Donald Maass Literary Agency

A riveting collection of five of the most famous crime novels of the 1920s, presenting anew some of the most admired authors of the era—with insightful annotations by the Edgar-winning anthologist Leslie S. Klinger.

American crime writing was reborn in the 1920s. After years of dominance by British authors, new American writers—with fresh ideas about the detective and the mystery—appeared on the scene and rose to heights of popularity not witnessed since the success of the Sherlock Holmes tales in America.

Classic American Crime Writing of the 1920s—including House Without a Key, The Benson Murder Case, The Roman Hat Mystery, Red Harvest, and Little Caesar—offers some of the very best of that decade’s writing. Earl Derr Biggers wrote about Charlie Chan, a Chinese-American detective, at a time when racism was rampant. S. S. Van Dine invented Philo Vance, an effete, rich amateur psychologist who flourished while America danced and the stock market rose. The quintessential American detective Ellery Queen leapt onto the stage, to remain popular for fifty years. Dashiell Hammett brings readers another mystery narrated by the Continental Op. W. R. Burnett, created the indelible character of Rico, the first gangster antihero.

Each of the five novels included is presented in its original published form, with extensive historical and cultural annotations and illustrations added by Edgar-winning editor Leslie S. Klinger, allowing the reader to experience the story to its fullest. Klinger’s detailed foreword gives an overview of the history of American crime writing from its beginnings in the early years of America to the twentieth century. This gorgeously illustrated volume includes over 100 color and black and white images as well as an introduction by the eminent mystery publisher Otto Penzler.

When a ransom exchange turns deadly in this thrilling mystery from New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry, Commander William Monk faces an unthinkable possibility: betrayal by his own men.

Jacob’s Island is a broken-down waterside slum, a place of perpetual gloom where Monk is just as likely to lose a man to the mud and tides as to the criminals who hide in the shadows. Kidnappers have chosen this warren of tunnels and alleys as the site of a ransom exchange for Kate Exeter, the wife of wealthy real estate developer Harry Exeter. Harry asks the Thames River Police to secretly accompany him to the spot and ensure that no harm comes to him or his captive wife. But on arrival, Monk and five of his best men are attacked from all sides, and Monk is left wondering who could have given away their plans.

As Monk follows leads from Kate’s worried cousin and a crafty clerk at the bank where Exeter gathered the ransom money, it seems undeniable that one of his own men has betrayed him. Delving into their pasts, he realizes how little he knows about the people he works with every day, including his right-hand man John Hooper, the one colleague Monk has always been certain he can count on—but who is also hiding a dreadful secret. As the case runs into a series of deadly obstructions, Monk must choose between his own safety and the chance to solve the mystery—and to figure out where his men’s loyalty really lies.