Dead Man's Hand

If ever a subject begged to be associated with crime it is gambling, writes Otto Penzler in his introduction to this collection of short stories set at the poker table and beyond. In Walter Mosley's Mister In-Between, a bagman is sent to collect from a rigged poker game, but soon begins to wonder who the real mark is. In One Dollar Jackpot, Michael Connelly's detective Harry Bosch finds himself looking for tells when facing off against a professional poker player in the interrogation room. And a young woman learns how to bluff the hard way in Hardly Knew Her, by Laura Lippman.

In these and others stories, aces of the mystery-writing world--including Joyce Carol Oates, Alexander McCall Smith, Jeffery Deaver, John Lescroart, and others--combine to form a winning hand.

Walter Mosley - Mister In-Between
Jeffrey Deaver - Bump
Alexander McCall Smith - In the Eyes of Children
Michael Connelly - One Dollar Jackpot
Joyce Carol Oates - Strip Poker
Sam Hill - The Stake
Christopher Coake - Pitch Black
Parnell Hall - Deal Me In
Sue DeNymme - Poker and Shooter
Rupert Holmes - The Monks of the Abby Victoria
Peter Robinson - The Eastvale Ladies' Poker Circle
Eric Van Lustbader - The Uncertainty Principle
Laura Lippman - Hardly Knew Her
John Lescroart - A Friendly Little Game
Lorenzo Carcaterra - Missing the Morning Bus