Murderous Schemes: An Anthology of Classic Detective Stories

When plotting a murder (figuratively speaking), the mystery writer has at hand any number of M.O.s: the locked room, the unbreakable alibi, the double bluff, and the mistaken identity. Now, in Murderous Schemes, renowned mystery writers Donald E. Westlake and J. Madison Davis offer an illuminating look at eight such mystery conventions, illustrating each with four short stories written by some of the masters of the form, such as Dorothy L. Sayers, Chester Himes, Edward D. Hoch, and Lawrence Block, to name but a few.

Donald E. Westlake received the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for his novel God Save the Mark and in 1993 won their Grandmaster Award for lifetime achievement. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay for The Grifters. J. Madison Davis is Professor of Journalism in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Oklahoma and is current president of the International Association of Crime Writers. He is the author of The Murder of Frau Schutz, which was nominated for the Edgar Award.