Murder most foul: A collection of great crime stories - Various authors

Tales of murder and mayhem have fascinated readers since time immemorial. This versatile collection of intrigues, mysteries and cold-blooded killings by some of the greatest names in thriller-writing combines to create a classic compendium  of crime.

World famous sleuths such as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes feature in puzzling tales full of ingenuity and torturous twists. Other household names include G.K. Chesterton's unlikely detective, Catholic priest Father Brown, and Georges Simenon's pipe-smoking police inspector, Margaret.

World-famous SF-writer Isaac Asimov describes the macabre results of destroying a favourite robot in Light Verse, while Algernon Blackwood's First Hate explores the sinister world of violent obsession.

From the cool, calculated success of the protagonist of Murder! by Arnold Bennett to the self-destructive guilt of the killer in William Faulkner's The Hound, this anthology explores the whole range of homicidal motives and methods. At one end of the scale , a fine example of black humour is Edmund Crispin's offbeat story We Know You're Busy Writing, at the other is Thomas Burke's macabre masterpiece The Hands of Mr Ottermole.

This exciting collection of puzzlers and spinechillers, characterized by suspense and spiced with humour, will make compelling reading for connoisseurs and new readers alike.