Love Is Murder is the third Thriller anthology written exclusively by members of International Thriller Writers, Inc. Barely seven years old, ITW has a roster that reads like a who's who of thriller writing, with 1635 members representing 28 countries worldwide and over three billion books in print. Headed by current copresidents Douglas Preston and Kathleen Antrim , its board of directors has included such notables as Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen, Steve Berry, James Rollins, M. J. Rose, Carla Neggers, Gayle Lynds, David Morrell and David Hewson. Lori Armstrong * Jeff Ayers & Jon Land * Beverly Barton * William Bernhardt * Allison Brennan * Robert Browne * Pamela Callow * Lee Child * J.T. Ellison * Bill Floyd * Cindy Gerard * Heather Graham * Laura Griffin * Vicki Hinze * Andrea Kane *Julie Kenner * Sherrilyn Kenyon * Dianna Love * D.P. Lyle * Jim Macomber * Toni McGee Causey * Carla Neggers * Brenda Novak * Patricia Rosemoor * William Simon * Alexandra Sokoloff * Roxanne St. Claire * Mariah Stewart * Debra Webb PRAISE FOR THE THRILLER ANTHOLOGIES "A great collection of stories by today's top writers. A perfect reading experience." --Brad Thor, New York Times bestselling author "Spine tingling." --Fresh Fiction "This follow-up to Thriller (2006)...again features another impressive lineup of crime writers. An entertaining collection." --Booklist "If you like their novels, you'll love their short stories." --Douglas Preston, New York Times bestselling author "Exhilarating and intense." --John Lescroart, New York Times bestselling author

After her divorce, Charlene Dugan vowed never to get married again—a promise she has kept for twenty-five years. Until the fateful day she finds herself uttering the well-known phrase—let’s get married! Almost immediately Charlene’s seemingly perfect life begins unraveling at the seams. Daughter Stephanie's own relationship is about to disintegrate, and she might be just a teensy weensy jealous of her mom. And Charlene seems to be spending more time with her ex-husband than with her fiancé, Dennis. What’s more confusing is that Dennis doesn’t seem to mind too much. In fact, he sees the wedding consultant more often than Charlene does. The wedding party is now officially out of control. They're calling for rain and the bride has cold feet. This isn’t exactly what Charlene had in mind. But maybe it's not too late to finally decide on who and what she really wants.

The Doctor Takes a Princess When Princess Bridget Devereaux was recruiting doctors for her country, she encountered an obstacle: sexy, single dad Ryder McCall. She soon found herself falling hard for Ryder. But their lives pulled them in different directions. Could the princess and the doctor possibly find their way to happily ever after? Pregnant with the Prince’s Child Janis and Mykal had married on a wing and a prayer but as descendants of two feuding families, how could their love survive? Now, Mykal’s discovered he’s a Prince! Still…Janis yearns for him. In the real world can a girl from the bad side of town become a Princess? Janis knows she owes it to her unborn baby to try…

Single dad Noah never expected to feel a spark when arguing with his daughter’s headstrong riding instructor. Worse, Callie is resolutely single. But soon Noah’s seeing more than just her sass: a shattered heart in need of healing. Could he make her see that he – and his family – were for keeps?

Nobody closes a deal like Drew Fortune. So the Fortune scion is certain that his loyal assistant Deanna will agree to a convenient marriage to protect his inheritance. But Deanna could turn the temporary deal into a permanent takeover…of a certain reticent playboy’s heart!

Rose Zarelli, self-proclaimed word geek and angry girl, has some CONFESSIONS to make… #1: I'm livid all the time. Why? My dad died. My mom barely talks. My brother abandoned us. I think I'm allowed to be irate, don't you? #2: I make people furious regularly. Want an example? I kissed Jamie Forta, a badass guy who might be dating a cheerleader. She is now enraged and out for blood. Mine. #3: High school might as well be Mars. My best friend has been replaced by an alien, and I see red all the time. (Mars is red and "seeing red" means being angry—get it?) Here are some other vocab words that describe my life: Inadequate. Insufferable. Intolerable. (Don't know what they mean? Look them up yourself.) (Sorry. That was rude.)

From the moment he turned up late to her charity's meeting, placating everyone with a tip of his Stetson and a lazy smile, Angela Beck knew that Sam Diamond was going to be Trouble with a capital T.Angela is the prickliest woman Sam's ever met--let alone had to work with! He'd love to still her sharp tongue with a kiss, but first he has to get close enough to awaken the complex woman beneath the deliberately cool exterior. And that's something only a real cowboy can do....

Tory has been tasked with looking after Chance Montgomery’s adorable twins: two sets of beautiful big blue eyes and chubby cheeks. She’s taking nappy-changing in her stride, but nothing prepares Tory for being around their handsome daddy day in, day out…

As the only child of a single dad, Ty Halliday had wished for a different life, a mother, a family and, when his hopes were shattered, that place in him that dared to dream had died.

