Table of Contents

Otto Penzler: Foreword

PART ONE
THE CRIMEFIGHTERS

Harlan Coben: Introduction
Paul Cain: One, Two, Three
Dashiell Hammett: The Creeping Siamese
Erle Stanley Gardner: Honest Money
Horace McCoy: Frost Rides Alone
Thomas Walsh: Double Check
Charles G. Booth: Stag Party
Leslie T. White: The City of Hell!
Raymond Chandler: Red Wind
Frederick Nebel: Wise Guy
George Harmon Coxe: Murder Picture
Norbert Davis: The Price of a Dime
William Rollins, Jr.: Chicago Confetti
Cornell Woolrich: Two Murders, One Crime
Carroll John Daly: The Third Murderer

PART TWO
THE VILLAINS

Harlan Ellison: Introduction
Erle Stanley Gardner: The Cat-Woman
Cornell Woolrich: The Dilemma of the Dead Lady
Richard Sale: The House of Kaa
Leslie Charteris: The Invisible Millionaire
Steve Fisher: You’ll Always Remember Me
Dashiell Hammett: Faith
James M. Cain: Pastorale
Frank Gruber: The Sad Serbian
Raymond Chandler: Finger Man
Erle Stanley Gardner:The Monkey Murder
Raoul Whitfield: About Kid Deth
Frederick C. Davis: The Sinister Sphere
Paul Cain: Pigeon Blood
C. S. Montanye: The Perfect Crime
Norbert Davis: You’ll Die Laughing
Frederick Nebel: The Crimes of Richmond City
i) Raw Law
ii) Dog Eat Dog
iii) The Law Laughs Last
iv) Law Without Law
v) Graft

PART THREE
THE DAMES

Laura Lippman: Introduction
Cornell Woolrich: Angel Face
Leslie T. White: Chosen to Die
Eric Taylor: A Pinch of Snuff
Raymond Chandler: Killer in the Rain
Adolphe Barreaux: Sally the Sleuth
C. S. Montanye: A Shock for the Countess
C. B. Yorke: Snowbound
Randolph Barr: The Girl Who Knew Too Much
D. B. McCandless: The Corpse in the Crystal
D. B. McCandless: He Got What He Asked For
P. T. Luman: Gangster’s Brand
Robert Reeves: Dance Macabre
Dashiell Hammett: The Girl with the Silver Eyes
Perry Paul: The Jane from Hell’s Kitchen
Whitman Chambers: The Duchess Pulls a Fast One
Roger Torrey: Mansion of Death
Roger Torrey: Concealed Weapon
Carlos Martinez: The Devil’s Bookkeeper
Lars Anderson: Black Legion
Richard Sale: Three Wise Men of Babylon
Eugene Thomas: The Adventure of the Voodoo Moon
T. T. Flynn: Brother Murder
Stewart Sterling: Kindly Omit Flowers

Contributors Notes
Permissions Acknowledgments

About the Author

Otto Penzler is the proprietor of The Mysterious Bookshop in New York City. He was publisher of The Armchair Detective, the founder of the Mysterious Press and the Armchair Detective Library, and created the publishing firm Otto Penzler Books. He is a recipient of an Edgar Award for The Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection and the Ellery Queen Award by the Mystery Writers of America for his many contributions to the field. He is the series editor of The Best American Mystery Stories of the Year. His other anthologies include Murder for Love, Murder for Revenge, Murder and Obsession, The 50 Greatest Mysteries of All Time, and The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century. He wrote 101 Greatest Movies of Mystery & Suspense. He lives in New York City.