From traditional mystery stories with devious doings and a plot full of clues to terse thrillers with edge-of-the-seat climaxes to the nail-biting tale of psychological suspense, no field of popular fiction can match contemporary crime writing in diversity, excitement, cunning, or satisfaction. In this stunning collection of the year's best offerings in the genre, armchair detectives, suspense addicts, and crime solvers alike can thrill to new stories by Edward D. Hoch, Carolyn Wheat, Jeffrey Deaver, Stuart Kaminsky, Val McDermid, Laura Lippman, Joyce Carol Oates, and Max Allen Collins, in the unique way only mystery fiction can provide.