Edited by James Ellroy, Otto Penzler, Thomas H. Cook, HarperCollins Publisher, September 2005

"Fascinating ... one of the strengths [is the anthology’s] astonishing variety...the quality of the writing that’s touted here, and justifiably so...it would be tough to better this collection." — Booklist

"Fascinating ... the quality of the writing that’s touted here, and justifiably so...it would be tough to better this collection." — Booklist

"Solid and diverse ... Anyone interested in true crime should find something to enjoy in this wide-ranging collection." — Publishers Weekly

"Great choices [and] great writing … proves truth is indeed stranger than fiction." — Bloomberg News

Download Ebook Excerpt (Pdf, 850KB)

The 2005 edition of The Best American Crime Writing offers the year's most shocking, compelling, and gripping writing about real-life crime, including Peter Landesman's article about female sex slaves (the most requested and widely read New York Times story of 2004), a piece from The New Yorker by Stephen J. Dubner (the coauthor of Freakanomics) about a high-society silver thief, and an extraordinarily memorable "ode to bar fights" written by Jonathan Miles for Men's Journal after he punched an editor at a staff party.

But this year's edition includes a bonus -- an original essay by James Ellroy detailing his fascination with Joseph Wambaugh and how it fed his obsession with crime -- even to the point of selling his own blood to buy Wambaugh's books. Smart, entertaining, and controversial, The Best American Crime Writing is an essential edition to any crime enthusiast's bookshelf.

James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. His L.A. quartet -- The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential and White Jazz -- were international bestsellers. American Tabloid was Time's Novel of the Year in 1995; his memoir My Dark Places was Time's Best Book and a New York Times Notable book for 1996. His novel The Cold Six Thousand was a New York Times Notable Book and Los Angeles Times Best Book for 2001. He lives on the coast of California.

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