Secrets & Lies: Ten Acclaimed Mystery Stories

The ten stories in this collection revolve around secrets, lies—and crime.  Kristine Kathryn Rusch, called one of the best short story writers of her generation, has compiled ten of her best mystery stories into one volume. Here you’ll find cats who watch corpses decompose, a woman juror who has secrets of her own, a futuristic detective who lies for a living, and half a dozen others whose lives get touched by a mystery.  

Included are four stories considered among the best in their year of publication, “Patriotic Gestures,” “G-Men,” “The Perfect Man,” and “Jury Duty”; Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice winners, “Details,” and “The Secret Lives of Cats”; Shamus nominee “Discovery”; Hugo nominee, “The Retrieval Artist”; and Edgar nominees “Cowboy Grace” and “Spinning.” 


“Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s crime stories are exceptional, both in plot and in style.”


—Mystery Scene Magazine

“Rusch is a great storyteller.”

—Romantic Times



“[Rusch’s] short fiction is golden.”

—The Kansas City Star



USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes in almost every genre. Generally, she uses her real name (Rusch) for most of her writing. Under that name, she publishes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. Her novels have made bestseller lists around the world and her short fiction has appeared in eighteen best of the year collections. She has won more than twenty-five awards for her fiction, including the Hugo, Le Prix Imaginales, the Asimov’s Readers Choice award, and the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine Readers Choice Award. 

To keep up with everything she does, go to kriswrites.com. To track her many pen names and series, see their individual websites (krisnelscott.com, kristinegrayson.com, krisdelake.com, retrievalartist.com, divingintothewreck.com, fictionriver.com). She lives and occasionally sleeps in Oregon.