On the Evidence', 'Missing, Presumed...', 'The Perfect Gift', 'Gold Fever', 'Cheechako', 'No Place Like Home', 'Justice is a Two-Edged Sword', and 'A Woman's Work'. Newly added in this edition, find 'Collected Essays' and 'Dana on Writing' as well.

In honor of the 70th birthday of Professor Douglas G. Greene, mystery genre scholar and publisher, this book offers 24 new essays and two reprinted classics on detective fiction by contributors around the world, including ten Edgar (Mystery Writers of America) winners and nominees. The essays cover a myriad of authors and books from more than a century, from J.S. Fletcher's The Investigators, originally serialized in 1901, to P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley, published at the end of 2011. Subjects covered include detective fiction in the Edwardian era and the "Golden Age" between the two world wars; hard-boiled detective fiction; mysteries and intellectuals; and pastiches, short stories and radio plays.

And though she laments, "So many mysteries, so little time," she makes a good effort at mentioning "some of the best of the rest.""--BOOK JACKET.

Presents a comprehensive guide for mystery and detective fiction, compiling over 2,500 titles from more than 200 authors and including plot overviews, a history of the genre, and a discussion on collection development.