This new anthology brings the female crime writers who inspired Agatha Christie out of her shadow and back into the spotlight they deserve. The success of writers like Anna Katherine Green in America; L. T. Meade, C. L. Pirkis, the Baroness Orczy, and Elizabeth Corbett in England; and Mary Fortune in Australia opened doors for the women authors who followed them.

The advocate's wedding day /Catherine Crowe -- The squire's story / Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell -- Traces of crime / Mary Fortune -- Mr. Furbush / Harriet Prescott Spofford -- Mrs. Todhetley's earrings / Ellen Wood -- Catching a burglar / Elizabeth Corbett -- The ghost of Fountain Lane /C.L. Pirkis -- The statement of Jared Johnson / Geraldine Bonner -- Point in Morals / Ellen Glasgow -- The blood-red cross / L.T. Meade and Robert Eustace -- The Regent's Park murder / Baroness Orczy -- The case of the registered letter / Augusta Groner -- The winning sequence / M.E. Braddon -- Missing: page thirteen / Anna Katharine Green -- The adventure of the clothes-line / Carolyn Wells -- Jury of her peers / Susan Glaspell.