Am putting the finishing touches on my second Elm Books anthology, Death and the Detective, which is slated for release on May 11. There’s a beautiful mix of seasoned and new authors–people mystery lovers will recognize, and some exceptional new talent. I’m very proud of this collection.
Here are the foreword and the table of contents to whet your appetite.
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FOREWORD
When soliciting stories for Death and the Detective, I gave authors two parameters: the main character must be an investigator of sorts, and the plot must involve a death. It sounds simple, but authors ended up taking these guidelines to some interesting and diverse places. In addition to the expected murder mysteries, we also received stories about near-death, animal death, suicide, arson, fortuitous accidents, not-so-fortuitous accidents, and setups. In some stories, death is well-deserved. In others, it is merely unavoidable. In still others, tragedy has some unexpectedly positive consequences for those left behind.
Regarding investigators, we have a few PIs, some cops, some ex-cops, an insurance adjuster, ATF, a security guard, and even a pair of Shadow Wolves—the formidable Native American trackers who work with Homeland Security. To my editorial delight, the stories fell neatly into five categories: Doublecross, Revenge, Something to Prove, They Needed Killin’, and Second Chances.
All of the stories are exceptionally written, and I’m proud to present them.
Jess Faraday, 2013
CONTENTS
DOUBLECROSS
Happy Valentine’s H. Tucker Cobey
Dirty Cop Michael Mallory
REVENGE
White Devil Sarah M. Chen
Detecting for Dummies Mark Hague
SOMETHING TO PROVE
Not So Lucky Carol Leininger
Burnout Robert D. Hughes
THEY NEEDED KILLIN’
Rough Justice/Tender Mercies Leonhard August
Golden Handcuffs Jess Faraday
SECOND CHANCES
Helpless Mary Ward
Foot in the Trashcan, Body in the Dumpster Lee Mullins
The Cat Gay Toltl Kinman
Jess Faraday 