title: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives
author:  Otto Penzler 
description: "The best book of its kind.... An exciting omnibus volume that has widespread appeal and adds up to much, much more than the sum of its parts....delivering memorable revelations about the mystery genre and its different incarnations....Candor is no small part of this collection's great value. Time and again these crime writers return to the same questions: Is your character like you? Where did the character's name come from? How did you get published? The answers are always interesting."<b>Janet Maslin</b>, <b><i><em>New York Times</em></i></b><br /><br />"This book will delight any mystery lover....[and] make readers return to favorite books with a fresh eye."<b>Michele Ross</b>, <b><i><em>Cleveland Plain Dealer</em></i></b><br /><br />"The natural bridge between authorial intention and reader demand. After all, who are more equipped to discourse on the origins, the motivations, the foibles, and the triumphs of their life's work than some of the best-known and most successful mystery and thriller writers on the planet?"<b>Sarah Weinman</b>, <b><i><em>Los Angeles Times</em></i></b><br /><br />"The ultimate How-dunit."<b>Janet Maslin</b>, <b><i><em>The New York Times</em></i></b><br /><br />"Tremendous fun--clever, wide-ranging, revealing, even surprising. Bet you can't read just one."<b><i><em>Raleigh News and Observer</em></i></b><br /><br />"Fiery....The authors take different approaches, but all offer an opportunity to see a familiar character in a new way....It's also a great way to get a taste of some of the series you haven't read yet."<b>Maureen Corrigan</b>, <b><i><em>NPR.org</em></i></b>
zlib_text: Highest Praise for **John Lutz**  
  
    
  
  “John Lutz knows how to make you shiver.”
  
  —Harlan Coben  
  
  “Lutz offers up a heart-pounding roller coaster of a tale.”
  
  —Jeffery Deaver  
  
  “John Lutz is one of the masters of the police novel.”
  
  —Ridley Pearson  
  
  “John Lutz is a major talent.”
  
  —John Lescroart  
  
  “I’ve been a fan for years.”
  
  —T. Jefferson Parker  
  
  “John Lutz just keeps getting better and better.”
  
  —Tony Hillerman  
  
  “Lutz ranks with such vintage masters  
  of big-city murder  
  as Lawrence Block and Ed McBain.”
  
  — _St. Louis Post-Dispatch_  
  
  “Lutz is among the best.”
  
  — _San Diego Union_  
  
  “Lutz knows how to seize and hold the  
  reader’s imagination.”
  
  — _Cleveland Plain Dealer_  
  
  “It’s easy to see why he’s won an Edgar  
  and two Shamuses.”
  
  — _Publishers Weekly_  
  
    
  
  _**Twist**_
  
    
  
  “One of the top ten mystery novels of 2013.”
  
  — _The Strand Magazine_  
  
    
  
  _**Pulse**_
  
    
  
  “Grisly murders seen through the eyes of killer  
  and victim; crime scenes from which clues slowl