What happens when Forrest Traub, an injured Iraq veteran struggling to find his new normal, meets Angie Anderson, a sunny young woman determined to capture his attention? Although he knows she’s far too young and naive for him, he has a hard time resisting her…

An ill-fated holiday at her grandparents’ Georgia home changed Reece’s life in ways she refuses to remember. But she can’t forget the boy she once knew only as “Jones”. Yet now Jones is back, and sexier than ever, but with danger on their trail, rekindling their spark is the least of their problems…

To solve a murder, investigator Lyle has an unusual mission: find and protect the killer’s daughter, Sadie. Tough rancher Sadie doesn’t like accepting help from anybody but, as her family’s past puts her in danger, accepting Lyle’s protection – and falling for his charm – is proving irresistible…

They are the Season sisters, bound by blood, driven apart by a tragedy. Now they are about to embark on a bittersweet journey into the unknown-an odyssey of promise and forgiveness, of loss and rediscovery. Jillian, Beatrice and Rose have gathered for the funeral of their younger sister, Meredith. Her death, and the legacy she leaves them, will trigger a cross-country journey in search of a stranger with the power to mend their shattered lives. As the emotions of the past reverberate into the present, Jillian, Beatrice and Rose search for the girls they once were, in hopes of finding what they really lost: the women they were meant to be.

John Galsworthy was born at Kingston Upon Thames in Surrey, England, on August 14th 1867 to a wealthy and well established family. His schooling was at Harrow and New College, Oxford before training as a barrister and being called to the bar in 1890. However, Law was not attractive to him and he travelled abroad becoming great friends with the novelist Joseph Conrad, then a first mate on a sailing ship. In 1895 Galsworthy began an affair with Ada Nemesis Pearson Cooper, the wife of his cousin Major Arthur Galsworthy. The affair was kept a secret for 10 years till she at last divorced and they married on 23rd September 1905. Galsworthy first published in 1897 with a collection of short stories entitled "e;The Four Winds"e;. For the next 7 years he published these and all works under his pen name John Sinjohn. It was only upon the death of his father and the publication of "e;The Island Pharisees"e; in 1904 that he published as John Galsworthy. His first play, The Silver Box in 1906 was a success and was followed by "e;The Man of Property"e; later that same year and was the first in the Forsyte trilogy. Whilst today he is far more well know as a Nobel Prize winning novelist then he was considered a playwright dealing with social issues and the class system. Here we publish Villa Rubein, a very fine story that captures Galsworthy's unique narrative and take on life of the time. He is now far better known for his novels, particularly The Forsyte Saga, his trilogy about the eponymous family of the same name. These books, as with many of his other works, deal with social class, upper-middle class lives in particular. Although always sympathetic to his characters, he reveals their insular, snobbish, and somewhat greedy attitudes and suffocating moral codes. He is now viewed as one of the first from the Edwardian era to challenge some of the ideals of society depicted in the literature of Victorian England. In his writings he campaigns for a variety of causes, including prison reform, women's rights, animal welfare, and the opposition of censorship as well as a recurring theme of an unhappy marriage from the women's side. During World War I he worked in a hospital in France as an orderly after being passed over for military service. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1929, after earlier turning down a knighthood, and awarded the Nobel Prize in 1932 though he was too ill to attend. John Galsworthy died from a brain tumour at his London home, Grove Lodge, Hampstead on January 31st 1933. In accordance with his will he was cremated at Woking with his ashes then being scattered over the South Downs from an aeroplane.

William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939) is best described as Ireland's national poet in addition to being one of the major twentieth-century literary figures of the English tongue. To many literary critics, Yeats represents the 'Romantic poet of modernism,' which is quite revealing about his extraordinary style that combines between the outward emphasis on the expression of emotions and the extensive use of symbolism, imagery and allusions. Yeats also wrote prose and drama and established himself as the spokesman of the Irish cause. His fame was greatly boosted mainly after he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923. His life was marked by his many love stories, by his great interest in oriental mysticism and occultism as well as by political engagement since he served as an Irish senator for two terms. Today, although William Butler Yeats's contribution to literary modernism and to Irish nationalism remains incontestable. Here we publish a collection of his short plays that offer a rich harvest from the talents of such an esteemed artist.

