Problems Solved

TWO LEGENDS!Today, Bill Pronzini is famed for his private-eye stories about the "Nameless Detective" and for his Shamus-award winning short stories, and Barry N. Malzberg is one of America's premier science-fiction writers, but back in their salad days they collaborated on a number of stories, which have now become legendary. Many fans have heard of them, but very few have had the privilege of reading them until now. Problems Solved collects all their crime and mystery collaborations, mostly written during the 1970's and early 1980's, and a few recent collaborations (including two new stories written especially for this volume). The stories range from suspense ("Night Rider") to irony ("What Kind of Person Are You?") to twists-in-the-tale ("Problems Solved") to science-fictional detection, including three stories about an unnamed Luna Immigration Inspector. Others emphasize sports ("What's a Chicago Cub?" asks an entrepreneur of the future), and one, "Another Burnt-Out Case," is in Bill Pronzini's words, "a weird comic Hitchcockian crime fantasy with a carnival setting, whose last two lines elicit gleeful chortles from both of us to this day."