If ever a subject begged to be associated with crime it is gambling, writes Otto Penzler in his introduction to this collection of short stories set at the poker table and beyond. In Walter Mosley’s Mister In-Between, a bagman is sent to collect from a rigged poker game, but soon begins to wonder who the real mark is. In One Dollar Jackpot, Michael Connelly’s detective Harry Bosch finds himself looking for tells when facing off against a professional poker player in the interrogation room. And a young woman learns how to bluff the hard way in Hardly Knew Her, by Laura Lippman. In these and others stories, aces of the mystery-writing world—including Joyce Carol Oates, Alexander McCall Smith, Jeffery Deaver, John Lescroart, and others—combine to form a winning hand.
Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Despite some excellent individual efforts from a Who's Who of crime writers, this uneven anthology of poker-related stories never truly capitalizes on the game's innate drama. Any mystery lover will enjoy Peter Robinson's Inspector Banks story, The Eastvale Ladies' Poker Circle, though poker is merely a backdrop in this and too many of the stories. Michael Connelly fans will appreciate Harry Bosch bluffing out a murder suspect in One-Dollar Jackpot, while a rigged poker game on a cruise ship has dire consequences in Alexander McCall Smith's haunting In the Eyes of Children. Poker does occupy center stage in Jeffery Deaver's Bump, where a former TV star tries to increase his popularity by appearing in a made-for-TV poker tournament, but the poker details are suspect. Professional poker player Howard Lederer's introduction reminds the reader of the enormous effect poker has had on American culture, but this anthology never really mines the game's explosive popularity. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
PRAISE FOR UNCERTAIN ENDINGS
"Penzler . . . knows that anthologies are like a party: You meet people you already know, people whose reputation you know and people who are completely new to you. The experienced host chooses invitees who will get along well, and he provides enough preamble to launch a conversation."—Los Angeles Times
PRAISE FOR DANGEROUS WOMEN
"Superlative . . . Penzler knows which writers are hot, and he proves it here."—Boston Herald
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
dark and entertaining card crime stories,
This review is from: Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table (Hardcover)
in this book you will find a full house of entertaining and DARKLY INSIGHTFUL, artfully crafted literary suspense and crime stories by an excellent group of writers who have clearly mastered the techniques of character development and lyrical language from the baser side of the human spectrum. no bluffing. joyce carol oates's "strip poker" is wonderfully suspenseful. "poker and shooter" is lots of dark fun. the story by walter mosely is one of the best stories I have ever read. not all of the stories are completely about the game, which makes it a lot more fun than it would be if the stories are exclusively about playing cards.
highly recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
for poker players,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Dead Man's Hand: Crime Fiction at the Poker Table (Hardcover)
This is a fun, light book,but probably only a reader who likes mysteries and plays poker would enjoy it.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
(learn more)
friendly little game, strip poker, laura lippman, contact wound Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pitch Black, Denise Vancalm, One-Dollar Jackpot, Dan Kingston, Judge Granville, Peter Robinson, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly, The Eastvale, Parnell Hall, Victor Vancalm, Aaron Felter, The Monks of the Abbey Victoria, Miss Hart, Mike O'Connor, Christopher Coake, Harvey Poole, Seth Beckman, Clive Ford, Joyce Carol Oates, Wolf's Head Lake, Jamaica Jim, The Stake, Tracey Blitzstein, Missing the Morning Bus Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
friendly little game, strip poker, laura lippman, contact wound Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pitch Black, Denise Vancalm, One-Dollar Jackpot, Dan Kingston, Judge Granville, Peter Robinson, Jeffery Deaver, Michael Connelly, The Eastvale, Parnell Hall, Victor Vancalm, Aaron Felter, The Monks of the Abbey Victoria, Miss Hart, Mike O'Connor, Christopher Coake, Harvey Poole, Seth Beckman, Clive Ford, Joyce Carol Oates, Wolf's Head Lake, Jamaica Jim, The Stake, Tracey Blitzstein, Missing the Morning Bus Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
