A collection showcasing the�short story�talents of the collective known as the Murder Squad��eaturing several award-winning and�highly acclaimed crime writers
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The�Murder Squad�all share a special passion for crime, which is reflected in this superb new volume of previously unpublished tales. Funny and sad, atmospheric and dark, ingenious and
frightening, each of the�13 stories in this collection��wo or three from each contributor��ill thrill lovers of crime fiction. In "The Habit of Silence, DI�Vera Stanhope��hom�Ann
Cleeves�developed�"Because I was so cross with even feminist writers writing female central characters who were young, fit and beautiful. Vera isn't any of those things. She's overweight and
middle-aged."��nvestigates the case of the body in the library. In Martin Edwards' "The People Outside,"�a tight-knit community is ripped apart by violence, and a lust for vengeance. Cath
Staincliffe's "Boom!"�is the explosive story of murder in Manchester. Margaret Murphy tells of�a Liverpool lad troubled by a mortal sin, in "The Message."�The title story is by Stuart Pawson,
and asks Why would a writer want to plot revenge? In Cleeves' second offering, "Basic Skills," Maddy thought that�books could change lives��ut so can murder. Staincliffe's
"Laptop"�features�a laptop thief who�takes more than she bargained for. "Act of Contrition,"�by Murphy,�asks if�Janice is�pleading for forgiveness��r seeking something more sinister? When a
rich man's butler vanishes, in Edwards' "The Case of the Musical Butler,"�Sherlock Holmes is asked to investigate. Cleeves' "Mud"�tells of�a woman remembering the past, betrayal, and a death.
"Riviera" by Staincliffe�explores the question�When you look in a mirror, who do you see? Pawson tell of a Christmas in prison��ut goodwill is in short supply, in "Sprouts."�At the end
of a book, an index tells a tale of murder, in Edwards' "InDex."
