MAXIM JAKUBOWSKI owns London’s Murder One mystery bookshop. Previously a publisher, he was the editor of the Black Box Thrillers and Blue Murder imprints. He has written or edited over thirty-five books and, in 1992, won the Anthony award for One Hundred Great Detectives.

A Scotsman presently living in France with wife and son, IAN RANKIN is the creator of Inspector Rebus, an unconventional Scottish sleuth whose latest appearance was in The Black Book. He was the winner of the 1992 Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship in crime and detective fiction.

JESSICA PALMER is an American writer who lives in Harrow, outside London. Her first two novels are in the horror field, Dark Lullaby and Cradle Song. She is currently writing a series of fantasy books for young adults. She was once called Sam, but that was in Texas.

Possibly the only thriller writer ever to have been nominated twice for the Booker Prize, JULIAN RATHBONE is related to that most revered of Sherlock Holmes impersonators, Basil Rathbone. His international thrillers have been translated into several languages; the latest was Sand Blind.

MOLLY BROWN is another American expatriate living outside London. Her short stories have been regularly appearing in some of the leading anthologies and magazines in both the crime and science fiction field, where she won the Best Short Story of the Year BSFA award in 1992. Previously a stand-up comic, she is writing her first crime novel.

After an early career in teaching and western writing, JOHN HARVEY made a much noticed entry into the crime field, with his dour Nottingham policeman Charlie Resnick. The object of a well-received television series, Resnick’s last appearance was in Wasted Years. His appearance in this volume is his first short story.

MICHAEL Z. LEWIN (the Z stands for Zinn) is an American crime writer who lives in Somerset. He is known for his soft-boiled Albert Samson and Leroy Powder mysteries, and his many radio plays. He also co-edits (with Liza Cody) the annual Crime Writers’ Association anthology First Culprit. His new novel is Underdog.