It's fascinating to see some of my favourite crime novelists coming together to create a taut, tense thriller; each chapter stands alone as a powerful story, yet they also combine seamlessly into a great read. Genuinely gripping.' – Harlan Coben *** With each crime writer picking up the story in their usual locale, each of the authors tell a gripping story of murder, betrayal and intrigue. Running through each story is a charm bracelet which brings bad luck wherever it's found. Set in locations ranging from nineteenth-century Georgia to wartime Leeds, the book features stories from contributors such as Peter Robinson (writing about 1940s Leeds), Fidelis Morgan, Lynda La Plante (1970s Britain), Val McDermid (1980s Scotland) and Mark Billingham tackling contemporary London

Best-selling author Scott Turow takes the helm for the tenth edition of this annual, featuring twenty-one of the past year’s most distinguished tales of mystery, crime, and suspense. Elmore Leonard tells the tale of a young woman who’s fled home with a convicted bank robber. Walter Mosley describes an over-the-hill private detective and his new client, a woman named Karma. C. J. Box explores the fate of two Czech immigrants stranded by the side of the road in Yellowstone Park. Ed McBain begins his story on role-playing with the line “ ‘Why don’t we kill somebody?’ she suggested.” Wendy Hornsby tells of a wild motorcycle chase through the canyons outside Las Vegas. Laura Lippman describes the “Crack Cocaine Diet.” And James Lee Burke writes of a young boy who may have been a close friend of Bugsy Siegel. As Scott Turow notes in his introduction, these stories are “about crime — its commission, its aftermath, its anxieties, its effect on character.” The Best American Mystery Stories 2006 is a powerful collection for all readers who enjoy fiction that deals with the extremes of human passion and its dark consequences