Acknowledgments

First I want to thank the anthologists and scholars who helped lure me into this entertaining subset of crime fiction, primarily Ellery Queen and Otto Penzler. Throughout my work on this collection, Otto advised and encouraged. I also especially want to thank anthologist Douglas G. Greene; Roger Johnson, BSI, editor of The Sherlock Holmes Journal in England; Steven Womack, detective novelist and always the best man; and Larry Woods, longtime friend, encyclopedia of mystery fiction, and co-owner (with the charming Saralee) of BookMan/BookWoman in Nashville, where I first discovered some of these authors and characters. For other help, including comments on the text or the story lineup, my thanks to Alan Bostick, Maria Browning, Michael Dirda, Jon Erickson, Casey Gill, Karissa Kilgore, Jane Langton, Michele Slung, and Art Taylor. Thanks to Cesare Muccari and his excellent staff at the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library, especially those indefatigable book detectives, Cindy Dull and Linda Matey. As always, the enterprising crew at Penguin has been superb. My thanks to executive editor Elda Rotor, editorial assistant Lauren Fanelli, publicity director Maureen Donnelly, production editor Jennifer Tait, copy editor Randee Marullo, and publicist Courtney Allison (not to be confused with the private eye). And perpetual gratitude to my wife, Laura Sloan Patterson, the actual trained scholar in the family, who continues to encourage and assist my forays into dusty corners of literary history.