If ever a writer needed an introduction Arthur Conan Doyle would not be considered that man. After all, Sherlock Holmes is perhaps the foremost literary detective of any age. Add to this canon his stories of science fiction and his poems, his historical novels, his plays, his political campaigning, his efforts in establishing a Court Of Appeal and there is little room for anything else. Except he was also an exceptional writer of short stories of the horrific and macabre. Something very different from what you might expect. Born in Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, Scotland. From 1876 - 1881 he studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh following which he was employed as a doctor on the Greenland whaler Hope of Peterhead in 1880 and, after his graduation, as a ship's surgeon on the SS Mayumba during a voyage to the West African coast in 1881. Arriving in Portsmouth in June of that year with less than GBP10 (GBP700 today) to his name, he set up a medical practice at 1 Bush Villas in Elm Grove, Southsea. The practice was initially not very successful. While waiting for patients, Conan Doyle again began writing stories and composed his first novel The Mystery of Cloomber. Although he continued to study and practice medicine his career was now firmly set as a writer. And thereafter great works continued to pour out of him.

Herbert George Wells was born on September 21st, 1866 at Atlas House, 46 High Street, Bromley, Kent. He was the youngest of four siblings and his family affectionately knew him as 'Bertie'. The first few years of his childhood were spent fairly quietly, and Wells didn't display much literary interest until, in 1874, he accidentally broke his leg and was left to recover in bed, largely entertained by the library books his father regularly brought him. Through these Wells found he could escape the boredom and misery of his bed and convalescence by exploring the new worlds he encountered in these books. From these humble beginnings began a career that was, after several delays, to be seen as one of the most brilliant of modern English writers. Able to write comfortably in a number of genres he was especially applauded for his science fiction works such as The Time Machine and War of the Worlds but his forays into the social conditions of the times, with classics such as Kipps, were almost as commercially successful. His short stories are miniature masterpieces many of which bring new and incredible ideas of science fiction to the edge of present day science fact. Wells also received four nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Despite a strong and lasting second marriage his affairs with other women also brought the complications of fathering other children. His writings and work against fascism, as well as the promotion of socialism, brought him into increasing doubts with and opposition to religion. His writings on what the world could be in works, such as A Modern Utopia, are thought provoking as well as being plausible, especially when viewed from the distressing times they were written in. His diabetic condition pushed him to create what is now the largest Diabetes charity in the United Kingdom. Wells even found the time to run twice for Parliament. It was a long, distinguished and powerfully successful career by the time he died, aged 79, on August 13th, 1946.

