Sometimes, the police aren't the best suited to solve a crime. Depending on the case, you may find that a retired magician, a schoolteacher, a Broadway producer or a nun have the necessary skills to suss out a killer. Or, in other cases, a blind veteran, or a publisher, or a hard-drinking attorney, or a mostly-sober attorney... or, indeed, any sort of detective you could think of might be able to best the professionals when it comes to comprehending strange and puzzling murders.

At least, that's what the authors from the Golden Age of American mystery fiction would have you think. For decades in the middle of the twentieth century, the country's best-selling authors produced delightful tales in which all types of eccentrics used rarified knowledge to interpret confounding clues. And for even longer, in the decades that have followed, these characters have continued to entertain new audiences with every new generation that discovers them.

Edgar Award-winning anthologist Otto Penzler selects some of the greatest American short stories from the era. With authors including Ellery Queen, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Cornell Woolrich, Erle Stanley Gardner and Anthony Boucher, this collection is a treat for those who know and love this celebrated period in literary history and a great introduction to its best writers for the uninitiated.