This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published in 2024 by Penzler Publishers
58 Warren Street, New York, NY 10007
Distributed by W. W. Norton
Introductions and compilation copyright © 2024 by Otto Penzler.
Anthony Boucher. “Black Murder” by Anthony Boucher, copyright © 1943 by Anthony Boucher. Copyright renewed. Originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (September 1943). Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Mignon G. Eberhart. “The Flowering Face” by Mignon G. Eberhart, copyright © 1934 by Mignon G. Eberhart. Copyright renewed 1962. Originally published in The Delineator (May 1934). Reprinted by permission of Brandt & Hochman Literary Agents, Inc. All rights reserved.
Stuart Palmer. “Fingerprints Don’t Lie” by Stuart Palmer, copyright © 1944 by Stuart Palmer. Copyright renewed. Originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (November 1947). Reprinted by permission of the author’s estate and JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.
Ellery Queen. “Man Bites Dog” by Ellery Queen, copyright © 1939 by Ellery Queen. Copyright renewed. Originally published in Blue Book (June 1939). Reprinted by permission of the Frederic Dannay Literary Property Trust & The Manfred B. Lee Family Literary Property Trust.
Clayton Rawson. “The Clue of the Tattooed Man” by Clayton Rawson, copyright © 1946 by Clayton Rawson. Copyright renewed. Originally published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine (December 1946). Reprinted by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.
Helen Reilly. “The Phonograph Murder” by Helen Reilly, copyright © 1947 by Helen Reilly. Copyright renewed. Originally published in Collier’s (January 25, 1947). Reprinted by permission of the Beneficiaries of the Helen Reilly Estate.
Mary Roberts Rinehart. “The Lipstick” by Mary Roberts Rinehart, copyright © 1942 by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Copyright renewed by Rinehart Literary Trust. Originally published in Cosmopolitan (July 1942). Reprinted by permission of the Rinehart Literary Trust and MysteriousPress.com.
All rights reserved.
Cover image: Andy Ross
Cover design: Mauricio Diaz
Paperback ISBN 978-1-61316-542-3
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-61316-541-6
eBook ISBN 978-1-61316-543-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023922350