Henry Jones was born at Beaulieu, near Drogheda, County Louth, Ireland in 1721. His working life began when he was apprenticed to a bricklayer. Jones, however, was keen to better himself and studied hard in his private time. He fashioned some complimentary verses, addressed to the corporation of Drogheda and together with some lines 'On Mr. Pope's Death', managed to attract the attention of Lord-chief-justice Singleton, who lived at Beaulieu.In 1745 he obtained employment at the parliament house at Dublin. Jones, used the position to promote his literary talents and celebrated the arrival of Lord Chesterfield as lord-lieutenant of Ireland in a poem that was then presented to Chesterfield by Singleton. Chesterfield asked Jones to accompany him on his return to London in 1748. There, he and his friends helped Jones to publish, by subscription, 'Poems on Several Occasions' in 1749, which delivered a handsome profit for the young poet. Jones is though more noted as a dramatist and that, primarily, is due to his tragedy, 'The Earl of Essex' which he completed in 1752. Chesterfield introduced both the play and Jones to Colley Cibber, the Poet Laureate, who then introduced Jones to the manager of Covent Garden Theatre. Cibber would later attempt to secure the laureateship for Jones after his own death.'The Earl of Essex', after being revised by Chesterfield and Cibber, was premiered at Covent Garden on 21st Feb. 1753, and played for seventeen sold-out nights. It was a triumph, and was equally well received in Dublin and then later in the provinces. It brought Jones over GBP500, a large sum even by today's standards. The play was printed soon after its production, and eventually sold through four editions.The success, unfortunately, was to be the ruin of Jones. His drunken habits, indolence, raw manners, and harshly arrogant temper appalled most of his patrons who soon withdrew their support. However, he seemed adept at keeping on good terms with Chesterfield for some years longer, but at length even he gave up on the relationship when Jones borrowed money from his servant. Jones did continue to write and had made progress on a tragedy entitled 'Harold,' and, on that thin security, managed to raise money as an advance from booksellers. He was rather more successful in his revelries with the acting profession. Jones continued to be on friendly terms with many of the leading actors although in his often drunk state he would harangue the more minor actors as 'parrots', but he repaid them with puffs and panegyrics. His charm and ease with a few lines were valuable commodities.Whenever he was an inmate of sponging-houses he contrived to flatter any bailiff's daughter or wife with verses on their beauty or talents, and, in the process, secured himself more comfortable quarters than he perhaps deserved. Henry Jones died in the parish workhouse in April 1770.After his death, Reddish, the actor of Drury Lane, acquired Jones's manuscripts, which included 'Harold' and three acts of an unfinished tragedy, 'The Cave of Idra.' This was completed by Paul Hiffernan, and re-titled 'The Heroine of the Cave,' was produced for Reddish's benefit on 25th March 1774.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born on February 27th, 1807 in Portland, Maine. As a young boy, it was obvious that he was very studious and he quickly became fluent in Latin. He published his first poem, "e;The Battle of Lovell's Pond"e;, in the Portland Gazette on November 17th, 1820. He was already thinking of a career in literature and, in his senior year, wrote to his father: "e;I will not disguise it in the least... the fact is, I most eagerly aspire after future eminence in literature, my whole soul burns most ardently after it, and every earthly thought centers in it...."e; After graduation travels in Europe occupied the next three years and he seemed to easily absorb any language he set himself to learn. On September 14th, 1831, Longfellow married Mary Storer Potter. They settled in Brunswick. His first published book was in 1833, a translation of poems by the Spanish poet Jorge Manrique. He also published a travel book, Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea. During a trip to Europe Mary became pregnant. Sadly, in October 1835, she miscarried at some six months. After weeks of illness she died, at the age of 22 on November 29th, 1835. Longfellow wrote "e;One thought occupies me night and day... She is dead - She is dead! All day I am weary and sad"e;. In late 1839, Longfellow published Hyperion, a book in prose inspired by his trips abroad. Ballads and Other Poems was published in 1841 and included "e;The Village Blacksmith"e; and "e;The Wreck of the Hesperus"e;. His reputation as a poet, and a commercial one at that, was set. On May 10th, 1843, after seven years in pursuit of a chance for new love, Longfellow received word from Fanny Appleton that she agreed to marry him. On November 1st, 1847, the epic poem Evangeline was published. In 1854, Longfellow retired from Harvard, to devote himself entirely to writing. The Song of Haiwatha, perhaps his best known and enjoyed work was published in 1855. On July 10th, 1861, after suffering horrific burns the previous day. In his attempts to save her Longfellow had also been badly burned and was unable to attend her funeral. He spent several years translating Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It was published in 1867. Longfellow was also part of a group who became known as The Fireside Poets which also included William Cullen Bryant, John Greenleaf Whittier, James Russell Lowell, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Snr. Longfellow was the most popular poet of his day. As a friend once wrote to him, "e;no other poet was so fully recognized in his lifetime"e;. Some of his works including "e;Paul Revere's Ride"e; and "e;The Song of Haiwatha"e; may have rewritten the facts but became essential parts of the American psyche and culture. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow died, surrounded by family, on Friday, March 24th, 1882. He had been suffering from peritonitis.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875, in Chicago, Illinois. His early career was unremarkable. After failing to enter West Point he enlisted in the 7th Calvary but was discharged after heart problems were diagnosed. A series of short term jobs gave no indication as to a career path but finally, in 1911, married and with two young children, he turned his hand to writing. He aimed his works squarely at the very popular pulp serial magazines. His first effort 'Under The Moons Of Mars' ran in Munsey's Magazine in 1912 under the pseudonym Norman Bean. With its success he began writing full time. A continuing theme of his work was to develop series so that each character had ample opportunities to return in sequels. John Carter was in the Mars series and there was another on Venus and one on Pellucidar among others. But perhaps the best known is Tarzan. Indeed Burroughs wanted so much to capitalise upon the brand that he introduced a syndicated Tarzan comic strip, movies and merchandise. He purchased a large ranch north of Los Angeles, California, which he named "e;Tarzana."e; The surrounding communities outside the ranch voted in 1927 to adopt the name as their own. By 1932 Burroughs set up his own company to print his own books. Here we publish 'The Efficiency Expert' somewhat different to what the title might suggest in the hands of an ordinary writer but in the hands of Edgar Rice Burroughs the title is just the beginning.....

Edgar Rice Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875, in Chicago, Illinois. His early career was unremarkable. After failing to enter West Point he enlisted in the 7th Calvary but was discharged after heart problems were diagnosed. A series of short term jobs gave no indication as to a career path but finally, in 1911, married and with two young children, he turned his hand to writing. He aimed his works squarely at the very popular pulp serial magazines. His first effort 'Under The Moons Of Mars' ran in Munsey's Magazine in 1912 under the pseudonym Norman Bean. With its success he began writing full time. A continuing theme of his work was to develop series so that each character had ample opportunities to return in sequels. John Carter was in the Mars series and there was another on Venus and one on Pellucidar among others. But perhaps the best known is Tarzan. Indeed Burroughs wanted so much to capitalise upon the brand that he introduced a syndicated Tarzan comic strip, movies and merchandise. He purchased a large ranch north of Los Angeles, California, which he named "e;Tarzana."e; The surrounding communities outside the ranch voted in 1927 to adopt the name as their own. By 1932 Burroughs set up his own company to print his own books. Here we publish 'The Girl From Hollywood' a gentle title that in the hands of an ordinary writer might be just so but in the hands of Edgar Rice Burroughs the title is just the beginning.....