A Little Crime by Moonlight

 I mentioned the latest Mystery Writers of America anthology recently, but wanted to add some additional info. For those who don't know, the MWA publishes short-story anthologies every two years or so, with half of the stories commissioned from MWA members and the other half chosen via open member submissions. Previous titles have included The Blue Religion, edited by Michael Connelly and Death Do Us Part, edited by Harlan Coben. The 2010 installment is Crimes by Moonlight, edited by Charlaine Harris.

As you can guess from the title, plus the choice of Harris as editor, this particular anthology's theme surrounded "mysteries from the dark side," or even more specifically, those with a paranormal slant. In addition to some well-known names—William Kent Kruger, Margaret Maron, Carolyn Hart, Barbara D'Amato, for example—there are some new kids on the block. Leigh Lundin recently gave a well-deserved glowing review to a story by one of these authors, Terrie Farley Moran, who was also included in Otto Penzler’s Best American Mystery Stories of 2009.  Moran is also part of the Women of Mystery blog, and fellow member Clare Toohey will be chatting more about the anthology there tomorrow, as well as offering a giveaway for five free copies of the anthology, so be sure and check the site for more details.

If you are lucky enough to win a copy, you'll want to turn out the lights (except for one of those book lights, natch), and sink your teeth into stories of vampires, sorcerers, an interesting Frankenstinian take on the Mike Hammer series by Max Allan Collins/Mickey Spillane, and Moran's original banshee tale. In the tradition of a good chilling spinetingler, most of these offerings have surprise endings, like William Kent Krueger's tale of a journalist tracking down a cold case of missing boys or Jack Fredrickson's noirish horror riff on a street musician and thief who learns the perils of being greedy. Even if you're not a fan of paranormal crime fiction, these well-crafted stories are certain to win you over.