Night Forms: The Short Fiction of Francis M. Nevins

Nevins may be best known for his Edgar-winning biographies Cornell Woolrich: First You Dream Then You Die and Royal Bloodline: Ellery Queen, Author and Detective, but he's also an accomplished lawyer, short-story writer, and editor. This collection spans more than three decades from his first story, 1972's "Open Letter to Survivors" midwifed by Fred Dannay (Ellery Queen), to 2004's intricately plotted "A Nightcap of Hemlock." Whether writing about Loren Mensing, like himself a law professor, or confidence man Milo Turner, or police detective Gene Holt, Nevins often employs tricky legal issues. Selections range from the Philip Marlowe pastiche "Consultation in the Dark" to the whimsical "Toad Cop," to the stark and brutal "The Last Passenger." The bulk of these 28 previously published stories appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine or Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. A valuable introduction plus brief afterwords to each story illustrate how Nevins has been able to combine his legal expertise and personal interests into a rich synergy of fiction and nonfiction. (Oct.)