I first encountered Ruth Chessman's work when browsing back issues of Manhunt magazine--and I was immediately intrigued. Manhunt was a noir/hardboiled digest-sized mystery magazine, and female bylines were uncommon. A quick check showed that she also published stories in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine as well as a 1965 middle-grade novel called "Bound for Freedom," which was adapted as a movie.

She must have instilled her love of crime writing in her family, since her daughter turns out to be none other than mystery writer Jane K. Cleland -- who was kind enough to grant us permission to reprint her late mother's work. (Jane also supplied us with copies of hard-to-find stories.)

Ruth Chessman was a very good, if far too infrequent writer. This collection assembles most of her published short fiction. Included are:

ACCUSED

THE SEARCH FOR A DEAD MAN'S BODY

MURDER -- EARLY AMERICAN

POOR SHERM

THE HARRINGTON FARTHING

IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE?

THE PERFECT HUSBAND

SILENTLY, SILENTLY

THE CRIME THAT DID NOT FOLLOW

If you enjoy this ebook, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Wildside Press Megapack" to see more of the 260+ volumes in this series, covering adventure, historical fiction, mysteries, westerns, ghost stories, science fiction -- and much, much more!