Disappointingly, this uneven collection focuses on relatively marginal writers (e.g, Minette Walters instead of Elizabeth Peters), and has odd emphases. Does the reader really care in each essay about the religious convictions, real or speculated upon, of every single author? Charlotte Macleod is noted only as a biographer, and other ignored authors are Sharyn McCrumb, Mary Stewart, Jane Haddam, Dell Shannon...oh, the list is endless!