Robert Alter - 101 Mystery Stories

Ritchie (A TASTE FOR MURDER) — Copyright © 1963 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. First appeared in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of Larry Sternig Literary Agency.

Moore — Copyright © 1973 by Arthur Moore. First published in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Stevens — Copyright © 1963 by Davis Publications, Inc. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Davis and Babcock — Copyright 1938 by The Frank A. Munsey Company. Reprinted by permission of Mrs. Ruth Babcock.

Rice (THE MAN WHO SWALLOWED A HORSE) — Copyright 1953 by Flying Eagle Publications Inc. Originally published as THE DEAD MR. DUCK. Reprinted by permission of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Granbeck — Copyright © 1968 by Marilyn Granbeck. First published in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Queen (DIAMONDS IN PARADISE) — Copyright 1954 by Mercury Publications, Inc.; copyright renewed © 1982 by Ellery Queen. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the author’s Estate, the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Fish (THE ART OF DEDUCTION) — Copyright © 1979 by Robert L. Fish. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of Richard Curtis Associates, Inc.

Muller — Copyright © 1983 by Marcia Mullen Reprinted by permission of the author.

Holding — Copyright © 1964 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Simenon (THE SECRET OF FORT BAYARD) — Copyright 1943 by Georges Simenon. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Bloch (A HOME AWAY FROM HOME) — Copyright © 1961 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

DeRosso — Copyright © 1960 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the author’s Estate, the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

McBain — Copyright 1953; copyright renewed © 1981 by Evan Hunter. Reprinted by permission of John Farquharson Ltd.

Slesar (THE CANDIDATE) — Copyright © 1961 by Greenleaf Publishing Company. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Parker — Copyright © 1978 by Davis Publications, Inc. First published in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Gilbert — Copyright © 1956 by Michael Gilbert. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Sisk (DEATHBED) — Copyright © 1974 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Moore — Copyright © 1979 by Richard A. Moore. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Nevins (COUNTERPLOT) — Copyright © 1980 by Francis M. Nevins, Jr. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Wallmann — Copyright © 1972 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Hershman (LETTER TO THE EDITOR) — Copyright 1953 by Morris Hershman. Reprinted by permission of Larry Sternig Literary Agency.

Henderson — Copyright © 1957 by Mercury Publications. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of Larry Sternig Literary Agency.

Block (GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT) — Copyright © 1977 by Lawrence Block. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Pronzini (THE TERRARIUM PRINCIPLE) — Copyright © 1981 by Bill Pronzini. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Suter — Copyright © 1959 by Davis Publications, Inc. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Nielsen — Copyright © 1957 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Woolrich (SOMEBODY ON THE PHONE) — Copyright 1937 by Frank A. Munsey Company; copyright renewed © 1966 by Cornell Woolrich. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the author’s Estate, the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Goulart — Copyright © 1965 by Davis Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Flora (A COOL SWIM ON A HOT DAY) — Copyright © 1961 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

Malzberg — Copyright © 1975 by Renown Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Collins — Copyright © 1972 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Hoch (THE ODOR OF MELTING) — Copyright © 1965 by Davis Publications, Inc. First published in ELLERY QUEEN’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Jeffrey — Copyright © 1972 by H.S.D. Publications. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Ritchie (QUEASY DOES IT) — Copyright © 1965 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Larry Sternig Literary Agency.

Lutz (THE EXPLOSIVES EXPERT) — Copyright © 1967 by H.S.D. Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Slesar (NOT THE RUNNING TYPE) — Copyright © 1959 by Davis Publications, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Queen (E^MURDER)-Copyright © 1960, 1965 by Ellery Queen. First published in THIS WEEK. Reprinted by permission of the agents for the author’s Estate, the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc., 845 Third Ave., New York, NY 10022.

MacDonald (THE HOMICIDAL HICCUP) — Copyright 1948 by Popular Publications, Inc.; copyright renewed © 1976 by John D. MacDonald. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Variety is the key word for this collection of mystery and suspense stories. The book you are holding is the largest ever compiled in terms of the number of stories included, and is also one of the largest in length. It includes outstanding stories by writers from several countries, as well as from various time periods, ranging from the nineteenth century to the 1980s.

You will find such classic early practitioners of the mystery-writer’s art as Edgar Allan Poe, the father of the modern mystery; Guy de Maupassant; Charles Dickens; O. Henry (William Porter), of the twist ending; the multitalented Jack London; Stephen Crane; and a hard-to-find gem by Frank R. Stockton.

The authors of the “classic” period of the 1920s to the 1940s (some of whom are still active) are also well represented with stories by Georges Simenon of Belgium (now resident in Switzerland); Leslie Charteris; the immortal Ellery Queen (Fred Dannay and his cousin Manfred Lee); the undeservedly forgotten Fletcher Flora; the prolific but excellent Erie Stanley Gardner; and Melville Davisson Post, among many others.

Suspense in the “hard-boiled” tradition made famous by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler is particularly well represented here by such men as John D. MacDonald (with two of his least known stories); Fredric Brown; Gil Brewer; Cornell Woolrich, the “Poet of the Shadows,” who set a pattern for suspense writing that has been widely imitated but never equaled; William Campbell Gault, still going strong after all these years; the late Jack Ritchie, one of the true masters of the short mystery story; Robert Bloch, famous for writing Psycho, an achievement that has unfortunately overshadowed his other excellent works; and John Jakes, a fine mystery/suspense writer who has moved on to bigger things with his Bicentennial series and such best sellers as Love and War .