Murder and Obsession

The third entry in Otto Penzler's themed series of new stories focuses on obsession: a topic so broad that almost any crime story can be shoehorned in from Elmore Leonard's arson investigation to Shel Silverstein's droll sex offender anecdote. In a very strong line-up, Joyce Carol Oates' vampire, Edna Buchanan's shoe fetishist, James Hall's voyeur, Elizabeth George's scheming modern champion of Richard III, and Ed McBain's city dweller driven barking mad by a yappy Maltese, are up there with the best. Including a pair of wild cards from regional specialists Dennis Lehane (who leaves Boston to holiday among some memorable southern lowlifes) and Michael Malone whose path crosses Lehane's as he travels north for a closer look at homicide in New York, and with supporting performances by Kent Anderson, James Crumley, Anne Perry and Amanda Cross, this terrific volume explores the depths of obsession - for the height of bone-chilling diversion.


Genre: Mystery