The Perfect Murder

Five top mystery writers create The Perfect Murder as each presents a fiendishly clever plan for the ideal crime. From jellyfish in the jacuzzi to a traditional dagger through the heart, these scenarios bristle with the ingenuity readers expect from Lawrence Block, Sarah Caudwell [Sarah Cockburn], Tony Hillerman, Peter Lovesey, and Donald E. Westlake. Though Tim married his wife largely for her wealth, he is a proud man, and his discovery that she is having an affair with his best friend moves him to contemplate homicide. His deep-seated desire to stay out of jail precludes any but the most cunningly practical crime that will do in the philandering spouse and convice the authorities that his best friend did the deed, drawing all suspicion away from him. Yet the esthete in Tim craves a crime so flamboyantly original and intricate that it achieves the level of art. Clearly, Tim want to commit the perfect murder and, clearly, he needs some professional advice. In The Perfect Murder, five masters of suspense writing and, hence, indisputable professionals provide Jack Hitt with their fiendishly clever blueprints for the ideal crime. All built on the artfully disbolical premises that Hitt (playing the nefarious Tim) sets forth, their scenarios — from exotic jellyfish to mass murder — are as diverse as their talents. All bristle with hilarious ingenuity, and all offer cogent commentary on the nature of mystery writing and on human nature itself.