Best-selling authorScott Turowtakes the helm for the tenth edition of this annual, featuring twenty-one of the past year's most distinguished tales of mystery, crime, and suspense.Elmore Leonardtells the tale of a young woman who's fled home with a convicted bank robber.Walter Mosleydescribes an over-the-hill private detective and his new client, a woman namedKarma. C. J. Boxexplores the fate of two Czech immigrants stranded by the side of the road in Yellowstone Park.Ed McBainbegins his story on role-playing with the line "'Why don't we kill somebody?' she suggested."Wendy Hornsbytells of a wild motorcycle chase through the canyons outside Las Vegas.Laura Lippmandescribes the "Crack Cocaine Diet." AndJames Lee Burkewrites of a young boy who may have been a close friend of Bugsy Siegel.AsScott Turownotes in his introduction, these stories are "about crime -- its commission, its aftermath, its anxieties, its effect on character."The Best American Mystery Stories 2006is a powerful collection for all readers who enjoy fiction that deals with the extremes of human passion and its dark consequences."[Most of] these stories are portraits, in styles ranging from sly to harrowing, of how crimes occurred ... If you like all your characters living at the end of a story, this may not be the book for you." - from the introduction byScott Turow