Collected in these pages are the stories of twenty-four artful artisans of crime fiction. Although most of the stories are built on sudden death, all dispense with the ordinary whodunit formula to probe the dangerous passions of the murderer's mind. The few that don't involve the act of murder nonetheless deal with serious transgressions of society's rules.Michele Slung has carefully chosen stories penned by some of the best writers of past and present - among them Nobel laureates, hardcore realists, and master ironists.Montaldo / John CheeverThe hitch-hikers / Eudora WeltySuccess or failure / T.H. WhiteBy a person unknown / Naguib MahfouzHow did I get away with killing one of the biggest lawyers in the state? It was easy. / Alice WalkerThe Hotel of the Idle Moon / William TrevorAaron Trow / Anthony TrollopeThe fat man / Isek DinesenMr. Loveday's little outing / Evelyn WaughMiss Forbes's summer of happiness / Gabriel García MárquezThe Macbeth murder mystery / James ThurberA double an actor's story/ Louisa May AlcottUn crime maternel / Fay WeldonMary Postgate / Rudyard KiplingThe walker / Patrick O'BrianCountry lover's / Nadine GordimerMonk / William FaulknerThe widow and the a true story / Virginia WoolfMy maiden brief / W.S. GilbertAn act of vengeance / Isabel AllendeIn vino veritas / A.A. MilneThe Portobello Road / Muriel Spark