For this anthology, writer and anthologist Michael Sims did not summon the usual suspects. He sought the unfamiliar, the unjustly forgotten, and little-known gems by writers from outside the genre. This historical tour of one of our most popular literary categories includes stories never before reprinted, features rebellious early "lady detectives," and spotlights former stars of the crime field-Austrian novelist Auguste Groner and prolific American Geraldine Bonner among them. For twenty-first century connoisseurs of crime, this anthology celebrates how the nineteenth century added a fierce modern twist to the ancient theme of bloody murder.